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I am really excited about the new tasting room about to open at Swanson Vineyards in Napa Valley. Sure, they’re known for Merlot, and for the elegant Salon wine tasting experience. That’s an intimate sit down tasting, paired with caviar and chocolates. Super luxe, right? But it’s also limited to groups of 8, a couple times a day. What if you want to stop by and try a few bottlings? Up until now, you were SOL. Although they’re not taking text reservations (not yet anyway!), soon you’ll be able to phone up and stop in at the new Sip Shop. The bright red and white striped room is whimsical and fun. Not your average tasting room!

Here you can sip flights of Swanson’s wine, paired with some small bites. One signature pairing will be the Swanson Pinot Grigio matched with American caviar on a potato chip. Mmmm. Opening is planned for June 1st. Yes you do have to call ahead, as tastings are by appointment only. Calling on your way there qualifies. There will be a fee for tasting, from $14-$28 per tasting. Stay tuned.

Meanwhile, I joined a group of wine writers and bloggers in a tasting led by winemaker Chris Phelps. He’s tweaked the blends since joining the winery in 2003, and you can taste the results in the 2005 and 2007 Merlot and 2007 “Alexis” Cab, which show lots of fruit and finesse. The ’08 Cab in barrel is lush and should develop quite nicely.

The Merlots fall into the description “iron fist in a velvet glove” and have a voluptuous mouth feel, full of lots of ripe black fruits. The Pinot Grigio is a beautiful wine for sipping on the warm days of summer. The rice body comes from time spent on the lees. The perfect ending – a glass of the 2005 “ Tardif,” a late harvest Chardonnay.
Our tasting took place in the Salon, and as you can see, it’s a beautiful space, with high ceilings and bright coral walls. Here’s the TV story we did about it for In Wine Country.

http://www.inwinecountry.com/?cat=7274242&subcat=5901916&video=243

Last week I was at two wineries who have taken the wine tasting experience outside. What a great alternative to the crowded, standing room only, traditional winery tasting bars.

Frog’s Leap Winery in Rutherford is one of the most beautiful places in Napa Valley. They are organic and sustainable, and the ground around the winery features a working garden and hen house (they sell to local restaurants) and pond. The red barn is a wine country icon.

The seated tastings are something fairly new for Frog’s Leap, so if you haven’t been in a few years, be sure to check it out next time you’re in Napa. The tasting is four wines, and you sit outside on the big veranda of the Vineyard House, with a terrific view. Reservations not necessary, but in the summer you might want to make one. Cost is $15 per person. Of course you can go on one of two daily tours for free.

By the way, here’s a feature we did on In Wine Country a couple years ago about Frog’s Leap.

Have you heard of Elizabeth Spencer Wines?

This is a fairly new winery, with what just might be the smallest tasting room in Napa Valley. It’s housed in what was the original Rutherford post office. The building is a mere 300 sq. ft. We also featured the tasting room on In Wine Country.

Now there is a very cool garden outdoor seating area, where you can sit, relax and enjoy your wine tasting.

For Cabernet fans, you might want to go for the Appellation tasting.  Elizabeth Spencer is best known for its Cabs.

The tasting takes place in an open air room, with a view of the garden patio.  The Cabs are paired with chocolate and other small bites. The regular tasting is $15; the Appellation tasting is $40. Reservations required for each.

Conn Creek Winey in Napa Valley has a cool program where you get hands-on experience blending wine. It takes place it their AVA Room (American Viticulture Areas), where you step into the role of winemaker as you sample 15 single vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon wines straight from the barrel. These 15 wines are all from the 15 appellations, or wine growing regions, that are in the Napa Valley. Conn Creek uses many of them for its signature Cab blend, Anthology. Blending is a critical tool in the winemaker’s toolbox, because often a blend will turn out to be way better than a single vineyard wine.

These barrels are grouped according to flavor and body, going from soft and light to big and bold. As I taste and make notes, a few favorites pop out. Once I’d decided on the Cab components, I still had more decisions to make. One is choosing a blending wine to add spice. The “spice rack” wines are Merlot, Cab Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot. I decide to use Merlot and Cab Franc. I asked why wouldn’t you use all 15 base wines, and the answer was that it would be like using all 64 crayons in the big box — you would end up with black. I certainly don’t want a black, muddy wine. What I chose instead:

Conn Creek Rutherford estate: Love the big nose, juicy finish and silky texture [Supple]
Volker Estate Chiles Valley: So good! Floral nose, well-balanced, excellent [Complex]
Stagecoach Vineyard Atlas Peak: Nice complex nose, soft tannins [Complex]
Frediani Vineyard Calistoga: Ohh the nose is wonderful, brambles, cassis, black fruits, chocolate [Bold]
Merlot: Velvety
Cabernet Franc: Lovely floral nose

The next decision is how much of each wine to put into the blend. This is trial and error time. I went with the wines I liked the most in bigger percentages.

30% – Chiles Valley
30% – Stagecoach
15% – Conn Creek Estate
15% – Frediani
5% – Merlot
5% – Cab Franc

You add wines to a graduated cylinder, and then once you have 100% you dump the wine into a glass, then swirl, sniff and sip. Well, my blend wasn’t as good as I thought it would be. It was a little too fruity and that made it seem sweet.  While there is a wine educator on hand for the blending experience, the idea is really for you to do it on your own.  But I was happy that Conn Creek’s winemaker, Mike McGrath, dropped by.  He tasted my wine and immediately knew what was missing. Richness, in the form of earthy. He suggested adding some of the Newton Vineyard Mt. Veeder [Rich]. So I reworked my blend. Still not there. Now it was missing acid. I added a very small amount of Truchard Vineyard from Carneros [Soft] and it was amazing to me that it instantly made my blend taste really good. It’s like a light bulb went on. This blending is an art, and much harder than I expected. Here’s the “recipe” for my final blend:

20% – Chiles Valley
20% – Stagecoach
10% -Conn Creek Estate
15% – Frediani
5% – Merlot
5% – Cab Franc

Plus new additions:
5% – Truchard
15% – Mt. Veeder
5% – Petit Verdot

Now that I had my blend down, it was time to design the label. I’m no artist, so I went very simple — rolling hills and a sun. Once that’s done, you fill the bottle, cork it and slap on the label. That’s it — a bottle of wine you can take home to enjoy with friends and family.

Last, but not least, you get to taste Conn Creek’s flagship Cabernet Sauvignon blend, Anthology and you can compare your results to the pro winemakers. Turns out the blend for the current Anthology is 76% Cab, 10% Merlot, 8% Malbec, 4% Petit Verdot and 2% Cab Franc. I didn’t get the breakdown of the Cabs blended — after all that’s their “secret sauce.”
Anthology is powerful yet smooth and rich.

When I got home, my husband wanted to taste the wine immediately, but we had to wait at least 40 days to let the wine settle and go through bottle shock. So he tracked it on his calendar. On day 41 he wanted to open it, but the dinner I had made wouldn’t be a good match. A few weeks later I was ready; we popped the cork. I was a little worried the wine wouldn’t be any good, so I was pleasantly surprised by the floral nose with a hint of vanilla. There was lots of dark red fruit, a little tobacco and mint. The tannins were there, but they were soft. I was happy with my wine.  And I want to do it all again!

Taking part in the blending experience at Conn Creek really shows that there is an art and a skill to blending wine. It also shows the diversity of Cabernet grown in Napa Valley — there is not a uniform taste or character. That in turn shows the influence of terroir on the grape. Being a winemaker for a day is a lot of fun, and its an activity you can share with friends or family.