Fresh and Fruity

Posted on October 23, 2007 by Sonadora

The wine of the night was a 2001 Yoakim Bridge Zinfandel from Dry Creek Valley. The bottle cost us $33 at the vineyard, clocked in at 14.5% alcohol by volume, and had a real cork closure. We visited Yoakim Bridge on our last trip to CA and it was one of our favorite stops. The owners were so friendly, they offered us meatballs to eat and even sent a personal email thanking us for visiting and purchasing wine when we got home.

The first thing I notice about the wine were the fresh berries jumping out of the glass from afar! It smelled delicious with raspberries, blackberries, and vanilla cream on the nose with hints of chocolate and pepper. The nose was very fruit foward.

The fruit follows through in the mouth and is very fresh on the palate. There were raspberries and other red fruit. The mouthfeel was lighter than I expected.

Overall, this was a really delicious bottle of wine and I am happy we have another bottle of it hanging around. I served the wine with steak and raspberry jam wine reduction over 4 cheese risotto with fresh green beans. An excellent match and a pair I’d make again with this wine.

Filed under: California, Red, Yoakim Bridge, Zinfandel | 2 Comments »

Wine with a Smile

Posted on May 29, 2007 by Sonadora

Pulling up to Yoakim Bridge reminded me of pulling up to a cabin to go camping at. The winery was rustic and looked very inviting. And, as many people say, first impressions are often right; everything about Yoakim Bridge was inviting. The winery is only open to the public Friday-Sunday, unless you call for an appointment. Tasting fee is supposedly $10, though we were not asked for it and it was never mentioned.

Walking into the tasting room, we were immediately greeted very exhuberantly by Virginia, one of the two owners of Yoakim Bridge. We were then offered meatballs, which she had simmering in a crock pot behind the tasting bar. And they were delicious, made in their own special wine sauce. Virginia made sure we were red wine drinkers, as, in her words: “We don’t do white wines here, we’re red only!” Much to the disappointment of the people who walked in behind us, as they were looking for white wines and walked away with out even tasting, despite our encouragement to try something new….red is divine!

Yoakim Bridge is a very small operation. They’ve been around for just over 10 years and don’t have any tasting room help, just the two owners, both of whom were pouring wine that Friday. Along with the very friendly and adorable winery dogs. I would highly recommend a visit to Yoakim Bridge. The wines were delicious, the people fantastic and the atmosphere great, even after we got home, we got a personal email from Virginia thanking us for visiting and for purchasing wine. Little things like that go a long way with me.

2001 Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel: $32. Raspberry and chocolate on the nose. Oak and raspberries in the mouth with a long finish. Could age longer in my opinion. We took home 2 bottles.

2004 Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel: $32. Pepper, blackberry and oak. Overall, quite spicy!

2004 Dry Creek Valley Merlot: $34. Toasty, with the distinct scent of sausage. Strawberries and spice in the mouth, I relaly liked the flavors in this one.

Three Valley Cuvee NV: $34. Violets and other flowers on the nose. Mint, and dried raspberries, the tannins were heavy on this wine. The grapes come from 13 differents vineyards.

2002 Dry Creek Valley Syrah: $34. Dark fruit, blackberries and blueberries. Vanilla notes and spice. Definitely age this one longer.

Filed under: California, Tasting, Vineyards, Yoakim Bridge | 2 Comments »