Micro Wineries

Vinify, a Santa Rosa custom crush outfit, held a tasting on Sunday.  They process grapes for wineries too small to have their own facilities -- mom and pop outfits.  Vinify had an open house with tastings from 19 wineries pouring an average of three or four wines each.  Some rankings and very short notes follow.

I went for red wines only and tasting mostly Pinot Noirs with some Syrahs plus a couple others.

Best Winery 

Gracianna Winery was my favorite overall.  I tasted two wines form the Bacigalupi Vineyards--a Pinot and a Zinfandel.  Both were excellent.

Favorite Wines

The Top Wines:

Desmond 2008 Russian River Pinot Noir.  Nice fruit; well balanced.

Pfendler Vineyards 2007 Pfendler Vyds Pinot Noir.  Excellent balance

Other Excellent Wines:

Gracianna Winery 2008 Bacigalupi Vyds Pinot Noir. Just a touch hot (alcoholic) to keep it from being the best Pinot.

Gracianna Winery 2008 Bacigalupi Vyds Zinfandel.   Great fruit.   But when you put two nice Italian names together like Gracianna and Bacigalupi how could it not be great?

Olson Ogden Wines Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir.  Fruity and complex with a bit of a alcoholic finish.

Westerhold Family Vineyards 2007 Bennett Vly Syrah.  A medium depth wine with nice spiciness.

Other Very Good Wines:

Baker Lane 2008 Ramondo Pinot Noir.  Bright strawberries.

Blagden Wine 2007 Sangiacomo Pinot Noir.  Complex and balanced.  Wife thought it was stinky.

Bjornstad Cellars 2007 van der Kamp Vyd Pinot Noir.  The best of the three Pinots but a bit hot.

Lattanzio Wines 2008 W.E. Bottoms Pinot Noir.  Soft, smooth, and easy drinking.

Olson Ogden Wines 2007 Unti Vyd Syrah. Nice spices, needs time to develop.

Pfendler Vineyards 2008 Pfendler Vyds Pinot Noir. Fruity, but a bit hot.  A bit overdone.

Sojourn Cellars 2008 Gap's Crown Vyd Pinot Noir.  Not ready but has potential.

Sojourn Cellars  2008 Sangiacomo Vyd Pinot Noir.  Not quite ready but has a lot going on.