Rued Winery
Our Last Tasting Room of the Day
As the sun was setting on the first tasting day in October, we had time for one more winery visit. Nick, our fabulous driver, stopped by Rued Winery, which was not on my list. It should have been though! Rued Winery is located at 3850 Dry Creek Road in Healdsburg, CA. With six generations and more than 125 years of growing grapes, the Rued family still farms land throughout Sonoma county and cultivates wine grapes at their Home Estate in Dry Creek Valley. They also farm land in the Russian River Valley and Alexander Valley. They produce handcrafted wines with their own label, which is what we were about to taste and see the wines that define a family whose roots extend deep into Sonoma County history.
We arrived right about closing time for their tasting room, but luckily they were still ready and willing to pour and chat with us. We tasted four different wines and loved them all. The first was a 2011 Sauvignon Blanc ($16) from their Dry Creek Valley vineyards. They describe it with "aromas of kiwi, grapefruit, honeydew melon, and gooseberry, flavors of Meyer lemon with a crisp acidity, lush mouth feel, and a long finish!" I say delicious!
The second wine we tasted was a 2011 Chardonnay ($18) from their Russian River Valley vineyards. It's described as "aromas of pear, green apple, white peach and vanilla, flavors of Gravenstein apples, pear, vanilla, and cinnamon. It has a crisp acidity with a smooth mouth feel and a lingering finish." I say it was amazing!
I love labels on bottles of wine. It's fun to see how creative each label designer can be with the knowledge they have of the family, the vineyards, and the wines.
The next wine we tasted was a 2009 Zinfandel ($25) from the DCV. This wine is described as having "engaging aromas of ripe blackberry and zesty black pepper enhanced with a touch of vanilla and nutmeg spice. A big Zin with concentrated Bing cherry and blackberry flavor with notes of white pepper and vanilla. A good acidity, lush tannins and a long finish." I say it was smooth with a velvety finish and just the right fruitiness and spice.
The last wine we tasted, and of course the biggest, was the 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon ($45) from DCV. If you like aromas of cocoa, cardamom, Bing cherry, black pepper, followed by clove, French vanilla, blackcurrant and blackberry, then you will love this Cabernet Sauvignon. Beautiful bottle right? Love, love, love red! Especially at Christmas!
We ended up purchasing 1 Chardonnay, 2 Cabernets, and 2 Sauvignon Blancs! We were so excited when it finally arrived!
Please stop by Rued Winery! You won't be disappointed at all!!!!!!!
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