Tannic Panic! Issue #66: Getting Saucy In Sonoma
A complete idiot's guide to tasting through some of the best wineries in Sonoma
What’s crackinin’ you illustrious pack of winos — this past weekend we made our merry little ways over to the WONDERFUL world of “Sonoma” where we tasted an absolutely ridiculous spread of wines. In fact, these were some of the best wines we’ve ever reviewed in our entire measly little “careers” as wine bloggers.
(If you want to learn a little more about the region, check out this previous post.)
Today we’re going to take you through our top picks among the wineries we visited last weekend, and lay out what we think are the pros and cons of the tasting room experience at each joint. Without further ado, here’s what we adid…
THE SPOTS
Sosie
25 East Napa Street, Suite C · Sonoma, CA 95476
Pros: Wines were overall very good, some outstanding, and the tasting room manager, Julie, was very knowledgeable and personable.
Cons: Tasting room area is very small so may not be great for larger groups.
The first tasting room we visited was in the square (LIKE ME!) in downtown Sonoma, and we wouldn’t have discovered it were it not for Kamen opening slightly later than normal for a “staff meeting” (WE KNOW WHAT YOU WERE REALLY DOING). So upon being shooed away from Kamen, we stumbled like a couple of korsakoff riddled drifters down a little alleyway and into the first place we saw – and believe you-us, it didn’t disappoint.
Our tasting room host Julie, who “hails” from the esteemed viticultural nation of “France” (specifically the Loire Valley), meticulously walked us through each tasting, telling us about the wines and giving us a little background on the terroir and the winery itself. Sosie Wines focuses on French varietals vinified in an old-world style with low to no intervention. The winemaker for Sosie is Phillippe Melka, who works with more wineries in the area than I can count on my stubby little fingers. We did a reds flight ($50/person, waived with 2 bottle purchase), which started with a Pinot and a GSM, before moving on to the big boys (and our favorites), 2 cabernet sauvignon and 1 cab franc.
2019 Charlie Smith Cabernet Sauvignon, Moon Mountain / 95+ Points / $75
Profile: Violet, blackberry, blackcurrant, ballpoint pen ink, bay leaf, menthol, forest floor, cedar, graphite, chocolate
Palate: Dry, high acid, medium+ tannin, full body, long finish
Score Breakdown: Balance 40/40, Aroma/flavor 20/20, Concentration 14/15, Length 13.5/15 (13 Isaac, 14 Zach), Complexity, 8/10 = Score: 95+ points
Lancaster
15001 Chalk Hill Road · Healdsburg, CA 95448
Pros: The wines are amazing.
Cons: Wines are a little expensive, and the tasting room has a strong (not unpleasant) woody smell that may influence your perception of the wines you taste.
After our tasting at Sosie, we realized we were a few thousand miles farther from the Healdsburg area than we thought, so we postponed our Kamen stop and raced off to get to our “1 PM tasting” at Lancaster on time. We drove down a picturesque sun-soaked vineyard road and then wandered aimlessly into the lavish lobby area only to learn that we were actually two hours early for the tasting (not pointing any fingers, but this was Zach’s fault [THE GOOD KIND!]). But fear not, the WONDERFUL people of Lancaster Estate “accommodated” our premature “entrance” with grace. We were immediately handed a delightful little flute of sparkling wine to “sip on” as we were led over to the tasting room. Lancaster Estate is a place for those of us (LIKE US!) who want to dive head first into extremely concentrated and opulent yet structured red Bordeaux varietal wines and Bordeaux style blends. We absolutely loved every single wine we tasted, starting with a fumé style lightly oaked sauvignon blanc, followed by just one after another top tier red banger (THE GOOD KIND!).
The estate tasting was $60/person, and while we bought two bottles, doing so did not waive any tasting fee. That said, the whole experience involved tasting 6 different outstanding wines, many of which teeter into the $200-300 range (LIKE ME), so the value is definitely there. Here’s a review of one of our favorites from the tasting (and the wine we left with).
