A wonderful way to spend some time at The Fine Wine Source in Livonia, Michigan is with Korbin Ming, winemaker at Moonridge Vineyards, as he poured and showcased some great wines started by his father who named the winery after his twins Korbin and Kameron.  The nineteen-acre estate was planted in 2000 and it sits on the ridge of Mt. Veeder on Mayacamas Mountain Range and straddles the Napa/Sonoma County line at 2,300 feet in elevation.  The majority of the estate is in Sonoma County and they can look out and see Santa Rosa, Sonoma Mountain and on a clear day the Pacific Ocean.  Then if you turn around you are looking at Oakville and Rutherford, below the fog line.  That is the beauty of a mountain winery and one of the added benefits is a couple of hours of extra sunlight for the vines.

We started off the tasting with Korbin Kameron Sauvignon Blanc Moon Mountain District, Sonoma County 2021. Moon Mountain District AVA which is a sub-appellation of the Sonoma County AVA.  Moon Mountain is for the western slopes of the Mayacamas mountai ns between Sugarloaf Ridge and Carneros; while Mount Veeder AVA encompasses the eastern slopes.  The AVA is named after Moon Mountain Road which runs through the area and means “valley of the moon” in the local Native American dialect.  The AVA was granted in 2013, because of the region’s iron-rich volcanic soils, quite distinctive form the sedimentary soils of the surrounding area.  Initial Fermentation is in Stainless Steel followed by Malolactic Fermentation in French Oak barrels, eighty percent neutral and twenty percent new, for four months.  With two hundred twenty cases of wine produced.  A pale straw-colored wine offering notes of lemongrass, guava, and lime.  On the palate there were strong tones of yuzu, grapefruit, and honeydew with bright acidity and a medium finish.

The rest of the tasting featured red wines and we began with Korbin Kameron Merlot Moon Mountain District, Sonoma County 2019.  When Mitchell Ming began planting the estate, all five red Bordeaux varieties, as well as Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc were selected, after initial soil analysis.  Phil Coturri, the Vineyard Manager has been there since the beginning, and it has been said that no one has more experience farming mountain vineyards in Sonoma with thirty-five years pioneering organic and biodynamic winegrowing in California.  This wine was aged for eighteen months in French Oak, of which fifty percent was new; with eighty cases produced. A nice deep garnet color wine that offered notes of cherries, dark berries, alluring scents of cinnamon and cloves.  On the palate tones of black cherries, cola, and spices, blended with mellow tannins and a nice medium count finish.