It is Power Tasting’s policy not to write bad reviews of wineries that we visit. There are so many that we can wholeheartedly recommend, so there’s no reason to be negative about any of them. After all, just because we don’t enjoy a particular winery doesn’t mean that others won’t.
We bring that up because we had visited Bouchaine Vineyards (www.bouchaine.com) in the past and didn’t have a particularly good time. The winery’s own web site describes the previous site as “a pair of ramshackle buildings”. So no review appeared in Power Tasting. A few years ago, we decided to give it a second chance, but they were so busy that we couldn’t even get a walk-in tasting. So we recently did the right thing and reserved in advance. Ramshackle no more, Bouchaine has a beautiful tasting facility with lovely views.
We say tasting facility rather than tasting room because Bouchaine offers several different experiences. There is a handsome wood bar where visitors can taste their wines indoors. Outside is an expansive terrace with view across Carneros vineyards towards San Pablo Bay. And there is a garden, where families can picnic and the grownups can enjoy a more limited tasting. The building is all wood and glass, large and impressive, but not really a Napa Palace. It’s sleek but not stuffy, more welcoming and comfortable than palatial.
Between the main building and the garden there’s a small hill covered in flowers and other vegetation. The view includes vineyards, olive trees and foothills in the distance. Sitting on the patio with a splash of wine in your hand, looking out across Carneros, makes for a very pleasant experience on a sunny day.
We have bought some Bouchaine wines over the years so we knew that the house specialty is Pinot Noir. Yes, there are white wines for tasting as well, including some unusual ones, such as Pinot Gris and Gewurtztraminer, which we found quite aromatic. But in honesty, we were there for the reds. There’s more than Pinot Noir, including credible Syrah and Merlot. But there are five Pinot Noirs on their tasting menu and a few more that they don’t list.
Those Pinot Noirs are all estate grown, except for one from the nearby Gee Vineyard, which we found to be among the more enjoyable ones we tasted. Visitors have the opportunity to taste a Dijon clone and a Pommard clone side by side, which is quite an interesting experiment. (We preferred the Dijon, but that’s just us.)
The servers are quite knowledgeable and are happy to expound upon the qualities and distinctive flavors of each wine. Perhaps because our server knew that we would be writing about Bouchaine, we got more details than we believe most visitors get.
The overall experience of a tasting at Bouchaine is like being on the patio of a cocktail bar with ample sunshine. The wines appealed to us and the ambience made us feel that we wanted to stay a while and enjoy ourselves. So we did.