2021 Sophia's Hillside Cuvée / 98 Points / $80
Profile: Violets, chocolate rum cake, vanilla, cedar, black cherry, blackberry preserves, pencil shavings, black plum, eucalyptus
Palate: Dry, high acid, high tannin, full body, long finish
Score Breakdown: Balance 40/40, Aroma/flavor 20/20, Concentration 15/15, Length 15/15, Complexity 8/10 = Score: 98 points
Alexander Valley Vineyards
8644 Highway 128 · Healdsburg, CA 95448
Pros: Wide range of styles available, ranging from their more affordable flagship options to premium blends that stand up to the best in the area. Fantastic value and service. Free cave tours.
Cons: None
Day 2 we started off with a visit to one of our favorite wineries in the area, and in our extremely humble opinion, truly one of the greatest sources of value in the state. If you’re a real Tannic Panic fan™, you know that we’ve reviewed and recommended the 2021 AVV Estate Cab as a must-buy around the $20 price point. Achieving this is no small feat, and we were lucky enough to chat with owner/brand ambassador Katie Wetzel Murphy about everything, from what goes into making their wines to the history of the estate to some of her thoughts on the industry in general.
Next week’s post will go into greater depth, but the short and sweet of it is that, like the wines they sell, the visiting “experience” also offers an incredible value. This is especially true when you pit it against the higher tasting fees that many wineries in the area charge. Estate tastings start at $20, and you can dive into some of their more premium “offerings” with the $30 “Reserve” tasting (and if our feeble memories serve, these fees are waived with a bottle purchase). You can (AND SHOULD) also sign up for a free cave tour, which they offer twice daily.
For now, here’s our top pick of the tasting:
2017 Cyrus / 97 Points / $75
Profile: Mint, blackberry, black plum, black currant, cedar, graphite, tobacco, leather, bay leaf, chocolate, licorice, juniper berry, vanilla, walnut
Palate: Dry, high acid, high tannin, full body, long finish
Blend: Cabernet Sauvignon 58%, Merlot 21%, Cabernet Franc 16%, Malbec 3%, Petit Verdot 2%
Score Breakdown: Balance 38/40, Aroma/flavor 19/20, Concentration 15/15, Length 15/15, Complexity 10/10 = Score: 97 points
Stonestreet
7111 Highway 128 · Healdsburg, CA 95448
Pros: Really interesting high end red and white wines, every one of which was outstanding. Excellent service from passionate and knowledgeable staff. Delicious food for pairing. Beautiful view from outdoor tasting area.
Cons: The wines may be cost prohibitive for most people.
After our visit to AVV, we bumbled our way over to the beautiful Stonestreet estate, where we tasted some more exceptional wines. They specialize in Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon (varietal and blends), and truly not a single wine we tasted was a miss. We were greeted with a very Champagne-like sparkling before being led to our table where a board of snacks for pairing was waiting for us.
If you know us, you know we’re sluts for a tannic red (and they have those in spades), but because the Chardonnay at Stonestreet was highly recommended by Katie at AVV, we gave them a shot and they did not disappoint! We got to taste the distinctive differences from grapes grown at varying altitudes in different soil types, with our tasting host, Dylan, pointing out each of the vineyard sites in the mountains that served as the gorgeous backdrop to our tasting.
We also got to taste an incredibly interesting Assyrtiko blend that they’ve recently started offering. As for the cabs/Bordeaux style blends, they were absolutely stunning but pricey, with the cheapest bottles starting around $100 and our favorites from the tasting running more in the $200-300 range. That said, the tasting (which was around $150 for the both of us) was totally worth it, and the food they paired with our wine was fantastic. Highly recommend a visit, don’t forget to bring cash to tip your host, because they don’t have a means to do that by card.
2014 Upper Barn Vineyard Chardonnay / 98 Points / $190
Profile: Cardamom, turmeric, dried mango, dried pineapple, flint, driftwood, nutmeg, potpourri, wet stone, caramel apple, campfire
Palate: Dry, medium acid, full body, long finish
Score Breakdown: Balance 39/40, Aroma&flavor 19/20, Concentration 15/15, Length 15/15, Complexity 10/10 = 98 points
Thumbprint
102 Matheson Street · Healdsburg, CA 95448
Pros: Great wines. Awesome staff. Tastings comped with bottle purchase. Vegan friendly.
