Robbie Meyer is the winemaker at Murietta’s Well and while I did not have an actual meeting with, through the arrangements of Snooth, I along with forty-three other wine bloggers we did a virtual wine tasting.  I was actually enthralled listening to Mr. Meyer as he discussed many aspects of the winery and the passion that he spoke about the many wines, the different wines, the vineyards, the terroir and realized that he was the type of man that actually got his hands dirty out in the fields and not one to sit back and let others do the labor.  There were times when I was listening so intently about what he had to say, that I neglected to keep a better eye on the sidebar that showed all the remarks and questions being posted by the other bloggers.  There were times when I almost forgot to enter my remarks, because I was enjoying his company, if you can appreciate that he was on my computer screen and not actually in my presence, but it felt like he was.

The actual shift from the first wine of the evening to the second wine was very subtle, and I had my Bride sitting at the other end of the dining room table from me with her own laptop watching the same program, sometimes prodding me, but then my glasses were already poured and she had to keep pouring her own wine, I mean I am such a meanie.  The second wine that we were all tasting and commenting on was Murrieta’s Well “The Whip” White Wine Blend 2016.  Here is a wine that has a third of the wine from their legendary Sauvignon Blanc cuttings that started the winery, the rest of the fruit used for this wine comes from their Hayes Vineyard which has the widest elevation and the blocks are individually maintained for the specific requirements that the grapes require.  The balance of the grapes used for this wine are Semillon, Chardonnay, Orange Muscat and Viognier.  A portion of both the Sauvignon Blanc and the Chardonnay were fermented in small oak barrels and the rest of juice was ferment cold in Stainless Steel tanks.  The longest period of aging time was fourteen months.  There were two-hundred-ninety-seven barrels produced of this wine and they suggest that the wine will aged well to 2021.  I was looking at the wine and I describe the color as soft Gold with floral aromatics.  One can still taste the Sauvignon Blanc but tempered with the other wines to bring a nice aftertaste.  I think a great wine to drink with friends before dinner.  My Bride described the wine as a dark Straw color with the flowers of the Viognier.  She thought it would be best just to drink without food.  I had not told her what wines were in the blend and I think that when she saw the color, she immediately thought of Chardonnay, and she said that maybe she should have rinsed her glass after the Sauvignon Blanc, because she was still tasting that grape, then I told her that the wine was a third Sauvignon Blanc, so that made her happy that she wasn’t off base with her tasting abilities.  As we kept tasting and studying this wine, we appreciated the nuances of the other grapes and the minerality that neither of us mentioned at first, but we just kept enjoying the wine.

The third wine of the evening piqued my Bride’s thirst immediately as she has in the last couple of years taken a real interest in the different Rosé wines that we have encountered.  We were trying the Murrieta’s Well Dry Rosé 2017.  Here is a wine that has Grenache and Counoise grown in their Hayes Vineyard and the Mourvedre was grown in their Raboli Vineyard.  The grape clusters were handpicked in the morning hours and they used gentle whole cluster pressing.  Each varietal was cold-fermented separately and aged for about one month.  After the month the wines were blended and aged for an additional two months in Stainless Steel.  This wine produced two-thousand and one cases and they recommend that it will be best to be consumed by 2019.  My first thoughts on this wine was the soft Salmon shade with a delicate soft nose of soft fruits.  A good acid balance with harmonious blend of the fruit.  A shorter aftertaste with a little bite.  My Bride described this wine as a translucent Salmon color with a light nose.  A very subtle, not overpowering wine that she liked a lot.  We were a little disheartened when one of the other bloggers pointed out that this wine was now sold out at the winery, but we were glad that we had a chance to enjoy this bottle.   As we kept tasting the wine the terroir became more apparent and I think that it added to the appeal of the enjoyable aftertaste.  Years ago, when I first started learning about wine, I was told to count after drinking the wine, the longer the count the better the aftertaste, as some wine dissipate quickly.   My next article will cover the last two wines of the night.