Road Trip: 2005 Anderson Valley Pinot Festival
By Sonoma Tony
This month's road trip took us to the annual Anderson Valley Pinot Noir Festival in Philo, California. About 180 miles north of San Francisco, through winding roads and grand Redwood trees all of your senses are treated to the sights, sounds and tastes of the magnificent Anderson Valley.

The first great event held this year is known as the "Grand Tasting under the Tent" at Scharffenberger Cellars in Philo. There, 25 Anderson Valley pinot producers served up their current releases, barrel tastings, and other "surprises". Those lucky enough to get into the sold-out event tasted wines from 11:00 am until 3:00 pm, while feasting on barbequed salmon, salads, exotic cheeses and baked breads and fruit.

The Private Reserve was well represented by members William Boyd, Ron Finlayson, Tom Williams, and yours truly. Decked out in our matching mock-T's with the distinctive Private Reserve logo emblazoned on the front, it would not be an understatement to say the Private Reserve created quite a "buzz" of our own! Everyone wanted to know who we were, how long had we been at it, and what we thought of the wines. So without further adieu, to the wines!

Esterlina
The first challenge... where to begin? Always a favorite with the Private Reserve, we decided to pay our respects to our good friends from Esterlina Vineyards. The Sterling brothers, Eric, the winemaker; Steve, Director of Marketing; and Craig, Vice President and General Counsel were all pouring. Esterlina Vineyards is a Sterling family operated boutique winery located near the Mendocino coast, nestled in the highlands above Philo. The Sterling brothers were pouring their 2001 Anderson Valley Estate pinot, the 2002 Russian River pinot, and 2003 Anderson Valley Estate pre-release pinot. Aged for 26 months in French oak, the 2001 has it all; great color, classic structure and a wonderful finish. This Pinot Noir has hints of vanilla and spice on the nose, with dark berry flavors intense fruit and a balanced core of acidity on the palate.
I found the 2002 Esterlina Pinot Noir to be particularly drinkable with a lush, full mouth-feel. This wine is huge yet has a classic, pinot noir nose, and a floral blend of ripe berries, spice and vanilla. Black cherries, anise, and a hint of sweet caramel are beautifully balanced, and well integrated. The wine has great complexity. And the finish is off the hook!

Goldeneye
Next we visited with Private Reserve friend and winemaker Zachary Rasmuson of Goldeneye Winery. The folks at Goldeneye included the charming and lovely Margaret Duckhorn, a new friend (and mutual acquaintance of John and Daryl Lillie of Atherton). Margaret was pouring the current release 2002 Anderson Valley pinot and the 2003 Migration Pinot Noir.

The 2002 Goldeneye is a well-balanced wine with a lush entry, velvety mouth feel, bright acidity, well-structured tannins, and a lingering finish. The aroma is rich with plum and black cherry mingled with smoked bacon, anise, earth, and caramel. The flavors are ripe with strawberry and cherry followed by toasted oak, clove, and vanilla. This wine received the Private Reserve "high-five" award!

The Migration is smooth and well balanced with bright acidity and soft fruit tannins. The aroma has toasted oak, earth, black currant and strawberry. The flavors are concentrated with plum, black cherry, tobacco, mushroom and nutmeg. A lighter style than their Goldeneye, this wine shows the range and flexibility of the pinot noir varietal.

Londer
Our next stop was at the Londer Vineyards and Winery table. There, Shirley and Larry Londer were pouring their sold-out 2002 Paraboll pinot and the pre-release of their 2003 Anderson Valley pinot. The Paraboll was dark in color, with nose of earth, black fruit and with richness-rose petals and dustiness. There are echoes of black cherries and cola in the mouth with the ripe richness of fresh figs on the mid palate. A late, long aftertaste of red fruit follows with a lingering richness on the palate.

While the sold-out 2002 Anderson Valley pinot was a moderate red color, with bright red fruit, and medium body, the 2003 is much bigger, with a huge nose, darker color and a good long fade into sweet red fruit such as strawberry and even cranberry. This wine also got the Private Reserve "high-five"!

Skewis
As the afternoon wore on we made our way over to Skewis Wines to say hello to Hank and Maggie. Hank was pouring the current release of the Floodgate Vineyard Anderson Valley pinot noir. A very interesting offering, this wine was rich garnet red in color. It had a beautiful nose of dark cherry, raspberry, sweet vanilla, toasted almond and brown spice with a touch of mushroom and earth. A velvety mouth feel with balanced acidity lasts long into the finish. An excellent wine!

At Lazy Creek Ron and Tom were reacquainted with old friend Mary Beth Chandler. After a quick "drive by" of Woodenhead Vintners, Harmonique, Elke Vineyards, and an obligatory stop at Husch Vineyards, we were done for the afternoon.

The Dinner
The highlight of the evening was a four-course dinner at the beautiful Roederer Estate, hosted by Arnaud Weyrich, VP, Production & Winemaker. During the cocktail hour we were treated to a 1996 L'Ermitage. Creamy, deep and every bit as fascinating and complex as many a tete de cuvee from Champagne, this vintage bubbly showed subtle notes of honey and flowers with a lively and elegant mouth feel and a clean, pleasantly acidic finish. This appetizer was rich enough to accompany the entire meal!

The actual meal began with an avocado grapefruit salad, paired with a 2004 Claudia Springs Klindt Vineyard Pinot Gris. The salad shared a plate with a poisson cru in lime juice, coconut milk with fresh mango on endive, and was cleverly paired with a 2003 Esterlina Tres Appellations chardonnay.

The second course consisted of pan-seared maple duck breast with a cherry essence served with apple fennel slaw on puy lentils. This deliciously seasoned, moist, tender and succulent course was paired with a 2002 Esterlina Anderson Valley Estate pinot noir, and a 2002 Harmonique Delicace` pinot noir.

The third course was grilled rack of lamb riblet with roasted beets, buttermilk blue cheese and toasted pumpkin seeds. It was paired with the 2000 Esterlina Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon.

Dessert of pan forte followed, paired with a 2002 Claudia Springs Broken Leg Vineyard zinfandel. After dinner the spotlight shone on the 1990 L'Ermitage. Less subtle than the 1996, this mellow blend of fruit and spice with a floral nose and full mouth was a simply spectacular way to end the evening.

Sunday morning began with a long, dusty drive up to the beautiful home and winery of Murio and Doris Sterling. Doris was cooking up quesadillas, Murio was serving wine, Eric was barbequing, Steve was being the gracious host, and Craig was manning the cash register. A trip to the Esterlina winery and tasting room is truly a memorable event: Combine award winning wines with the personable Sterling family and friendly Esterlina tasting staff, and add one of the most beautiful winery settings in America. Cumulatively, these attributes give visitors a picturesque and unforgettable reprieve from the typical hurried tasting room experience. It felt more like a family reunion!

At this point the brothers of the PR parted company, with Tom off to Goldeneye Winery, Ron off to Lazy Creek, William off to God-knows-where, and I headed home. All I can say is, I can't wait until next year!

The Private Reserve -- Opening Minds To Wine.