The Bottle: An unusual shape gives this clear specialty bottle a distinctive look. And a distinctive wine it is - as I will cover in a moment. Preston is an organic family farm in the Dry Creek Valley appellation of Sonoma County. Grapes are just one crop they produce. The wine they make from it, I must admit, does not strike me as "right up my alley," based on my sampling in their tasting room. This wine, however, made an impression on me. It's a white Rhone blend, I believe of Marsanne, Roussanne and Viognier. The abv is 14.2%. It seems to be a non-vintage.
The Nose: There's a very fragrant nose, with flowers and a sweet honey component. I pick up traces of wet rocks, too.
The Taste: The fruit is quite subdued, very French tasting in the mouth. There's a good bit of minerality and a sort of nutty flavor that lurks in the finish. A bit of oak gives the wine a lot of character. The structure is quite nice, with a good backbone that will make this wine a friend to food. I will try it with pasta. I would guess mushrooms would go well. I had it with Hook's 12-year cheddar and it was sublime.
The Bottle: The art of a bare-shouldered vixen spray-painting a heart on a brick wall adorns the front label. So it's not Monet. It is eye-catching. And the lettering - which appears to have been spray-painted on the brick wall earlier - proclaims that "Sonoma County Red Wine Rocks!" On the back, we learn that this wine pays "no attention to vintage or variety." I'll be honest. If I had only the label to go by, I would have gone by without as much as a second glance. But I tasted it before seeing the bottle, at Locals Tasting Room in Geyserville. I liked it and bought it sight unseen. It's produced by RH Wines of Windsor, CA.
The Nose: Blackberry, toast and vanilla are what strike me. There's also quite a bit of alcohol on the nose early on, something I did not notice in the tasting room . The aromas are rather strong and quite enjoyable.
The Taste: There's a very strong taste of alcohol at first on the palate, too. It's a good idea to let this young wine breathe - a lot. I let it sit in the glass for a half hour and it was still hot. After an hour, it started to settle down nicely. Once it's behaving, there's a nice spicy taste, like clove, amid all that blackberry and licorice. It's a big, bold red, very lively and full in the mouth.
