Kathy and I received two wines to sample from Adler Fels winery in the Mayacamas Mountains in Sonoma County. Both wines were tasted in varietal specific Riedel stemware.

Occasionally I’ll taste a wine that immediately evokes a memory. That experience occurred with a first taste of the 2014 Adler Fels Pinot Noir. I recognized the taste and was immediately transported back a few years to a wine judging of Santa Barbara wines headed by Steven Spurrier. During that judging we tasted several Pinot Noirs from Santa Barbara County. They were quite good and I enjoyed them. Just a few points separated the Pinots. This Adler Fels Pinot was very reminiscent to the Pinots that I helped judge.

The 2014 Pinot Noir retails for $27.99. Seventy-six percent of the grapes were sourced from Santa Rita Hills in Santa Barbara County while 24% of the grapes were sourced from the Russian River Valley in Sonoma County. The wine had a translucent dark ruby color and emphasized fruit on the aroma and taste. The most notable fruit was raspberry. Also on the taste were hints of vanilla, baking spices and blackberries. The medium-bodied wine also had medium tannins. It had a fruity finish. The wine had 14.4% alcohol. This is a very  quaffable Pinot Noir that was delicious with a ham dinner.

One other memory associated with this Pinot was cool temperatures. Pinot likes cool nights. While in Lompoc at the beginning of July, I noticed that by 5:00 in the afternoon, the pools were empty. It had cooled off by late afternoon, a weather condition that favors Pinot Noir.

The second wine sampled from Adler Fels was a 2015 Chardonnay that retails for $19.99. The intense aroma meets the senses before the face encounters the glass. The light gold colored wine was crafted with grapes sourced equally from Russian River Valley and Monterey County. Apple, pear and peach were noted on the aroma. The taste was predominantly apple. The silky mouthfeel was accompanied by a full-body. The finish was multi-layered. First the finish had apple notes followed by a hint of peach and ending with chalk. The wine was a 14.4% alcohol. The Chardonnay was delicious and paired well with perch and rice. I used a bit of the wine with the rice mixture I composed.

Both of these wines give consumers a taste of California with reasonable prices. Winemaker Aaron Bader crafted the Pinot Noir, and winemaker Linda Trotta fashioned the Chardonnay.

Cheers,
Terry