Delightful Tasting at MacPhail Winery

On our recent California wine excursion, one of my favorite stops was MacPhail Family Winery. MacPhail specializes in Pinot Noir, a favorite of mine and my husband. Having tasted and enjoyed a MacPhail Pinot at our Pigs and Pinot dinner in October(see October 29, 2012 blog entry), I was looking forward to tasting a variety of their Pinot offerings.

We arrived at the winery, completed in 2008, and were greeted by assistant wine maker William Weese. The barn like structure was built with the environment in mind, using natural sunlight and specially constructed wet land that recycles waste water from the winery. A lovely table was all set in the middle of the winery. William gave us an overview of the history of the winery as well as the philosophy of James MacPhail’s winemaking. At MacPhail they believe in small batches of hand made wine, the winery produces only about 5,000 cases a year, with minimal intervention. Grapes are sourced from cool climates of the Sonoma Coast, Mendocino, and recently added Santa Barbara and Oregon. The grapes are hand picked and hand sorted and fermented using natural yeast. As we tasted a variety of the wines MacPhail has to offer, the terrior of each distinct vineyard was definitely apparent. All agreed we had found a wonderful winery for outstanding Pinot Noir!

If you plan on visiting the Sonoma area in the future and are a lover of Pinot Noir, I definitely recommend a visit to MacPhail. Tastings are made by appointment only, but they are easily reached through their website www.macphailwine.com or by phone. The small family winery truly treats you like an old friend.
Cheers,
Beth
P.S. While chatting with assistant winemaker, William, we discovered he has his own label, Weese Family Winery www.weesefamilywinery.com that produces a Cabernet from the Rockpile AVA, another favorite AVA of mine! Check him out online or on Facebook.