Spring Mountain Sapor.

I recently had a chance to visit a few wineries on a beautiful day up in the Spring Mountain District.

Paloma
Barbara was nice enough to give us a great visual tour of the property from the deck of her beautiful home. It is a very small property with 15 planted acres consisting mostly of Merlot with a touch of Cabernet. I’m amazed at how much work Barbara and Jim have done all by themselves. For example, they did all the pruning until a few years ago, spending 2½ months straight and working nine hour days. Now that’s dedication! On a side note, Barbara loves hummingbirds and she fills her two feeders 6 times daily using an estimated 12 tons of sugar a year (give or take 11.8 tons).

2005 Paloma Merlot- Blueberries, blackberries and cocoa dominate the palate with hints of five spice, cherries, and wood. Floral with violets and cedar on the nose. Slightly clipped finish. Solid Napa Merlot.

Behrens & Hitchcock (Now Erna Schein)
Robin was a delightful host and gave us a very informative tasting. One of my questions (and probably yours) was, why the name change? My shortened take on it is that Bob Hitchcock retired and wanted a certain $$ amount for the naming rights to B&H and the number couldn’t be agreed upon so Erna Schein was formed. Luckily for us the wines haven’t changed, just the name. We tasted around 10 wines so I have just a few notes on my favorites.

2005 Erna Schein Herrick Moulds Cabernet- Killer wine! Very structured yet still approachable and delicious. Could easily compete with wines twice the price. Buy!

2005 Erna Schein Jersey Boy- Not a wow wine but more of everyday drinker. Blend of Merlot, Cab Franc, Cab Sauv, Syrah, and Petite. Good wine.

Barnett Winery
Arrived late (Robin is quite the talker) but was still greeted warmly. Had a so-so Chardonnay on the deck then a good Pinot Noir from Savoy Vineyard in Anderson Valley. I won a free corkscrew by correctly naming a varietal of grape that has red flesh. I will send you the corkscrew if you can give me the answer to the above question in the comments section of the blog (only 1 winner, no returns, not liable if injured by corkscrew, not valid outside of continental U.S., not open to BPWine employees). From there we migrated to the winery and barrel tasted the ’06 Rattlesnake Cabernet, then headed on our way.

2006 Barnett Vineyards Pinot Noir Savoy Vineyard- Very young but showing some beautiful Anderson Valley aromatics that I love. Smells like raspberries crushed with a granite mortar and pestle then dusted with rose petals.

Cheers,
Cory