Discover 2018’s best wine at a barrel tasting

Barrel tastings

Barrel tastings are an opportunity to try the most recent vintages and guess how good the wine will become. It may help to understand the process of wine fermentation and aging. The fermentation itself happens in two stages during the first two to three weeks. For three to five days, while the vessel is open to the air, the yeast multiplies. In the second stage, which takes one to two weeks, the vessel is closed and the yeast just turns sugar into alcohol. Once it’s inside the barrel, the aging begins. In the case of red wine, the wine turns a more brick-like color with age. The aroma becomes less fruity. It loses its acidity. The oak of the barrels leaches tannins into the wine.

Barrel tastings near St. Helena

Anderson’s Conn Valley Vineyards in Napa Valley, a 10-minute drive from downtown St. Helena, holds tastings in its barrel caves, where current releases and library wines may be sampled. Tastings are $65, but one tasting fee can be waived by joining their wine club or making a $100 purchase. Try a recent Estate Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon. An older Estate Reserve Cab, 2007, is a dark ruby red wine with an aroma of dark fruit, Bing cherries, licorice and cigar box. Its flavor is balanced between fruit, oak and acid, with sweet tannins and hints of cedar and chocolate cake.

Anderson’s Conn Valley Vineyards is a 40-acre estate just south of Howell Mountain. Anderson’s wines are sold online and in five locations in Napa Valley, and many other locations nationwide.