The wonderful winery, Jacuzzi Family Vinyards (http://www.foodlovergirl.com/jacuzzi-family-vineyards/) goes way back in the history. And from that history, another great winery was born, right across the street from Jacuzzi Vinyard, called Cline Cellars. The Founder was the grandson of one of the Jacuzzi brothers, who taught him the magic of wine making. I really love that kind of history behind the wineries of today.
They were surrounded by beautiful landscapes, roses, and lots of outdoor seating. It was just gorgeous space to be in, and admire the vineyards. They really take care of their land to provide a wonderful, peaceful environment.
The inside was a bright with large gift shop area, and a bit small wine tasting counter. They had lots of gift items, very pretty and they were all well organized. But we were there for the wine, so we went straight to the counter.
As usual, we started with whites. We tried 2013 Pinot Gris and 2013 Farmhouse White. The Pinot Gris was clean, refreshing. It had the flavors of green apple and grapefruit, and smooth finish. The Farmhouse White was bright and crisp, with flavors of grapefruit, lime and peach. It was sweeter than Pinot Gris, and since I am a fan of more sweeter wine, I liked this one better.
Then off to the reds. We tried many more reds than the whites, we didn’t intend to try so many, but we could not turn down when we were offered more wines to taste… The first two we tried were 2013 Cashmere and 2013 Ancient Vines Mourvèdre. I certainly liked the names of these wines. The Cashmere was smooth and rich, with notes of cherry, raspberry and chocolate with hint of black pepper. It seems like they like to incorporate pepper into their wine here at Cline Cellars. The Mourvèdre had flavors of dark plum and chocolate with hint of oak. They were both very rich and velvety smooth.
Next ones were 2013 Ancient Vines Cargnane and 2012 Oakley Eighty-two Red. The Cargnane was a medium-bodied wine with subtle fruit, spice and little pepper on the finish. Not as sweet as I like, but it was rich and had some power to it. The Eighty-two was bright and full-bodied, with flavors of boysenberry and mild pepper. It was a really good, solid wine, I really enjoyed this one.
Then, tried some 2013 Merlot and 2013 Ancient Vines Zinfandel. The Merlot had flavors of chocolate, cherry and green olive finish with silky tannins. Zinfandel had flavors of dark berry, black cherry and strawberry with vanilla finish. For someone who likes sweet wine, it was a really nice, smooth, and velvety one.
Last but not least, 2012 Heritage Zinfandel. It was flavorful with blackberry, spice and coffee notes. And this wine was winery exclusive. The fun you get to have when you visit a winery with a club member.
Overall, all of the wines we tried were all superb, but since we already bought several bottles from another vineyard, we decided to limit ourselves to just 2 bottles. We decided on Farmhouse White and Oakley Eighty-Two Red. We are very happy with our purchase and the experience. The young female staff here helped us with the tasting, she was very friendly, polite, and helpful. It is so great to have high quality wines directly from wineries after tasting them, it is such wonderful experience!
Cline Family Cellars – 24737 Arnold Drive, Sonoma, CA 95476