What’s more fun than a barrel of monkeys? How about more than
200 barrels full of great Sonoma County wine?
Add a festive party-like atmosphere and plenty of informative
conversations with winemakers and winery owners and what else could
you want?
How about great mid-winter scenery where the mustardy-yellow
vineyards are about to wake up under deep skies full of gray and
white billowy clouds that stretch across the rolling hilltops above
our wide river valleys.
No wonder the annual Barrel Tasting weekends of the Russian
River Wine Road have become one of the most popular (probably,
THE most popular) wine events of any season in Sonoma County.
Begun as a modest affair with just 18 wineries in 1978, this
year’s event will include 130 wineries and will attract as many as
11,000 people for each of the two weekends. Last year’s two-weekend
event attracted 24,000 visitors.
“I’m excited, I really am, even though it’s a very exhausting
weekend for us,” said Beth Costa, who has served as executive
director for the Wine Road for the past 10 years. “We never thought
it would be this popular and successful. It’s a lot of fun and our
winery members that participate really love it.”
Small wineries like A. Rafanelli Winery look forward to the
Barrel Tasting event as a chance to meet old friends and attract a
few new customers as well.
“It gets very hectic here, but it’s a nice event,” said Dave
Rafanelli, a third-generation grower and winemaker in Dry Creek
Valley. Dave’s daughter Shelly has taken over the winery’s
winemaking duties and this year will be joined by a
fifth-generation Rafanelli, her one-year-old son Caden.
Rafanelli will offer barrel samples of its 2008 zinfandel and
2008 cabernet sauvignon and will release its 2007 cabernet
sauvignon to limited sales. (All Rafanelli wine sales are limited
to a two bottle limit for Barrel Tasting weekend.)
Unlike most of the other Wine Country events, Barrel Tasting
comes without special themes, food pairings, seminars or extras.
Barrel tasting is exactly what it says: visiting winemakers in the
cellars and tasting next year’s wine out of the barrel, several
months before it is bottled.
Visitors pay $30 for a weekend of unlimited winery visits where
most of the wineries offer special tastings, wine club
opportunities and complimentary snacks, bread or cheese.
At the heart of the event is the opportunity for people to buy
“futures” of wines at lower prices than will be charged for the
finished wines when they are released later in the year.
Hank Wetzell, of Alexander Valley Vineyards, was president of
the Wine Road the year the first barrel tasting event was held.
“I’m not sure of the entire story about the origin for the event
but I recall we wanted to create an event where we could sell our
futures,” said Wetzell. “I’m not sure the selling of futures has
been as successful as the event itself. But it’s a great
educational opportunity where people can meet and talk to so many
winemakers.”
Selling futures is an old practice and marketing activity in the
wine business, dating back a few hundred years when British folks
would make annual treks to Bordeaux in France to sample barrel lots
and have them shipped back home across the English Channel.
Today, most wine regions through California and beyond hold
events similar to Sonoma County’s Barrel Tasting.
The Wine Road just finished its 19th Winter Wineland event in
January. “It was our most successful Wineland ever,” said Costa.
“People are definitely still interested in buying wine. They might
not be buying whole cases, but they are still coming here.”
For many years, the Barrel Tasting event was free of charge and
everyone had to bring his or her own glass. At today’s price of $30
for unlimited visits, the event is still a great bargain,
especially with the opportunity to score the great savings on
buying “futures.”
Susie Selby, owner of Selby Wines, has been participating in the
annual Barrel Tasting weekend since her younger days as a “cellar
rat” apprentice at Rabbit Ridge.
“I love it,” she said. “It’s a fun event and it has evolved into
a great educational event, too. We see the same people coming back
over the last 15 years we’ve been here.”
Tasting unfinished barrel samples is not at all the same as
tasting finished wines, Selby and others caution.
Wineries offer barrel samples of wines that are just a few
months away from bottling. But sometimes these wines can be
“spritzy” and a little “off nose.”
“You need to keep the wine in your mouth a little longer and let
it aerate more,” advised Selby. Dave Rafanelli urged visitors to
explore for a “fruitiness” in the wines and try to sense its
“structure” that will provide for a full-flavored finished
wine.
“Usually if you find a wine you like in its early stage, you’re
going to love that same wine later,” he said.
Selby agreed. “No one’s ever been disappointed with a wine they
liked when they bought it as a future,” she said. “What you’re
tasting in the barrel is kind of a worst-case scenario. The wine
only gets better from there. So if you love the barrel sample,
you’ll absolutely love it when it’s finished.”
The Wine Road has 161 members, with 130 participating in this
year’s event. Of that total, 80 will be open for tastings each
Friday, as well as the weekends. More than half of the wineries
will be selling “futures.”
Many wineries are located down narrow lanes or country roads.
The most popular tasting hours can be crowded and event organizers
strongly discourage tour buses or large limousines. Visit www.wineroad.com for more
details.
32nd Annual Russian River Wine Road
BARREL TASTING
WHEN: March 6-7 & March 13-14, 11 a.m. – 4. p.m. each day
(Some wineries are also pouring on Fridays, March 5 and 12.)
WHERE: Start at any of the 130 participating wineries and
purchase a $30 ticket (good for an entire weekend at all wineries).
$10 designated driver tickets also available.
MORE INFO: Visit www.wineroad.com or see map in
today’s newspaper. Barrel Tasting is not a food or themed event.
It’s about the wines, meeting the winemakers and tasting “futures”
from the barrel.
For other information call 1-800-723-6336.
