From reading the blog you know we drink Groth at home so we were excited about this one. Great architecture, an old Spanish style building. We were joined by friends from San Francisco which was fun. We had a table set up for us in their great room with glasses, info about the wine, and a nice view. We only got to try 4 wines which was different…most places served 6+. Our hostess was pleasant but her delivery seemed very rehearsed. It was more of a lecture than a conversation. She would pour a glass, give her talk, then let us enjoy privately which made the experience better. The wines were all good…sauvignon blanc, chardonnay, cab, and reserve cab. We did the 2 cabs side by side which was good because initially the regular cab was best then after 5 mins of air the reserve was clearly superior. This was more personal than Joseph Phelps but still kind of corporate feeling. I was able to wrangle a bottle of 2004 Cabernet from them at a reasonable price which was perfect because I was missing it for my vertical tasting at home. The reserve cab for $125 was very fairly priced and worth buying. We checked out their insect haven/garden afterwards which was interesting but not as impressive as they made it out to be. Overall a fun/different experience, it was good to see the more business like kind of tasting and something worth doing but I’d try to avoid more than 1 winery like this on a single trip. Between Groth and Phelps I thought Phelps was much prettier but the wine was better at Groth. Appointment only.

http://www.grothwines.com

Great little spot when we pulled up. Small bar counter style tasting with room to do 2 tastings at once. The staff was friendly and the wines were good. Standard selection of cab, zin, bordeaux style blend, chardonnay…etc. We really enjoyed one of their limited edition wines called Mon Chou…a semi Bordeaux blend. You may be noticing a theme in our buying by this point. We watched them press some grapes in the back but not much of a tour. We weren’t rushed at all but we were in and out in 30-40 minutes or so which was fast relatively speaking. Considering it’s appointment only if you stop by here plan on a short visit.

http://www.elysewinery.com/

This was a great find, compliments of Ian from Wine Library.  Definitely tucked away off the beaten, dusty, impossibly curvy path, you literally have to drive off the road to get here.  We arrived early and were treated to some water and a seat on the terrace where the views were not quite as expansive as some of the other vineyards (we were in a valley after all) but we were pleasantly entertained by some lizards running around and seeing a group of ladies leaving, arms full of wine and clearly having a great time.  Expect an intimate tasting, it was us, a couple stools, some great conversation and a bunch of great wines.  We heard the owners’ story (always neat to hear when it’s actually an interesting story) and tried some unique wines considering where we were (such as mourvedre).  This was an excellent tasting and we went home with a bottle of chard and mourvedre.  Appointment only, very low key and focused on the wine.

http://www.neyersvineyards.com/

When you arrived at Phelps you could tell you were pulling up to a large, commercial vineyard.  It was a serious driveway entering the property (some of them you could have just as easily pulled into someone’s personal driveway instead of up to the winery, which we may or may not have done on this trip…) but you knew you were approaching a big production.  The grounds were truly impressive, and the view was spectacular, but don’t expect that up close and personal tour that we received at other vineyards.  We chose the terrace tasting option and were ushered to the outside terrace area for the actual tasting itself.  Everyone was pleasant, and you could easily go through this one without talking to anyone or learning about any of the wines.  We tasted a couple chardonnays, a sauvignon blanc, a couple very nice cabs, and a delightful take on eiswein (Eisrébe).  Instead of the grapes naturally freezing they artificially freeze them after harvest to create the sweet, concentrated flavor.  We split the tasting (I love that they give you that option – not unique to Phelps) and found it to be a good value for the variety of wines we tasted.  The staff was knowledgeable and helpful if you could carve out a few minutes to speak with them.  Walked away from this one seriously contemplating an expensive bottle of cab, but settled on a bottle of Eisrébe.  Appointment only, self-paced, not super relaxing but still a nice overall experience.   

http://www.josephphelps.com/