2006-04-06
by Charles Neave
At one time if you wanted to sample the wines of Charles Creek Vineyard you either had to have a friend who ordered them and had them delivered, or you ordered them yourself. But all that has changed. Now their award-winning wines can be sampled at their tasting room and gallery located on the historic Sonoma Plaza.
These are wines that come with a pedigree a mile long, and there is a wall full of medals and awards to prove it. In fact just recently the wines of Charles Creek continued their acquisition of strong reviews from such respected publications as the “California Grapevine” and the “Connoisseur’s Guide to California Wine.” As just one example, their “Very Highly Recommended - 91 Point” review for the 2004 Las Abuelas Chardonnay was better than many of the other more expensive wines reviewed in the same issue.
As further evidence of their excellence, their 2002 Napa/Sonoma Charles Creek Vineyard “Miradero” scored in the top three at the prestigious Vintners Club tasting in San Francisco in January of this year, besting wines that were priced far higher. This blind tasting of California Merlots versus the wines of Pomerol and St. Emilion (some costing almost a hundred dollars) involved a total of 35 wine experts.
As Bill Brinton, proprietor of Charles Creek, said after the tasting, “Once again, these results validate our strategy of providing high-quality, world-class wines, at good value and price. To give you an idea about some of the other attendees at the tasting, we had two assistant winemakers with over ten years experience at my table: The assistant winemaker from Pride Mountain, and the assistant winemaker from Thomas Fogarty, both super premium wineries.”
Even more recently additional accolades have been added to an already lengthy list, as Charles Creek Vineyards took home Gold medals on each of the three 2004 Chardonnays: “Las Patolitas” Sonoma County, “La Sorpresa” Sonoma (Carneros) and “Las Abuelas” Napa (Carneros) at the widely respected San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition.
To try the wines, a visit to the Sonoma tasting room is in order. The tasting room and gallery is a treat in itself. A constantly changing collection of original art – from photography and sometimes whimsical folk art, to drawings and paintings – adorns the walls. The cabinets and zinc-topped tasting bar are antiques, with that day’s tasting selections written on the ends of barrels behind the bar.
Then there are the wines. Perhaps a sample of the 94-point Charles Creek 2003 “Las Patolitas” Chardonnay. Or the 89-point 2004 “La Sorpresa” Chardonnay, plus of course that exceptional “Las Abuelas.”
When it comes to red wines your choices include the well-rounded Merlot, the “Miradero,” and a Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon called “La Sonrisa del Tecolote” that has scored 92 points in the Wine Enthusiast for its abundance of cassis, black cherry, dark plum and red currant fruit flavors, and for an intriguing hint of chocolate. Both are multiple-gold medal winners, by the way. There is also a relatively new release, the 2003 “Las Pasiones” Sonoma Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. Even more amazing is the fact that all of the wines are very reasonably priced considering their limited quality and small production. All in all, it makes for a compelling reason to head to the town of Sonoma to find out for yourself what many other people already know, that these are wines worth making a special trip for.
If you’d like to sample the wines of Charles Creek Vineyard, their tasting room is open from 11 a.m. until 6 p.m. every day. They’re conveniently located right across the street from the Plaza in Sonoma at 483 First Street West. For more information, contact them at (707) 935-3848 (the tasting room) or (707) 996-6622 (main office) or look them up on your computer at www.charlescreek.com.
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