Marguerite Ryan Cellars

I discovered Marguerite Ryan's Pinot Noir at my local wine shop about a year ago. I went back and picked up two more bottles today. They still had some of the Ryan 2003 Peay Vineyard Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir, which was a fairly low production of only 196 cases produced. They also had a new shipment of Ryan 2004 Birkmyer Vineyard Wild Horse Valley Pinot Noir, and only 52 cases were vinted. I was told the Birkmyer might not be made again, and was made in honor of Jim Birkmyer, who passed away recently.

There is no website for Ryan Cellars, but I found some background on the winemaker at Weimax, a wine retailer in Burlingame (scroll to bottom of page).

We tasted the 2003 Peay Vineyard last night. It has a nice round berry flavor, is balanced, good finish, overall a very pleasing Pinot. I would serve it for any Pinot drinkers and doubt anyone would be disappointed. I would rate it a 88/100. Downside for this wine (like many Pinots) is its not very affordable at $48/bottle.

Gary's Vineyard

Just read an interesting summary of a Pinot from Loring that sounds worth trying at WineCast. There are many wineries buying their Pinot grapes from Gary's Vinyard, including Testarossa, so they seem to have a very special grape they are growing. I will add this to my list of potential Pinots once I get some to taste.

My Local Wine Shop (HMB Wine and Cheese)

I was thinking about my comment about Adelaida Pinot being hard to buy, and was reminded of a recent trip to my local wine merchant, Half Moon Bay Wine and Cheese. I dropped by the shop with a friend and we were looking to pick up a nice bottle for dinner that night. I started talking with the proprietor about Pinots and before you know it we tasted an incredible bottle of Pinot from Ryan Cellars. I don't think this particular winemaker (Ryan Cellars) even has a website yet, but it was a very nice full-bodied Pinot, and I left the store with three bottles of wine.

I noticed HMB Wine & Cheese currently has an impressive list of Pinots shown on their website, so I will have to stop by again soon and see what else I can find. I guess being in Northern California, some wine merchants do carry the low production wines.

Pinot Noir, The Trendy Wine

Ever since the film Sideways was released, the Pinot seems to be the trendy wine of California. When people are visiting California or trying to figure out what type of wine to ship home, it is usually a Pinot. It seems like it used to be a Cabernet, or maybe a Merlot, but now, Pinot.

Keeping with the times, one of my favorite producers of Pinot Noir is Adelaida Cellars. Adelaida Cellars is located west of Paso Robles a little ways off Highway 46, and has a really nice selection of wines. But my favorite wines from Adelaida are their HMR Vineyard Pinots. I have ordered bottles from several vintages and some large formats and never been disappointed.

Adelaida has some wine clubs (I am a member of their Viking Club), has a great tasting room, and wonderful wines. They tend to be low production wines, so you probably won't find them at your local wine merchant or restaurant. They sell out fairly quickly, and I like the Estate and Estate Reserve HMR Pinot.

Collecting California Wines

I started seriously enjoying and collecting California wines in the early 1990's, primarily focusing on Napa Cabernet. I recall joining a wine club offered by Ambrosia . I still lived in the Chicago area at the time, and the club exposed me to some great California wines, without having to make the trip west. Of course, I did have opportunities to visit Napa and Sonoma Counties over the years, which is much more enlightening than merely tasting the finished products. In 2001, we took advantage of the opportunity to relocate to the Bay Area, making wine country visits even more convenient.