Franciscan Equilibrium

According to TFM's Inspriations magazine, Franciscan's Equilibrium will be coming into the store.  I took the opportunity to go to Franciscan winery to sample it (okay and other wines too).

Franciscan Winery.

Franciscan's tasting room.  Tasting Equilibrium.

Equilbrium was VERY nice.  An estate wine from Napa Valley, its a blend of  Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Muscast.  Equilibrium is crisp, balanced and refreshing with peach and a hint of floral notes.  For me the PERFECT summer wine (bummer, for me, it's fall).    If this is in TFM when I come back for my tastings on October 24th and 25th I will definitely pour it.  It's a  must try.

On with my day.  Off to taste more wines for you (okay, and me too).

Two GREAT Wineries

So much wine, so little time!

Having been in Napa and Sonoma for six days now, I have to say there is no better wine tasting than a private one.  Bellying on up to the bar falls short on wine appreciation.  

The first GREAT winery is B Cellars.  This was new for us (Dave and I).  We sampled eight wines, and each was phenominal.  Balanced, easy pairing, and great on its own and paired with food.  Dave and I couldn't ask for more.  It was difficult deciding what wines to purchase and in the end bought a case, joined the wine club, PLUS bought futures on six bottles of Pinot Noir (to be released May, 2015).  This was the first wine tasting stop of the day, so you cannot say we purchased all this because we had too much to drink.

The tasting room is less than a year old.  We were in a private tasting room with a beautiful view.  Chris lead our tasting and he was very informative. Our wines were paired with a charcuterie plate.  Talk about wine.  Swirl, sip, savor.  Paired with food.  ... Dave and I didn't want to leave. 

It's Crush and at B Cellars.  We were able to watch them load the grapes into the hopper, go through destemming, with the "bad" grapes being kicked out and remaining grapes going through to the end.  We even sampled some of the grapes from the yellow bins (VERY tasty).

(I don't have my blog photographer with me (miss you Bruce) so I take the pictures unless I can rely on the kindness of strangers. Thank you Chris for the above picture.) 

As we walked through the winery to the tasting room we stopped along the way to sample the new vintage Savignon Blanc from a French cement egg. A tad cloudy, but aroma and flavor ... wonderful!  (I enjoy a wine fermented in French cement eggs.  You can even ask Lori and Joe.)  

The second great winery is Patz & Hall.  This was not new to Dave and I.  We have enjoyed their wines for a couple years now.

Patz & Hall's tasting facility is also new.  Very relaxing.  We sat in the shade with a delightful cool breeze.

Upon arrival, Dave and I were seated outside, relaxing with a glass of sparkling wine.  It's Patz & Hall's first vintage.  Nice bubbles with a hint of fruit and yeast.  

Our tasting was in the private salon.  Heather, one of the owners, lead our tasting.  What more could we ask for, but to have the owner walk us through the tasting?!


Both B Cellars and Patz & Hall are favorites.  In conversations with Chris and Heather, Dave and I realize that both wineries, aside from growing their own grapes, also source from the same vineyards.  I must say, they source from some of the best and most sought after vineyards.  It's no wonder we LOVE the wines from both wineries.

CHEERS!  Off to some of our favorite Sonoma wineries.