It was an unseasonably warm day in the Santa Ynez Valley and somehow I found myself at Bridlewood Estate Winery. Now you know this has the making for a great afternoon. I settled up at the bar for a little wine tasting to try and escape, or forget, the hot afternoon. We were scheduled to start with white wines and work our way into my favorites – Reds!! Toy, our first pourer promised an afternoon of wine and education. As a fan of the reds, I asked to skip the Chardonnay but she told me I would not be disappointed.

We started with 3 Chardonnays – 2009 MC, 2010 chardonnay Reserve and 2009 Chardonnay Reserve. I must pause right now and thank Toy for making me try these. The 2010 was amazing! It was stored in what they called the “Egg” which is a cement barrel. The flavor of this wine was so crisp and refreshing – I was very impressed!!

Next we moved into the Viogner. These we tasted as a progression from 2008 – 2010. I found these too to all be very good and refreshing on such a warm day. I found it very interesting how the wines from the same area change from year to year. At this point Gabe was pouring for us and did such a great job explaining the differences in the wines without being too over my head. If you would like to have a pour from Gabe you will need to head south to Australia – he is leaving in a few weeks to pour drinks on the beach down under.

Finally – we moved onto my favorites – the Reds! Not only did we change colors but we also changed pourers. Daffnee came on to tell us about the Pinot and GSM blend (grenache-syrah-mourvedre). I learned from Daffnee that it takes a couple tastes to get the full taste on your pallet. I thought it would be brilliant to take a quick taste of all three to see which I like the best. I love learning new things! I found these to all be equally delicious. We fished the tasting off with three Syrahs from 2007 – English Pleasure, Dusty Trails and Six Gun. Being the “tough” biker I am, I thought I would like the Six Gun the best but low-and-behold, I fancied the English Pleasure.

All in all it was a great afternoon and I thoroughly enjoyed all the wines and the entire staff. If all this is not reason enough for you to go then go because as a Club Chumash member you can show your card and get  two complimentary Classic Tastings and 15% off your wine purchase. 

What is your favorite wine from the area?