{"id":2117,"date":"2022-06-29T14:05:51","date_gmt":"2022-06-29T14:05:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=2117"},"modified":"2022-06-29T14:05:51","modified_gmt":"2022-06-29T14:05:51","slug":"mattebella-vineyards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=2117","title":{"rendered":"Mattebella Vineyards"},"content":{"rendered":"

When we first arrived at Mattebella Vineyards (www.mattebella.com<\/a>) we were a bit flummoxed.\u00a0 For one thing, we couldn\u2019t see a winery from the parking lot.\u00a0 What we did see was a statue of a large red dog guarding the vineyards.\u00a0 Had we stumbled on at the home of Clifford the Big Red Dog by accident?\u00a0 But no, a few feet further along there was a statue of a large blue<\/em> dog, and this one had an air tank in its back.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

A statue of a large red dog stands in front of the vines.<\/em><\/p>\n

A bit further on, there was a quite inviting garden, with tables, umbrellas, gazebos, sofas and people seemingly at an elegant party, sipping wine and snacking on charcuterie from large planks.\u00a0 Had we crashed a private party?<\/p>\n

In a short while, someone led us to an empty table besides rose bushes and, in time, a woman came by offering us the tasting list.\u00a0 (We didn\u2019t know at the time that the woman was the co-proprietor, Christine Tobin.\u00a0 Her husband Mark is the winemaker and the winery is named for their children, Matthew and Isabella.) This was not the usual offering of the latest releases of the winery\u2019s production.\u00a0 There were red and white verticals available!\u00a0 A ros\u00e9 described as Provencal.\u00a0 And the aforementioned platters of meats, cheeses, olives and baguettes.<\/p>\n

But where was the tasting room?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

A tasting at Mattebella is like being at an elegant garden party.<\/em><\/p>\n

By this point we realized that visiting Mattebella is all about the wine tasting experience, exactly what Power Tasting<\/em> stands for.\u00a0 When you go into Wine Country,\u00a0it should not be for the purposes of drinking.\u00a0 You should be there for sipping, savoring, exploring wines.\u00a0 It\u2019s for tasting them in an atmosphere that you would hope to be in when you open a bottle with friends and loved ones, surrounded by beauty. \u00a0You should be encouraged to make the wine the center point but not the totality of a sensual encounter: yes, the taste but also the aroma, the visual pleasure of your surroundings, a whisper of a breeze in the trees. \u00a0This is what Mattebella delivers.<\/p>\n

Of course it would all be for naught if the wines weren\u2019t worthwhile.\u00a0 Fortunately, Mattebella\u2019s are quite good indeed.\u00a0 And the way in which they are presented, along with the little lecture introducing the wines to you, doubles the pleasure.<\/p>\n

We were very impressed with a vertical of their Chardonnays ranging from 2013 through 2018.\u00a0 First of all, who serves verticals these days?\u00a0 And who serves what any other winery would call library wines?\u00a0 We were told that they use both oak and steel containers to age their wines, to provide balance and aging potential.\u00a0 It was eye-opening (well, more tastebuds than eyes) to see how in each preceding year the Chablis-like austereness of the wines gave way to a more rounded finish, with the oak more distinct.<\/p>\n

There is a small building that they refer to as a tasting cottage, so you can visit Mattebella when the weather doesn\u2019t cooperate.\u00a0 (Except, so they warn, when it snows.)\u00a0 But reservations are made for the gardens, and a rainstorm would definitely spoil the experience.<\/p>\n

This was our first time visiting Mattebella.\u00a0 We are quite certain it won\u2019t be our last.\u00a0 We walked in without a reservation and were lucky to be seated because it was towards the end of the day.\u00a0 Next time, we\u2019ll reserve.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When we first arrived at Mattebella Vineyards (www.mattebella.com) we were a bit flummoxed.\u00a0 For one thing, we couldn\u2019t see a winery from the parking lot.\u00a0 What we did see was a statue of a large red dog guarding the vineyards.\u00a0 Had we stumbled on at the home of Clifford the Big Red Dog by accident?\u00a0 … Continue reading Mattebella Vineyards<\/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\/2117"}],"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=2117"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2117\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2120,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2117\/revisions\/2120"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2117"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2117"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2117"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}