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I have to say, after almost a year of living in the Napa Valley, I don’t get the unspoken and sometimes over-spoken rivalry between Napa and Sonoma. All wines from either of these regions are bounce-off-the-walls delightful, so can’t we just all get along? If Berlin can drop their walls, I think we, as wine country inhabitants, can drop our attitudes about the “other” valley. If you still want to hold on to your grudge out of principal then fine, blame your sojourn to the “other side” on the blossoming trees and mustard that are going on all over Alexander and Knights Valley. Their sights are quite different than what we’ve got going on our side of the hump. Just like the wines, both are dandy in their own right and worthwhile of seeing and experiencing on many levels. Wine aside the 5+ mile long tree tunnel that you will coast through as you approach those valleys is almost as remarkable as Washington DC’s cherry blossoms. So grab your bike or buggy, and a buddy and see what all the fuss is about. I’m done ranting, on to the wine! One of the nice things about White Oak’s neck of the woods is the expansive feel of the land there. Farm country abounding. So when you belly up to the tasting bar, you could just as easily be in a tasting room in Tuscany, in your own little wine world. They have an amazing outdoor setting for casual picnicking, racks for your bikes, and a total "room with a view" inside of the tasting room. As you sip your slurp-worthy delights you can gaze out the gi-normous picture window behind the wine-barista. Cari-Anne my faithful wine dog companion was right at home nuzzling up to winery patrons outside as I imbibed indoors. It’s no secret that I love my hound, but I fell in love with a species of a different varietal on this tasting day. The 2008 Russian River Chardonnay was a scent like no other with a taste to match. Some of the sweet-tart tendencies of apples blended with a smooth wallop of pear - yum, yum. Zingy and smooth, all in one swig. The 2007 Alexander Valley Zinfandel rocked my wine world. If I had to sum it up in one low-brow word I would say “toasty!” If I had more words I would say: toasty, toasty, bro
wn sugar roasty. Light on the tongue yet beyond robust in taste. I wanted to slip-slide-away with a bottle of my very own. When I thought it couldn’t get any better I was poured a taste of the 2005 Alexander Valley Reserve. A dandy desert type of wine, without all the obnoxiously overly sugared hype. It was sweet like candy and caramel corn (that’s what it conjured for me) but smooth and highly drinkable like only a good wine can be. So if you want a light desert style wine this one is a beaut. Well, that’s all, wine folks. For me, I ended the day biking back to where I came from, with a great appreciation for the “other” side of the wine tracks. We are all lucky to be living here in our collective wine country. Whether you’re from the Napa side or the Sonoma side, nobody can argue that we make some of the best wines in the world and we get to enjoy them in one of the most beautiful spots around, so get out there and enjoy all the vino that is just a hop, skip and a scoot away. Wacky WineSense Rating: 4.7 grapes!
I have to say, after almost a year of living in the Napa Valley, I don’t get the unspoken and sometimes over-spoken rivalry between Napa and Sonoma. All wines from either of these regions are bounce-off-the-walls delightful, so can’t we just all get along? If Berlin can drop their walls, I think we, as wine country inhabitants, can drop our attitudes about the “other” valley. If you still want to hold on to your grudge out of principal then fine, blame your sojourn to the “other side” on the blossoming trees and mustard that are going on all over Alexander and Knights Valley. Their sights are quite different than what we’ve got going on our side of the hump. Just like the wines, both are dandy in their own right and worthwhile of seeing and experiencing on many levels. Wine aside the 5+ mile long tree tunnel that you will coast through as you approach those valleys is almost as remarkable as Washington DC’s cherry blossoms. So grab your bike or buggy, and a buddy and see what all the fuss is about. I’m done ranting, on to the wine! One of the nice things about White Oak’s neck of the woods is the expansive feel of the land there. Farm country abounding. So when you belly up to the tasting bar, you could just as easily be in a tasting room in Tuscany, in your own little wine world. They have an amazing outdoor setting for casual picnicking, racks for your bikes, and a total "room with a view" inside of the tasting room. As you sip your slurp-worthy delights you can gaze out the gi-normous picture window behind the wine-barista. Cari-Anne my faithful wine dog companion was right at home nuzzling up to winery patrons outside as I imbibed indoors. It’s no secret that I love my hound, but I fell in love with a species of a different varietal on this tasting day. The 2008 Russian River Chardonnay was a scent like no other with a taste to match. Some of the sweet-tart tendencies of apples blended with a smooth wallop of pear - yum, yum. Zingy and smooth, all in one swig. The 2007 Alexander Valley Zinfandel rocked my wine world. If I had to sum it up in one low-brow word I would say “toasty!” If I had more words I would say: toasty, toasty, bro
wn sugar roasty. Light on the tongue yet beyond robust in taste. I wanted to slip-slide-away with a bottle of my very own. When I thought it couldn’t get any better I was poured a taste of the 2005 Alexander Valley Reserve. A dandy desert type of wine, without all the obnoxiously overly sugared hype. It was sweet like candy and caramel corn (that’s what it conjured for me) but smooth and highly drinkable like only a good wine can be. So if you want a light desert style wine this one is a beaut. Well, that’s all, wine folks. For me, I ended the day biking back to where I came from, with a great appreciation for the “other” side of the wine tracks. We are all lucky to be living here in our collective wine country. Whether you’re from the Napa side or the Sonoma side, nobody can argue that we make some of the best wines in the world and we get to enjoy them in one of the most beautiful spots around, so get out there and enjoy all the vino that is just a hop, skip and a scoot away. Wacky WineSense Rating: 4.7 grapes!
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