Cons: Can be tricky to drop in when it’s busy due to space constraints.
Later in the afternoon we stopped by another one of our local favorites, Thumbprint, which is located in downtown Healdsburg and offers a more casual experience than some of the other places we visited. Thumbprint offers a range of “playfully” named wines like ‘Threesome’ (blend of 3 Bordeaux varietals), ‘Four Play’ (blend of 4) and ‘Climax’ (your guess is as good as ours) at reasonable prices, and the tasting room staff is friendly and attentive.
They have an awesome vegan cheese board (they offer a non-vegan one too, if you’re into that kind of kink), and we tasted through an array of wines that were on par with the best of them. Their offerings are pretty reasonably priced by comparison to many of the wines in the region, and your tasting fee is comped if you just buy one bottle of wine (something not many places offer).
Highlights for us were the Cab Franc, the Three Some, and the Sculpted Cabernet Sauvignon, all of which were outstanding and unique. We left with a couple of bottles of the “Three Some” which we’ve reviewed below.
2019 Three Some Bordeaux Blend / 93+ Points / $66
Profile: Violet, black cherry, blueberry, blackberry, (mixed berry pie), vanilla, chocolate, clove, leather
Palate: Dry, medium+ acid, medium+ tannin, full body, long finish
Blend: Merlot 65%, Malbec 23%, Petite Verdot 12%
Score Breakdown: Balance 38/40, Aroma&flavor 18.5/20, Concentration 15/15, Length 15/15, Complexity 7/10 = 93+ points
Kamen
111B East Napa Street · Sonoma, California 95476
Kamen Estate Wines is a “boutique winery” located in the square in Sonoma that is owned by screenwriter Robert Kamen (the guy who wrote Karate Kid and Taken, to name a couple). Well it turns out the guy knows his way around a grape, because they produce exceptional wines, and are particularly well-known for Cab and Syrah.
When we mentioned to our host, Michaela, how the Syrah reminded us quite a lot of Hermitage, she told us that there is in fact good reason for that. Aside from it simply being an awesome Syrah, it turns out that Robert is pals with winemaker Jean-Louis Chave (of the legendary Domaine Jean-Louis Chave in Hermitage), and when Robert asked if he could take a few cuttings from the vineyards to bring home Jean-Louis naturally told Robert “Absolutely not!” Of course, he also allegedly said something to the tune of, “… but I am going to work on something over here for a moment, so if you were to take a walk outside, I wouldn’t necessarily see what you are doing out there [wink wink].” Fast forward a few hours to Robert tying some cuttings to his legs and boarding a plane home, thus unofficially creating the first (and perhaps only) Hermitage suitcase vineyard in the US.
Indeed, the Syrah we tasted there was on par with some of the best Hermitage wines we’ve had, so naturally we’ve reviewed it below.
2021 Syrah / 95 Points / $90
Profile: Baked blueberry, violet, black pepper, bacon fat, raw meat, dreams (unrealized), cinnamon, vanilla, yeast, petrichor, lavender, ripe blackberry, pen ink, lemongrass, orange peel, graphite
Palate: Dry, medium+ acid, high tannin, full body, long finish
Score Breakdown: Balance 37/40, Aroma&Flavor 19/20, Intensity 15/15, Length 15/15, Complexity 10/10 = 96 points
There you have it folks — our list of top recommendations from the trip. If you have any questions, please write them in all caps and/or pig-latin below.
And stay tuned next week for a deeper dive into our experience at Alexander Valley Vineyards and… probably some other stuff!
Cool.
Until next time, HAPPY DRINKING PEOPLE.
Cheers,
Isaac & Zach
Very entertaining and interesting read. I loved the story about Kamen and the Hermitage cuttings. Thumbprint is one of my favorite wineries too.
Great stuff! Going in about a month and was planning a Sonoma stint!