Vino Vigilante: Anderson Valley – The Boonville Boonies

My interlude between Bordeaux and Loire turned into a permanent break. Sorry about that. Between the WSET exams and the six months from hell at work, I lost a little momentum with my posts. I will have some updates about Loire when I get my online wine shop up and running.

Right now however, we have decided to take a wine tasting trip in my parent’s new Acura TL to the lost Mecca of Pinot Noir. It’s not really lost, and nobody is praying east to it, but they do make incredible Pinot Noir in this valley, and not too bad white varietals either. If you are tired of fighting with your neighbor for bar space in Napa or Sonoma, Anderson Valley provides a similar quality product, for about half the price and hassle. I would say it is the number one destination for people that have purchase a luxury car, want to see if it handles “like it’s on rails”, and then want to finish with wine tasting. I suggest you do it in that order because seeing if your car handles on rails after wine tasting is a really, really bad idea.

In the interest of being short and sweet, here is a list of the top five places to visit in the Redwood wine country according to me, my wife and the TL:

Toulouse Vineyards – This is hands down the best winery experience in all of the Anderson Valley and the hospitality rivals a four star resort. They are building a new tasting room, but the current one in the cellar is fun to visit. This is also the #1 place to eat lunch (bring your own of course).
Foursight Wines – Right at the beginning of the Valley, if you are coming from the south, this small family owned vineyard has a relatively new tasting room operated by one of the family members. These are the best wines for the price in the Valley and the family is also very friendly, so you get the best of both worlds.
Husch Vineyards – The oldest winery in Anderson Valley has a nice wooden tasting room with plenty of different varietals to taste. This is a nice midway point to clean the palate with wines such as Chenin Blanc before heading back to 14.0 % Pinot Noir.
Phillips Hill Estates – Probably the best actual Pinot Noir produced in the area (although Toulouse could give Toby a run for his money), this tasting room is right off the road in Philo. In great years these wines have the potential to compete with some of their more expensive brethren from Russian River or Oregon. The release of a new wine called the Boontling has added a great value Pinot Noir to the already impressive line up.
Goldeneye Winery – Although some of the wines scrape the stratosphere for price, one can’t deny their quality. And when Duckhorn does something, they go all out. They are probably the only tasting room that charges a significant tasting fee, but the experience and the wines are worth it even if you don’t have the cash to buy more than one bottle.