Attended a tasting at Buon Vino featuring the Chardonnay and Pinot Noir offerings from Arista Winery (Russian River Valley, Sonoma County, California). Since I didn’t have any of their wine in my cellar, I decided to bring along one wine from the California Coast and one from Oregon’s Willamette Valley.
Before getting to the wines that I brought, I should mention the wines from Arista. We tasted two of their Chardonnays and two Pinot Noirs. 2022 Arista Winery Chardonnay, 2022 Arista Winery Chardonnay Ritchie Vineyard, 2021 Arista Winery Pinot Noir UV Lucky Well, and 2021 Arista Winery Pinot Noir Kanzler Vineyard. The tasting was lead by the owner, Mark McWilliams, who did a great job of providing both technical and historical information on the vineyards, winery, and their backstory.
I didn’t take formal tasting notes, mostly because, as we learned, the winery will be ceasing operation after they sell out the 2024 vintage wines. The family is changing business into real estate after some 30 years making wine. The multi-vineyard sourced first Chardonnay was pleasant, but a bit over oaked for my tastes. The single source offering from the Ritchie vineyard was very balanced and reminded me of a 1er Burgundy more than a buttery oak bomb from Napa. I was drawn more to the two Pinot Noirs as my cellar is a bit short in that area. Both single vineyard offerings from U.V. Lucky Well and Kanzler were excellent featuring bright red fruit in perfect balance with the minerality, earthiness, and acidity. I purchased both of these wines for my cellar.
After the tasting concluded, I opened the 2021 Bergstrom Cumberland Reserve. This is a great value wine at around $60 per bottle. With the Willamette Valley positioned at nearly the same latitude as Burgundy, France, it offers a great deal of similar characteristics. Notes of red cherry, orange citrus, and a lovely loamy soil character. Fine tannins which were silky in mouthfeel. The second bottle, a 2020 Williams Selyem Pinot Noir Weir Vineyard from the Northern California Coastal Yorkville Highlands AVA, is another example of what can be done once you leave the Napa Valley. Another extremely well balanced wine that rides the fence between the new and old worlds. With a DTC cost of about $75, it really is a value when compared to similar quality wines from RRV and Napa. Highly recommended.