Maisonry Yountville
In planning a recent trip to Napa, I’d been looking for a few new places to head out to, being this, my third trip to the Valley. I also promised not to drag my wife up and down the twisty roads of Spring and Howell Mountains as I’d done the previous trip. And since we were staying in Yountville, I was also looking for a few places that would be good towards the end of the day to unwind with before dinner and that we could walk to.
I also wanted to try wines that I couldn’t readily get a hold of. Maisonry is a wine collective working with various smaller producers to offer a tasting room area for them to promote and sell their wines through. At the time, they offered wine from 15 different wineries. Most of these wineries were either too small to have their own tasting rooms or were considered “boutique” wines. This aspect really appealed to me in that you could go to a relaxed situation where you had a ton of choice with probably a little less pressure to buy.
I’d made a 3pm reservation for a tasting, though since it was a little bit quieter time of year, we probably could have just walked in. I’d definitely recommend just making the reservation if you know you’re going to go. It is just better if they know you’re coming, and I think they tend to give you a little better treatment when planned, versus showing up spontaneously. If you are just interested in purchasing without tasting however, I don’t think there should be any problems.
The building is located just a block away from the French Laundry, and few blocks north of the main part of town. It’s a beautiful two story stone building with parking on the side. A young guy met us at the door and introduced himself, and quickly grabbed my wife and I a half glass of their house Viognier. He walked through the basics for their tastings and their setup. The place is part tasting room, part art gallery, and part store. Everything is for sale top to bottom, including the art and a number of interesting “coffee table” books. So we walked through the two stories, my wife checking out the interesting art, and me, of course more worried about what wine I’d be tasting.
We came back downstairs and made our selections on which wines we’d try, and then proceeded out to the back patio area where they had various couches and tables setup amongst more art, sculptures, and gardens. There are two things to point out here: One – we happened to be blessed with a very nice day when we came. That was good because there really isn’t a ton of seating inside. It’s much better to sit outside where they have plenty of tables. Also two, the place serves wines two ways. They have structured flights of the various wineries including verticals for some. You can also taste by half glass, full glass or bottle. Either way the concept is to grab a glass and lounge in their “backyard”. They are also open late (9pm I think) so it becomes almost like a wine bar.
So on to the wines! My wife opted for just a glass of the 2007 L’Angevin Russian River Pinot Noir, which was very nice. Medium bodied with a little bit of funk to go with the soft fruits and earthy tones. I went with the Collector’s Flight which was four wines including the 2004 Husic Cabernet, the 2006 Blackbird Contrarian, the 2006 Rivera Cabernet, and the 2006 Lail J. Daniel Cuvee. Each glass was about 2 and ½ ounces or about a half a glass of wine. All of these wines were phenomenal, and of course the setting made it even better. As the flight went on, the wines seemed to get better and better, with the two really standouts being the Blackbird and the Lail. Additionally, the employee helping us and I were talking about the Blackbird wines, and he mentioned that he thought the 2007 was even better, and actually allowed me to try that along side of the ’06. (He was right about the ’07)
Overall, I was really happy with the experience. The wines were great. The atmosphere was very laid back and relaxing. And the service and people were very friendly. I had read a couple of reviews that made me a little hesitant going in. Would they be snobby? Would they not give us the time of day? Happily I can say that I didn’t see any of that here, and would recommend a visit for anyone hoping to try something a little different. So a fair warning here – a flight is basically two full glasses of wine, and I must say either prepare to drink these slowly or spit or make sure you’re walking afterwards.
http://www.maisonry.com/
http://www.maisonry.com/included/docs/flights/MNV_Flight_Portfolio_Spring2010.pdf
