Another wine tasting at The Fine Wine Source in Livonia, Michigan and it is always fun to encounter a new winery, at least to me, it was a new winery and the tasting was overseen by Carla Jeffries, who handles liaison work with the media and the trade; and not only that, she was originally from Michigan, and it was a pleasure to hear her talk about the wines.

The Blue Rock estate dates to 1880 and when Italian winemaking came to Sonoma County’s Alexander Valley bringing olive trees, vine cuttings and traditional wine lore techniques. The first wine that we had was Blue Rock Winery Viognier Gapstone Vineyard Petaluma Gap Alexander Valley 2023.  Gapstone Vineyard is considered a jewel among the northwestern slopes of the Petaluma Gap.  After harvest and pressing the juice was divided in two.  The first half underwent aging in once used French Oak barrels for creating sensory mouthfeel and texture, while the other half went to Stainless-Steel tanks to retain the floral and mineral notes.  The barrel fermented half was allowed to ferment and age with lees stirring for two months; while the other half after Initial Fermentation was immediately chilled after the fermentation to inhibit Malolactic Fermentation. The straw-yellow colored wine offered notes of honeysuckle, lemon and honey.  On the palate this medium-bodied well-balanced wine displayed tones of pears, almonds and lemons and ended with a nice medium-count finish of fruit, citrus and terroir. 

Blue Rock Winery was originally settled by Italians who work down the road at the Italian Swiss Colony winery, while the original stone house was once Villa Maria winery which closed during Prohibition.  It was acquired by Kenny and Cheryl Kahn in 1987, who have maintained the Old-Word feel to the estate, even by importing more Italian olive tree cuttings, as well as maintaining some of the original olive trees that are close to 150 years of age.  Our next wine was Blue Rock Winery Baby Blue Blanc Sonoma County 2023.  The Baby Blue Collection is a set of wines that show the creativity of the winemaker to enhance the base wines.  This wine is a blend of seventy-five percent Sauvignon Blanc, sixteen percent Semillon and nine percent Viognier.  The wine was fermented and quickly aged in a period of about three months in a mix of Stainless-Steel and Neutral Oak, with an additional four plus months in bottle before release.  The pale straw-yellow wine offered notes of white peaches, honeysuckle, orange blossoms and lemongrass.  On the palate this medium-bodied, well-balanced wine displayed tones of grapefruit, lychee, tangerine, wax cherries and ending with a medium-count finish of fruit and minerality. 

Besides the grove of olive trees, the grounds also have an organic vegetable garden left over from the Kenny Kahn’s farming techniques from his days in Tennessee.  There is also a 130-year-old Bocce Ball court from the original days, and there can also be found wild turkeys, feral pigs and other wildlife that share the estate.  The final white wine was the Blue Rock Winery Chardonnay Petaluma Gap Gapstone Vineyard Sonoma County 2022.  This wine is pure Chardonnay grown on their Gapstone Vineyard of tightly spaced rows of two clones of Chardonnay on coastally drained, silty gravel soil.  The wine is barrel fermented in French Oak, of which twenty-five percent is new with the lees stirred every two weeks; and aged for fourteen months with an additional four months of bottle aging.  This soft golden-yellow wine offered notes of green apples, tropical fruit, lemon-lime, vanilla and other spices.  On the palate this medium-bodied, well-balanced wine displayed tones of tropical fruits, lemon curds blending with some additional refreshing acidity and ending with a medium-count finish of fruit, honey and minerality.