Welcome to the Wine Buying Guide

As a wine enthusiast living in the San Francisco Bay area, I have the luxury of being able to head off to local wineries at a moments notice to taste or buy wines. As a result, my wine collection is a mixture of wine club offerings and limited release wines that I've picked up at the wineries and are usually available only at those wineries. I realize, however, that not everyone has that opportunity. Their source of wines is typically the local grocery or package store where they either buy an old standard, look for a recommended wine, or employ a hit or miss strategy for trying new wines. With the growth of the internet, online wine purchasing opportunities are now plentiful. The question, though, is what to buy. Yes, just about all of the wineries now offer their products through internet sales, but which of those wines are worth the effort and shipping costs? This blog is dedicated to providing information for wine lovers to assist them in their online buying decisions. As I visit local wineries, I will relate my findings through the blog to give readers an idea of what wines I find that I'd recommend to others. These are usually wines that I buy myself, or wish I could buy if I had an unlimited budget for wine purchases. Each entry will provide information about the location of the winery, varietals with which the winery specializes, the costs of the wines, website links, and my own recommendations. If they have had their wines rated by some of the better known reviewers, such as Robert Parker, I will mention that also, as well as the winery's own tasting notes, if they are particularly helpful or entertaining. To give you a sense of my tastes, I tend toward Pinot Noirs and Zinfandels. I've run across numerous other varietals that I enjoy, but I'm always particularly interested in Pinots and Zins. A good Cabernet Sauvigon or Chardonnay hits the spot, too. Favorites include Kunde Century Vines Zinfandel, Sonoma-Cutrer The Cutrer Chardonnay, La Crema Anderson Valley Pinot Noir, and Valley of the Moon Old Vine Zin. The trouble here is, unless you've visited the winery, you've probably not tasted these wines. There are many wonderful, small production wines out there and I hope to pass on my favorites through this forum.

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Husch Vineyards

On a trip through the Anderson Valley about this time last year, my sweetie and I stumbled upon what has to be the cutest tasting room in California.  Husch Vineyards displays their wines in a converted pony barn that dates back to the 1800s.  The atmosphere is quaint and understated.  Their wines, however, are sophisticated and bold.

The winery is located at 4400 Highway 128, Philo, CA.  We'd had a wonderful lunch in Mendocino, and then aimed the car down to the Anderson Valley for an afternoon of wine tasting.  I've had wines from the region, but this was my first visit.

The prize of the day was the 2009 La Ribera Vineyard Old Vine Zinfandel.  I found the product of the 55 year old vineyard to be just to my liking and consistent with my previously stated penchant for the old vines.  We opened the bottle we purchased last night and found a deep purple, jammy wine that met the description emblazoned on the bottle, "The resulting wine is fruit forward with blackberry, plum and currant flavors with nuances of spice and toasty oak."  It complemented our dinner of pork tenderloin and garlic mashed potatoes.  As with many exceptional low production wines (475 cases), the 2009 version of this wine is sold out, according to the Husch website (www.huschvineyards.com), but since I bought this last year just before the new year, I'd expect to see the 2010 vintage released sometime soon.  Look for it.

We also enjoyed the 2007 Special Reserve Charonnay ($25). Husch's tasting notes on the Special Reserve say, "The 2007 Special Reserve Chardonnay shows aromas of English toffee, nutmeg, and allspice with golden delicious apple, honeysuckle, pear and a healthy dose of toasty oak and subtle yeast notes. On the palate toffee and fresh baked bread flavors mingle with ripe pear and apple followed by jasmine and mineral overtones. Creamy oak enhances the rich mouth feel, helps integrate the fruit and spice and leads to a long finish." Husch produced 364 cases of this wine.  While this wine met my sweetie's preference for the creamy/buttery California style, the 2009 One Vine Chardonnay ($18) provided a nice example of a more traditional style with a blend of oak and stainless, providing a bright, fruity minerality to the wine. 

Priority Release, the Husch wine club, sends six bottles twice a year. The typical shipment is about $110, including shipping and taxes for the closer members, $10-$15 more for shipments to states that are farther away. Members receive a 20 percent discount on purchases and have access to low production and library wines. Members are also invited to Husch's annual picnic.

If you are in the area, Husch is a great place to stop for a tasting.  If you're looking for a nice wine online, take a look at their website.  At this time, their reserve Pinots are sold out, as is the old vine Zin.  But keep looking back, the Zin is worth looking for.
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Location: Mendocino, CA, USA

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