WTN Bartholomew Park Merlot

A side project of the Bundschau (sp?) family, I found this winery after an hour long walk with my pack of dogs hidden away at the very end of a country road on the east side of Sonoma. This is apparantly the original "Buena Vista" property planted in the 1830s by a Hungarian Count whose name I should cut and paste, because I can in no way remamber how to spell the name! There were certainly some ancient looking, gnarly vines planted along the side of the lane.

So, after a beautiful walk on a cool but sunny California winter day, I come upon this beautiful Greek Revival-style villa (built by the current owners as a hommage to the Count) and the winery next door. What a beautiful place. In the summer, the property has miles of hiking trails open to the public.

On to the wines. The Sauvignon Blanc was decent but not memorable. The Syrah was quite good and worth picking up later. The Cabernets were decent, too-good flavor and not over-oaked.

The 2002 MERLOT, though, capitvated my palette. Full of layers of brambly flavor, with herbs, savoryness, but still some nice red and black fruit. Worthy of St Emillion! Definitely one of my top ten, if not top five, California Merlots I've tried this year! **** About $30. Only available at the winery-they don't distribute. They are going to be offering internet sales soon. A lovely wine and a nice place for a picnic in the country.
http://www.bartholomewparkwinery.com/th ... merlot.pdf

[Jenise]

About the time I started getting into wine, Buena Vista--or at least the name--still existed but the wines were budget/value category wines though very good for what they were. Then I came across a 'sale' of wines at a wine store that rented locker space, and at which they were selling off the contents of a deceased locker renter. I picked up a dozen of mostly 70's vintages of labels that either no longer existed or were once held in greater esteem than they were now. A great lesson, for they were all good and some were great. Among the greats were a Fetzer SV zinfandel and a Buena Vista cab. And that's why a few weeks ago at auction I picked up a magnum of Buena Vista cabernet for $22. Dusty, but fill's in the neck and there's reason to hope for something interesting if not special. For $22, the upside potential's huge.