Tardy Winery Reviews

Posted on March 9, 2009 by Sonadora

Way back in September I had the excellent fortune to be sent to San Francisco for a conference for my job (somehow, blogging doesn’t pay the bills….) and I met up with some excellent wine friends who kindly shuttled me around during my free time.  When I arrived Russ picked me up at the airport so we could go hiking in the Santa Cruz Mountains.  More on that in another post.  After our hike we spirited off to Thomas Fogarty to taste some wine.

2005 Santa Cruz Mountains Estate Chardonnay: $35. Butter, oak, apple, peach, honey, mouth filling, spice, peach, clean fruit.

2006 Monterey Gewurztraminer: $17.50.  I took home 3 bottles. Peach, orange blossoms, floral, so aromatic, smooth, orange, laced with spice. Fabulous.

2006 Michaud Vineyard Pinot Noir: $48. Strawberry crumble, pie, dirt, orange zest, strawberry, cherry, a little hot.

2006 Santa Cruz Pinot Noir: $25. Mushrooms, earth, leather, red fruit, cranberry, a little hot.

2003 Barbiolo: $35. Blend of Barbera and Nebbiolo.  Smoky, roses, red fruit, dark, spicy, bitter, currants.

2004 Martella Syrah: $55. Funky, burnt toast, vanilla, dark cherry, currants.

2003 Santa Cruz Cabernet Sauvignon: $50.  Reserved, spice, tannins, berries, cherries, fresh fruit, eucalyptus, vanilla.

2003 Vallerga Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon: $50.  Herbal, forrest floor, dark berry, herbs, blackberries, sour cherries, pepper.

2007 Barbera Rose: $21. Strawberry, really dry, delicious, flowers, lime, cranberry. I took one home.

I found the Thomas Fogarty property to be beautiful, and the view from the grounds unbeatable.  The tasting room seemed decently sized, and we were the only visitors on a Wednesday afternoon.  I especially enjoyed the Gewurztraminer, and would highly recommend it.

Filed under: California, Thomas Fogarty, Vineyards, Winehiker, Wineries | 6 Comments »

Rose, Rose, I Love You

Posted on October 23, 2008 by Sonadora


I pulled out the 2007 Thomas Fogarty Rose of Barbera from Fiddletown Vineyards to drink the other night. I picked this up at the winery while Russ and I were tasting for $22. It had a real cork closure and clocked in at 14.1% alcohol by volume. I loved this at the tasting and the fact that it was made from Barbera grapes intrigued me, so I took a bottle home!

All I can say at first about this is wine is YUM! And I loved the bright pink color! On the nose I found slight cream, lime, strawberry, cherry, watermelon, and spice. The nose smelled refreshing and I couldn’t wait to drink the whole glass and then some. Overall, the mouth showed the same flavors as the nose, though I got even more red fruit, raspberries, cherries, strawberries, in the mouth than I did on the nose.

In the mouth, the wine showed dry as a bone. It’s a crisp Rose with racy acidity. I wish I had found this one when the weather was more suited for Rose as it’s just fantastic! I end with the same sentiment I started with: YUM!

Filed under: California, Rose, Thomas Fogarty, Winehiker | 3 Comments »

WBW #50 Which Wine Which Wilderness

Posted on October 8, 2008 by Sonadora


That’s right folks, WBW crept up on us again this month. Our host for this golden birthday of WBW is a man who recently celebrated his own golden birthday, Russ, the Winehiker! In keeping with his interests and passions, Russ has set the theme for this WBW at Which wine, which wilderness? By this he meant he would like us to choose a wine we would like to drink after hiking a trail. He wants us to name the wine and the trail, and you get bonus points for choosing a local wine to the trail you select. You can get all the details here.

