Our wine country experience began Monday morning with the drive up to Healdsburg from San Francisco. We had a 10:30 appointment at Seghesio for a tasting at their Chef's Table. We actually began with a couple of wines in the tasting room and more on a tour of the winery before the main event, which paired several small plates with some of Seghesio's best wines. Our tasting room wines began with the 2010 Pinot Grigio, followed by the 2009 Pinot Noir. We then had the 2009 Grenache before getting to the winery's specialty, Zinfandel. The two new releases we had were the 2008 Cortina and the 2008 Rockpile, before our final wine on the tour portion, the 2008 Omaggio, which is a blend of Cabernet and Sangiovese.
We then moved on to the food and wine pairings, which were excellent. The first dish was a Shrimp and Corn Ravioli, which was paired with a 2004 Home Ranch Zinfandel. That was followed by Chicken Pietro with the 2006 Old Vine Zinfandel, and Meatballs with the 2004 San Lorenzo Zin. We then had Flank Steak paired with the 2006 Home Ranch Petite Sirah before finishing with Rogue Creamery Blue Cheese paired with the 2005 Dionigia dessert wine. We then moved out to the terrace where the sun was shining after a foggy morning and finished with the 2008 Chianti Station Sangiovese. Overall, it was a great tasting and a wonderful way to kick off the week.From Seghesio, we headed out Dry Creek Rd and made our way to the Family Wineries of Dry Creek tasting room, with the goal of tasting the latest wines from Dashe Cellars. The setup of the tasting afforded us a chance to sample some other wineries products as well, so we ended up tasting wines from four producers. The others we had were the 2009 Philip Staley Russian River Grenache, the 2007 Mietz Pinot Noir, and the 2006 Collier Falls Petite Sirah. None of the wines were particularly outstanding, but the Dashe wines were impressive. From Dashe we were able to taste the 2009 Dry Creek Zinfandel, the 2008 Todd Bros Ranch Zin, and the 2008 Late Harvest Zin, a sweet dessert wine.
Our third and final stop of the day was Ridge, where we were given a tour of the Lytton Springs vineyard and production facility before a private tasting. It was great to be able to step into the vineyards, and the wines were all pretty outstanding, especially the finish. We began with the 2009 Mikaluko Chardonnay before diving into the reds with the 2007 Mazzoni Home Ranch Zinfandel. That was followed by the 2009 Lytton Springs, the 2009 Pagani Zin, and the 2005 Lytton Estate Grenache. Finally, we were able to taste the 2007 Monte Bello, which was my first experience with the famous California Cabernet blend. I must say I was quite impressed, as it was very elegant with a lot of the earthiness I expect from wines of Bordeaux. It was a great way to finish off our first day of tasting before heading to Healdsburg for one last memorable experience that evening.For dinner Monday night, we were able to get a reservation at Cyrus, the Michelin two-star restaurant in Healdsburg. We all opted for the eight-course tasting menu with wine pairings, and the 3+ hour dinner was quite a dining experience. Along with the eight courses listed on the menu, there were many other treats thrown in, impeccable service from start to finish, and some amazing food that stretched our boundaries and let us experience flavors and combinations I'm don't think any of us had tried before. All in all, it was an incredible first day, and an amazing way to kick off the trip.
