{"id":1300,"date":"2019-06-30T17:58:16","date_gmt":"2019-06-30T17:58:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=1300"},"modified":"2019-06-30T18:19:05","modified_gmt":"2019-06-30T18:19:05","slug":"gary-farrell-winery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=1300","title":{"rendered":"Gary Farrell Winery"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you want to know about California winemaking in the 21st<\/sup> century, you need to get acquainted with the Russian River Valley.\u00a0 The history of nearby Napa Valley is more renowned and California would not be the powerhouse on the world\u2019s wine stage if it weren\u2019t for Napa Cabernet Sauvignons.\u00a0 But that is certainly not the whole story; Russian River\u2019s Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs deserve just as much attention.<\/p>\n

We say this because we love visiting this corner of Wine Country.\u00a0 We also have to be honest and say that we actually prefer Pinot Noirs from Carneros and Santa Lucia Highlands.\u00a0 But Power Tasting<\/em> is all about the wine tasting experience, and there are few as pleasant as driving the small meandering roads of Russian River Valley.\u00a0 And there are few wineries where the tasting experience is as pleasant as at Gary Farrell Winery (http:\/\/www.garyfarrellwinery.com<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Mr. Farrell began the winery in the late 1970\u2019s and produced wines under his own label in 1982.\u00a0 He has long-since sold it and the team that owns it now has considerable winemaking chops.\u00a0 None of this is necessary knowledge for you to enjoy your visit there.\u00a0 The winery is a wee bit hard to find.\u00a0 First you have to find Westside Road, naturally enough on the west side of the Russian River.\u00a0 You will love driving along this shady road, really feeling that you have discovered Wine Country.<\/p>\n

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The view from Gary Farrell Winery<\/em><\/p>\n

Then keep your eyes open for a sign announcing the Gary Farrell Winery.\u00a0 Take a narrow road up a hill and the tasting room is right before you. It\u2019s a handsome, modernist building and most importantly it is nestled above the trees.\u00a0 If an eagle wanted to go wine tasting, it would land at this winery first.<\/p>\n

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The interior is also a welcoming blend of wood and windows, with an ample terrace where you can sip your wines.\u00a0 There\u2019s something about Pinot Noir and treetops that go together quite well.\u00a0 What you won\u2019t see from the winery are vineyards.\u00a0 Gary Farrell sources its grapes and does so from some of the better-regarded vineyards in Russian River, such as Rochioli<\/a>, Baciagalupi, and Martinelli<\/a>.\u00a0 They have recently begun sourcing from further afield and now make wines from the great Bien Nacido vineyard in Santa Maria county.<\/p>\n

As a result, a tasting at Gary Farrell can be a tour of different terroirs in the hands of a single winemaking team.\u00a0 That too is an important part of the wine tasting experience.<\/p>\n

The winery\u2019s web site now says that they are open by appointment only.\u00a0 We have never had one and have never been turned away but they do seem more insistent now.\u00a0 Their web site also says that the tastings take quite a lot of time, a minimum of one and a quarter hours. \u00a0We certainly don\u2019t advocate gulping down your wines, but their estimate seems a bit sluggish to us, even with time to admire the view.<\/p>\n

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If you want to know about California winemaking in the 21st century, you need to get acquainted with the Russian River Valley.\u00a0 The history of nearby Napa Valley is more renowned and California would not be the powerhouse on the world\u2019s wine stage if it weren\u2019t for Napa Cabernet Sauvignons.\u00a0 But that is certainly not … Continue reading Gary Farrell Winery<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1300"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1300"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1300\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1303,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1300\/revisions\/1303"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1300"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1300"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1300"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}