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Pinot Noir Winery Crawl - Sonoma, Russian River, Dry Creek - Acorn & Alegria Vineyards |
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Written by Tony Lima
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Monday, 11 August 2008 16:00 |
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Page 5 of 8 Acorn Winery & Alegria Vineyards, Russian River, is a small gem, producing only 3.000 cases annually. We decided to visit them because we had just tasted the Stryker Sonomia wine-maker’s version of zinfandel using 100% Acorn- Alegria Vineyards grapes. We were quite curious about what the original grape sourcer might produce with the same grapes. At Acorn, we found that winemakers Bill Nachbaur & Alison Green Doran offer tasting from a small, utilitarian converted store room. Think garage, very real, very rustic, a real farm. You need to call for an appointment because Bill and Alison are busy doing real chores. Bill was a very congenial host, providing valuable snippets of information about the wine business, viticulture, and local competition. Bill also pointed us to Selby wines in downtown Healdsburg.. We especially enjoyed the 2005 Alegria Vineyard "Heritage Vines" zinfandel ($34). Whereas Stryker used 100% Alegria grapes for their Alegria zinfandel , Bill and Alison have added 10% each of alicante bouschet and petite sirah to the Alegria grapes (which themselves are actually a “field blend” of 9 varietals among the mostly zinfandel) to produce a wine with "aromas of ripe blackberry, vanilla, and toasty oak. Smooth luscious layers of plum, black raspberry, cocoa, and spicy black pepper mingle with the essence of strawberry from the Carignane and Cinsaut. The Petite Sirah and Alicante provide subtle tannins and structure and add to the lingering flavors of dark-skinned fruit." (from the winery's tasting notes). Much to our surprise, because we don’t usually like sangiovese, we bought a bottle of the 2005 Alegria Vineyards Russian River Valley sangiovese ($26). This wine was aged in Hungarian oak with one barrel out of every 40 smoked. Again I can't do better than excerpts from the winery's tasting notes: "Smoky aromas of dusty tannins mingle with hints of vanilla, mocha and black pepper. ... luscious, toasty center through to the broad spicy finish... . Creamy mocha and vanillin oak notes join classic flavors of plum and dark cherry." All these wines say Bill and Alison know what they're doing.
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Last Updated ( Sunday, 20 September 2009 13:40 )
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North Sonoma