So here’s the thing. On the scale of athletic to unathletic, I fall squarely in the “unathletic” camp. I force myself to exercise because it’s good for me and with the amount of wine I consume I’d probably be the size of adult elephant in no time flat if I didn’t. Sure, I’ve been on hikes. I hiked halfway up Mt. Moosilauke in NH before the altitude made it too hard for me to breathe and I got an asthma attack….but in reality I’m more of a “wine stroller” than a hiker.

Another notch against me is that within the Metro DC area, trails are simply not abundant. You’d have to drive a bit to get to anything remotely strenuous.

After considerable thought, I’ve decided that my trail is the Mt. Vernon Trail. We walk this one quite frequently as it’s beautiful and very close to our house. The Mt. Vernon Trail goes all the way from Mt. Vernon to Roosevelt Island, all along the banks of the Potomac River. It’s about 18 miles long, fully paved, and is open to both walkers/runners and bicycles. Matt and I like to walk back and forth along about a 4 mile stretch of this trail, through a pretty marsh land and up into Old Town Alexandria.

If I were to have a glass of wine at the end of this, I’d stop along the way at one of the many picnic spots along the scenic Potomac (you can see lots of the monuments from the trail) and pop the cork on a bottle of the 2006 Thomas Fogarty Gewurztraminer in honor of Russ himself and the wine hike he took me on a few weeks ago that ended with a tasting at Thomas Fogarty in the Santa Cruz Mountains!

The above picture is a Banana Slug I took a picture of while hiking with Russ. These creatures fascinated me and I’m sure it annoyed Russ to no end that I kept stopping to examine them and take loads of photos!

The Thomas Fogarty 2006 Gewurztraminer hails from Monterey County. It cost me $17 at the winery, clocked in at 14.5% alcohol by volume, and had a real cork closure. On the nose I found orange blossom, honey, ginger, lime, spice, tropical fruit, lychee, flowers, and something almost nutty. The nose on this wine kept going and going, so aromatic. You could smell your glass across the room. In the mouth I got flavors of citrus, oranges, tropical fruit, spice, and ginger.

Overall, the wine seemed light and sprightly. It had a great mineral quality, and the acidity really made it a refreshing wine. I would drink this at the end of a long hike/walk on the Mt. Vernon Trail because it it would be the perfect pick me up and would be a wonderful wine to drink while surrounded by great views of Washington, DC.

Many thanks to Russ for hosting us in this edition of WBW and as always, a tip of the hat to Lenn of Lenndevours, our founder who has kept WBW going for 50 iterations.

Filed under: California, Gewurztraminer, Lenndevours, Thomas Fogarty, White, Winehiker | 3 Comments »

A Gift from Farley

Posted on April 25, 2007 by Sonadora

You know that we met Farley of Wine Outlook on trip to California. What you might not know is that she was absolutely darling and brought Matt and I wine as a house-warming present on account of our new home. In addition to the two bottles she brought that we took home with us, she also had this bottle of Thomas Fogarty 2002 Lexington Meritage that she had opened in the tasting room earlier that day. Hardy any was gone from the bottle and she brought the rest of it for Matt and I to enjoy that evening. And, we even got our very own Thomas Fogarty glasses to drink it out of. I don’t think I can thank Farley enough for her very thoughful and delicious gifts!

You should go get some. This was an absolutely delicious blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc, clocking in at 14.5% alcohol by volume with a real cork closure. The nose on the wine was incredibly complex. Layers of currants, blackberries, plums, a toasty note with cedar, spices also coming though. In the mouth this wine was tart and juicy, with raspberries, currants and blackberries.

Overall this wine was smooth and drinking incredibly well right now. Though, admittedly, that could have been due to the fact that it was open for at least 4 hours before we drank it since it had to travel an hour or more with Farley to the restaurant, then it sat for over two hours while we ate and chatted and then had to travel an hour back to our inn! I pictured serving it with the bacon-wrapped cornish hens I made earlier this year.

Thanks again Farley for sharing this incredibly tasty wine with us!

Filed under: California, Red, Thomas Fogarty, Wine Outlook | 4 Comments »