Author Archives: Cathy Gartley

Winderlea Vineyard and Winery

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Winderlea Vineyards and Winery

Winderlea Vineyards and Winery

8905 NE Worden Hill Road, Dundee, OR

Website: http://winderlea.com/

I was not familiar with Winderlea Vineyards before I visited. My friend Denise and I heard about it when we asked for a recommendation from some locals. Winderlea Estate tasting room is located in Dundee, right up the street from Erath Winery. They also have a second tasting room in McMinnville. This winery is a second career for owners Bill Sweat and Donna Morris who left their careers in Boston in 2006 to follow their passion for Oregon Pinot Noir. The name Winderlea comes from a property that Bill and Donna purchased in Vermont in 2001 and was made up from the words “Wind” and “Lea”, which translates loosely to “wind in the meadow”. The owners feel this name characterizes their wines and also the special feelings they have for both the place in Vermont and the winery.

Winderlea's tasting room in Dundee

Winderlea’s tasting room in Dundee

The tasting room in Dundee is very modern. It was also quite popular. Getting and in out of the parking lot was a little bit of a challenge because of the small space and cars coming in and out constantly. The exterior of the tasting room reminded me almost of an industrial office building with lots of windows. The industrial theme continues on the interior of the tasting room with a wide open space, stark white walls, and windows from ceiling to floor. Right inside of the entrance was a small, modest tasting bar. The real appeal of this tasting room is that the back side opens up completely to a deck overlooking the vineyards. There is a fabulous view from the back deck. Between the tasting bar and the back deck are several tables and chairs.

This place was so popular when we visited that it was difficult to find a space for a tasting. We managed to grab a little space at the tasting bar after waiting for some people to leave. All of the tables were full, and there was a crowd standing on the back deck. It was literally like being at an afternoon party with a group of 30-40 year olds. Without a doubt, this is the type of winery you would take your best friends to hang out. The Dundee tasting room is open to the public Monday through Friday 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. (check their website to confirm before you go). Reservations are required on Saturdays and Sundays. This doesn’t surprise me considering how busy it was when we were there. A tasting flight includes 5 wines, typically 1 Chardonnay and 4 Pinot Noirs. A large portion of the tasting fee goes to a good cause called iSalud! which provides healthcare services to Oregon vineyard workers and their families. There were a couple of Pinot Noirs that I really enjoyed, the Dundee Hills Vineyard and Meredith Mitchell Pinot Noir for their dark berry and mocha/chocolate notes. I can understand the appeal of this tasting room, but if you are planning a visit be prepared for the crowds.

View from the deck at Winderlea

View from the deck at Winderlea

 

Mayo Family Winery

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Mayo Family Winery

Mayo Family Winery

13101 Arnold Dr, Glen Ellen, CA 95442

Website: http://www.mayofamilywinery.com/

Mayo Family Winery has three different locations in Sonoma Valley. The main tasting room is located in Glen Ellen. Mayo Family Reserve Room is located in Kenwood and offers seated wine and food pairings. The third tasting room is part of the Cellar Door tasting room on the grounds of the Lodge at Sonoma. The Glen Ellen tasting rooms is open until 6:30 p.m., later than most other wineries. That makes this tasting room a popular spot at the end of the day.

Mayo Family Winery was founded in 1993. It is currently run by owners Henry and Diane Mayo and their son Jeffrey. The winery focuses on producing small lot, single vineyard wines. Their wines are only sold online or in one of the tasting rooms. Mayo makes pretty much any varietal of red or white wine that can be grown in Napa or Sonoma, including sparkling wine and a port.

Mayo Family Tasting Room in Glen Ellen

Mayo Family Tasting Room in Glen Ellen

I visited the tasting room in Glen Ellen. From the outside it looks like a big, brown barn. There was a vintage car parked near the doorway to the tasting room. The tasting room inside is a large, open space with bright white walls and ceilings. The wood paneled tasting bar takes up one side of the room. The lighting and windows on the opposite side of the room make the space bright.

There were lots of people around the bar when I arrived but it didn’t feel crowded. The staff was friendly but we had a lot of time between each pour because the server kept leaving us to assist some other customers at the opposite end of bar. Although we understood that the other guests had arrived before us and there were too many people for us to get personalized service, we found ourselves standing around quite a while waiting for our server to come back so we could let her know what we wanted to try next. There were 10 different wines to choose from on the tasting menu. Between my husband and me, we tried 7-8 of them. My personal opinion was that the wines were not as high quality as many of the other wineries I have been to in the area. However, this winery does offer a lot of different varieties that the other wineries do not offer and their late hours make it accessible after the other wineries have closed for the day.

 

Cuvaison

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Cuvaison Carneros Tasting Room

Cuvaison Carneros Tasting Room

1221 Duhig Rd, Napa, CA 94559

Website: http://www.cuvaison.com/

Cuvaison Estate was founded in Calistoga in 1969 by two engineers from the Silicon Valley. In 1979, the Schmidheiny family from Switzerland acquired Cuvaison along with 400 acres of undeveloped land in Carneros. There they built a contemporary tasting room and barrel room.

My visit to the Carneros Tasting Room was a spur of the moment decision. My husband and I were originally intending to grab some lunch at Boonfly Café off of route 121, but they had a long wait and we didn’t want to cut into our wine tasting time too much. Our next idea was to stop in at Domaine Carneros up the street for a light snack, but they were even busier than the restaurant. As we headed out of the parking lot trying to figure out where to go next, we saw the sign for Cuvaison with their phone number to call to make an appointment. My husband picked up his cell phone and explained to the woman who answered that we were sitting at the end of their driveway and would like to come in for a tasting if they had an opening. Lucky for us they graciously welcomed us up to the winery.

Private tasting area inside Cuvaison Tasting Room

Private tasting area inside Cuvaison Tasting Room

The outside structure of the Carneros Tasting Room is rather modest compared to the neighboring chateau of Domaine Carneros. However, I was surprised by the sleek, contemporary interior. When we walked in, to our left was a lounge area with sofas and to the right was the main tasting area.

One of the unique features of this winery is that all of the tastings are seated. A hostess greeted us at the door and confirmed our reservation. She then walked us over to one of the tables next to the bar, handed us a tasting menu and explained the two different options available. For each wine that we sampled our hostess told us about the wine and then gave us all the time that we wanted to savor it and enjoy ourselves. The views from the tasting room are magnificent. Three of the four walls are made of windows from ceiling to floor and look out over rolling fields of vines. There is also an outdoor terrace with tables. All of the wines I tried were enjoyable. My only regret is that we visited in February and the vines weren’t in bloom. I can imagine how spectacular the view is when the vines are lush and green.

An aspect of this winery that I really like is that they are environmentally conscious. The Carneros production facility is powered by more than 1,400 solar panels. They practice sustainable winemaking practices and are continuously looking for ways to reduce their impact on our environment. For example, they have partnered with a recycling company to recycle corks and turn them into self-sustaining products. We also noticed on the way out that they had a charging station for electric cars in their parking area.

The owners of this winery also purchased Brandlin Vineyards on Mount Veeder in 1998, which focuses on Cabernet Sauvignon and Zinfandel. An added bonus to visiting this tasting room is getting sample the Brandlin wines as part of the tasting flight.

Looking out on the vineyards from Cuvaison Tasting Room in February

Looking out on the vineyards from Cuvaison Tasting Room in February