Visited: October 2008

Cline wines have always been a standby for me.  They are relatively inexpensive, of decent quality and are widely distributed.  All of these factors led me to believe that Cline Cellars would be a fairly commercial facility with a big parking lot and crowded tasting facility. This couldn’t have been farther from the truth.

Driving down the long entrance at Cline, between row upon row of zinfandel, I was excited to find a smallish, older house that was the tasting facility.  Inside the house there was a small bar that wrapped around one corner of the room.  There were six or seven people around the bar when we walked in.  We were quickly acknowledged and handed a tasting sheet, only having to wait a minute or two to pony up to the bar.  Not at all what I had expected!  While Cline does not have a large selection of wines, they do have a niche that they manage quite well.  We enjoyed an old vine zin, an ancient vine zin and an ancient vine mourvedre.  The zins were pretty standard and an awesome value, but the mourvedre was a different animal altogether.  On the nose it had odors of mold or rotten fruit, but it was very different (in a good way) on the palette.  The tasting room staff informed us that this was a fairly rare bottle and not widely distributed, but I have been able to find them in the Cincinnati area.  I would say that it’s definitely worth trying if you haven’t had it….you only live once and I hear that your liver likes mourvedre.  We didn’t end up walking with any wine from Cline, but it was cool stop on the trip.

Another fun Napa and Sonoma winery fact is that all of the wineries close at 5 or 6 PM.  I was hoping to get a couple more wineries in on day one, but as it turns out, five or six is about all that I can handle.

If you haven’t tried the Cline Syrah, do it.  You won’t be disapointed.  At a $12 price point, it’s an excellent wine and a very decent value - we ended up having one with lunch a day later.

-Ryan

Visited: October 2008

I should probably preface this review with the fact that this was the very first winery that we visited in the Napa/Sonoma area over the course of a five day period. Package this with a healthy ignorance of California wineries and a quick drink in San Francisco, and you have the recipe for a good time.

The approach to Viansa is truly picturesque.  While this was not to be the largest or grandest winery that we were to visit, its hillside setting, with old school-looking cellar and tasting facility was an acceptable way to start the trip.  My wife and I found the tasting room staff to be friendly and accommodating, and totally unwilling to let us taste any of their wines that were not ready. Our server totally shot me down on my first two selections from the tasting sheet, saying “I wouldn’t waste your time on that one. Or that one.”  After a couple of bust choices, I deferred totally to the server. I let her pick the entire tasting, and she didn’t disapoint.  The tasting fee was a ten-spot, and five healthy pours later, I was in an excellent mood.  Viansa’s array of reds was truly expansive at over 20 wines; however, only a few were impressive.

What was not impressive at Viansa was their “Italian Marketplace”, which was supposed to boast “…hundreds of delicious foods to complement their wines.”  Also not impressive was the origin of the name, Viansa.

I had assumed that the name belonged to some Italian immigrant, who had crossed the Atlantic in the mid-1400s on a medieval yacht; probably a pirate ship loaded with cannons and treasure. I had hoped that Guiseppe Viansa had planted some vines from clippings stolen from a monastery in Tuscany after nearly dying from scurvy and cannibalism during his voyage.  Unfortunately, that was not the case.  The name “Viansa” is derived from “Vicki and Sam”.  I like mine better.

Needless to say, after being so impressed with the view, the servers, and the need to buy something; my wife and I ended up rolling with a bottle of 2005 Sempre Avanti @ $32 (a “Super Tuscan”) and a 2005 Freisa  @ $25.

2005 Sempre Avanti - or “Always Forward” is a damn good blended red.  It must have been, or I wouldn’t have bought it.

2005 Freisa - According to Viansa, Freisa is an Italian varietal that is rarely grown in California.  It was actually the only freisa that I recall seeing throughout our 19 winery trip.  This wine was done in French oak for 18 months, and I recall that it had a little bite and lacked the refinement of the Sempre Avanti.  What the hell, I was intrigued.

Ciao!
Ryan