Pride Mountain tasting

Pride Mountain Winery has gotten a lot of "Internet buzz" and other word-of-mouth acclaim amongst winos to where they are sort of a cult winery in that their wines are highly praised and somewhat expensive.  Where they might fall down on the "cult-o-meter" is in that you can actually buy the wines rather than wait on a mailing list for years to get that privilege.

Image from pridewines.com

On Sept. 21st the Wine Spectrum Wine Bar in Santa Rosa hosted a Pride Mountain tasting--five of their wines for $15!  Sounded like too good of a deal to pass up.

2008 Napa Valley CHARDONNAY, $45

Zesty and more acid than many Chards which is usually good for my tastes, but this wine seemed a bit disjointed.  As there was a front of the mouth roundness and fruitiness then the tartness in the back.   Two separate parts that just didn't fit together.  There are a number of Chards at half the price I'd rather drink.

2009 Sonoma County VIOGNIER, $49

Luscious with honey and just a bit of acidity to where you can drink this by itself or with a meal.  I think seafoods, cream-based pastas, some slightly spicy dishes and even some deserts would work well.  So it's a very versatile wine.

2008 Sonoma County SYRAH, $69

Big, complex, dense, packed with flavor, and not ready yet, but this should be quite the wine in a few years.   Serve with a big, beefy dish in about 2015.  Or maybe 2020.

2006 Napa/Sonoma MERLOT, $65

Until now I was sure the best Merlot I'd ever had was a Shafer at a Merlot tasting in Napa a few years ago.   I believe Shafer has met its match.   Spicy, complex, deep, and a very serious Merlot with the tannins to age.  Bad news:  The winery is out of the 2006.  Maybe the Wine Spectrum still has a few bottles (I don't think I bought the last ones).

2007 Napa/Sonoma CABERNET SAUVIGNON, $79

A multi-layered Cab of great structure and balance. Lots of red, black and blue fruits. You should lay this one down for a decade though it's fairly approachable now if you like 'em big.


I honestly find the prices a bit steep on many of their wines (my perceived quality for the price), but you can't fight success and Pride Mountains has definitely had lots.   Though the reason I was lucky enough to be able to taste their wines at a local wine bar may be because the over $50 wine market is as flat as a pancake right now.