Barrel tasting season arrives
Published: Wednesday, March 3, 2010 at 3:00 a.m.
Last Modified: Tuesday, March 2, 2010 at 3:36 p.m.
With the Wine Road Barrel Tasting this Saturday and Sunday, and another round March 13 and 14, Wine Country is getting ready to reveal a glimpse of the future as the wine ages.
After three decades, the popular barrel tasting has developed a festive atmosphere, with food, wine and entertainment offered at most tasting rooms.
But last year, more people complained about high-energy partying, particularly around the Healdsburg Plaza, the hub of several tasting rooms.
“Last year, there were some people my age who treated wineries like bars and that's not the point,” said 25-year-old Zack Zimmerman of Rohnert Park.
He said plenty of young people will come to the barrel tasting.
“I expect a lot of people my age to come because I've heard a lot of people talking about it and a lot of people talking about it on Twitter,” he said.
Wineries like Armida are bracing themselves for an onslaught of sippers by organizing a band of volunteers.
“They help with parking and they give us plenty of help with food because there are a lot of bodies and they do get hungry,” said Steve Cousins, co-owner of the Healdsburg winery.
He said the volunteers also will quell the mischievous. “We always meet to discuss contingencies, but we have an experienced crew and that makes all the difference,” he said.
With tickets at $30 a pop, Cousins said the event caters to the curious, particularly the millennials who range in age from 21 to 31.
Barrel-tasting provides a sneak preview of young wine that's in the process of aging and won't be available for another year or two.
Many wineries sell so-called “futures” on their barrel samples, offering discounted prices to encourage purchases now.
The 32nd annual barrel tasting will have more than 100 wineries pouring. For a lineup of the participating wineries, visit www.wineroad.com.
Last year's event drew 21,000 to 124 wineries.
Zimmerman said he's excited to taste the barrel samples because he likes to get a peek at the future. He recalls tasting the 2007 pinot noir releases a couple of years ago and said, “They were good then and even better in the bottle ... It's great to see how a vintage is developing.”
Wine writer Peg Melnik can be reached at 521-5310 or peg.melnik@pressdemocrat.com.
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