Virtual Tasting Room

Quivira Vineyard & Winery, Sonoma, CA

By Thom Elkjer

Quivira is one of those wineries that makes you feel glad you’re a wine fan. Start with great wine, including Sauvignon Blanc and Zinfandel from a region, Dry Creek Valley, that is wonderful for both these food-friendly wines. Add in extraordinary care for the land – not just in the vineyards, but also in the salmon-spawning streams that wind through them. Then there’s the warm welcome in the tasting room, which is tucked into the solar-powered winery and with a flowery patio right outside. And the value? Every Quivira wine I’ve ever tasted gave pleasure well beyond its price. This is true not only for the wines in general release, but also the special bottlings available only in the tasting room. You can also pay for a private, hosted tasting if you call ahead if you want to learn more, particularly about Quivira’s commitment to biodynamic agriculture – a system that aligns all farming activity with what the grapevines are up to, all year long. If you visit this summer, look for these recent releases:

	Quivira Sauvignon Blanc Dry Creek Valley Fig Tree Vineyard 2004 ($16): impressive green apple, clover honey and summer herb aromas come out of the glass in waves, and they're all there when you sip as well -- along with a pillow-soft texture at the entry that glides effortlessly into a gentle grip on your palate and warming caress on your tastebuds. Takes on some pretty yellow cherry, Bartlett pear and -- is that the vineyard speaking? -- ripe fig overtones in the finish. If this were from Napa the price would be $10 higher.
	Quivira Mourvedre Rosé Dry Creek Valley Wine Creek Ranch 2005 ($14): Mourvedre is the secret ingredient in many wines from the Rhone region in France and many Syrahs here in California, keeping them anchored in something rich, dark and earthy. Here it makes a rosé that’s round and full in your mouth, with the cherries and plums and rhubarb aloft in a refreshing flow of flavor. There's also some nifty symmetrical structure going on, with the entry fruity, the mid-palate gaining and melding both body and spice, and the wine then refocusing on the fruit in the aftertaste. Nice work, nice price, and fun to drink.
	Quivira “Steelhead Red” Dry Creek Valley 2004 ($18): a blend of Grenache, Zinfandel, Mourvedre and Syrah from Quivira’s Wine Creek Ranch, sized and weighted for year-round dining pleasure. The Grenache really sings in the aromas, with the scent of hot summer hillsides accenting spicy red plums. In your mouth, the magic of blending takes over: the berry brightness of Zin balancing the earthy darkness of Mourvedre and the Syrah structuring the whole into harmony. At certain moments, it could fool the French (or your wine-drinking pals) into thinking it comes from someplace near Provence.
	Quivira Zinfandel Dry Creek Valley 2004 ($20): when people talk about lip-smacking Zin, this is what they mean: it takes over your mouth with flowing berry/plum flavors and good-gripping grape tannins, so that you wind up chewing it and savoring it and wishing for more. A healthy dose of Petite Syrah adds to the weight and texture, but the wine’s still a comparatively low-alcohol Zin so it remains calm, cool and collected – a fascinating facet to bring to such a fun-loving grape.