I left my "Wine Buzz" followers in a cliff hanger for the past 2 weeks wondering what wine and food pairing would my wine ambassadors and I be experiencing on days 3 & 4 of our Napa/Sonoma trip. You might think my wine ambassadors and I would have had enough wine and food after the first two days- not a chance!

On Tuesday, Feb. 9^th my group and I drove to Sonoma to one of the best Zinfandel producers in all of California- Ravenswood Winery. The winery's tag line is "No Wimpy Wines" and that is most definitely reflected in the hearty reds they produce. At Ravenswood, Zinfandel is king and one would immediately figure that out with the 16 different bottlings of that one varietal. Some other varietals that Ravenswood is known for are Petite Sirah, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Carignane and one of my personal favorites, a wonderful red Rhone blend- "Icon", which is made up of 88% Syrah, 6% Mourvedre and 6% Grenache. We tasted several wines that afternoon and the one that I favored the most was the Ravenswood Belloni Vineyard Zinfandel '06. The wine is juicy, balanced, complex and has flavors of boysenberry, blueberry, allspice and vanilla. We topped off our afternoon with a visit from the Ravenswood Winemaker, Joel Peterson, who dropped by to say hello to our group and to personally thank Wildfire for pouring the Ravenswood "Lodi" Zinfandel by the glass in all 8 of our locations. We all thought it was so considerate of Joel to take time out of his busy schedule and since most of the group had never met an actual winemaker before, it was a pretty special experience!

We had some down time after lunch and more than half of the group decided that they needed to take a nap before going to dinner and three of us, myself included, chose to walk around the town of Sonoma to check out the sights and to burn a few of the calories that we consumed during our tasting and lunch at Ravenswood.

For dinner my group traveled to Blackstone Winery which is located in town of Kenwood in Sonoma. Although Blackstone is well known for their Merlot, I was very impressed with a wine that they served at our dinner that is only available to purchase at the winery- the Blackstone Reserve Syrah '06. The wine is concentrated, smoky & has rich, black fruit flavors. The wine was paired with a Homemade Shepherd's Pie made with Farmed Raised Chicken instead of typical ground beef. It was a perfect wine and food paring on a cold February evening in Sonoma!  

The last and perhaps the best day of the entire trip started out by traveling once again to Sonoma but, this time to visit one of the most famous and oldest wineries in the Alexander Valley region - Clos du Bois.  Although my group was very familiar with the Clos du Bois Chardonnay '08 and the Clos du Bois Pinot Noir '07 which we offer at all Wildfire locations, we were very impressed with many other wines that we experienced during our sit down tasting and lunch at the winery. My favorite wine we had during the tasting portion of our visit was the Calcaire Chardonnay '06. This wine has rich, spicy aromas and offers a creamy texture with hints of toast and crisp fruit flavors. Oddly enough, my favorite wine and food pairing at the lunch was another Chardonnay and although I am not typically a Chardonnay drinker, the Clos du Bois Reserve Chardonnay '07 paired with a Grilled Romaine Salad with Meyer Lemon Vinaigrette could only be described as perfection - I didn't want it to end. The wine has ripe apple and pear aromatics and intense fruit forward flavors along with nuances of toffee and vanilla. What a way to spend an afternoon- really rough!

The only way to top our time we had at Clos du Bois was with a no holds bar, 6 course wine and food pairing dinner prepared by Winery Executive Chef, Eric Lee and hosted by the head winemaker himself, Steve Reeder at the amazing Simi Winery! The consensus of the group as far as the favorite wine of the evening was the Simi Landslide Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon '05. This wine has intense plum, black cherry and cassis aromas with blackberry, cocoa and spice flavors. The wine is full bodied and has layers of complexity and depth. The wine was so good that I will definitely end up putting the "Landslide Cabernet" on by the bottle for the next Wildfire wine list change in the fall. Overall, I can safely say that the dinner at Simi was one of the best meals that any of us have ever had. The intimate dining room, the glorious wine, the scrumptious food and most of all, the time spent with one of the most influential winemakers in all of Napa or Sonoma. Steve Reeder was a dream host! He was so funny, engaging, entertaining and overall just very gracious to our group. We felt extremely honored that Steve was a part of our last night in wine country. It was a night to remember and cherish and we felt that the trip ended with a big bang!

My next trip to wine country begins on Monday, March 15^th with a different group of Wildfire Wine Ambassadors and I can't wait to share new wineries, wine & food pairings and stories for my next blog entry from Sonoma, CA.

Cheers to you!

Brad Wermager