The Winery
I almost hesitate to open
with information on the winery instead of the wine, because rarely
do places rated “Must See” have wines that are worthy of being
rated “Must TASTE!”. But Woodenhead is a delightful
exception. The structure shown here serves as office and
tasting room for the winery, and it is exactly the sort of
experience you’d expect when visiting in friendly-n-funky
Forestville, CA.
The town is tiny, a remnant
of a Spanish Land Grant to General Vallejo’s son-in-law intended to
the Russian fur trappers who had already settled nearby Fort Ross.
The town is just 20 miles from the ocean, bisected by the
Russian River, and surrounded by trees and an increasing number of
vineyards. Simply idyllic.
Kudos
91 Pts: Wine
Enthusiast
Gold Medal 2016 SF Chronicle
Intl Wine Competition
The
Wine
At its biggest and best,
Russian River Pinot is as head-turning as Gisele Bundchen opening
an Olympic ceremony. This wine is no exception. PLUS, the
Woodenhead pinot turns heads without the benefit of a huge stage,
loud music, or a 3-minute light show. So it’s got that going for
it. Which is nice.
Full of ripe cherry and dark
fruit notes, a lick of wet minerals/river rocks and freshly-turned
forest earth. It’s a bigger-bodied Pinot despite its modest alcohol
(13.7%), largely due to the light touch of oak that allows the ripe
fruit to sing solo. Unfiltered, so yes, there will be
sediment. It’s fine, it’s fine.
538 cases
produced.
