The Wellesley Wine Press: Tasting Report: New Releases from Gary Farrell Vineyards & Winery

Accolades

I was quoted in The Boston Globe about legislation that would permit winery direct sales to Massachusetts:

“This is good news for Massachusetts wine enthusiasts, who will now be able to purchase wines they currently don’t have access to,” said Robert Dwyer of Wellesley, who blogs about wine. “This is also good news for Massachusetts in general since it will mean new revenues.”

I wrote this article in WellesleyWeston Magazine featuring local food & wine experts like Chef Ming Tsai, Mike O'Connell Jr., Chris Minervino, and Austin Moran. Check it out!

I shared my thoughts on the direct shipment of wine to Massachusetts with CBS Boston during hearings at the State House.

This site was listed as one of the Top 100 Wine Blogs:

https://alawine.com/wine-blog-rankings.html

Our Scoop the Spectator contest was mentioned on Palate Press:

"Bob Dwyer, a Massachusetts-based wine blogger, has created the coolest parlor game in wine, and for once it’s a wine contest that does not involve blind tasting.

I used to think the entire concept of a Top 100 list was silly. This year, mine was the first guess on Dwyer’s site."

The Worcester Telegram & Gazette reached out for a quote on the expansion of the number of licenses each retailer in MA can hold:

"Robert P. Dwyer of Wellesley, who blogs about wine at thewww.wellesleywinepress.com, calls the state’s liquor laws bizarre and favors a wider availability of wine. For consumers, it would be more convenient to be able to buy wine at a supermarket while shopping for food, he said."

“You have this strange exclusion of wine, which in Europe is considered a grocery item,” said Mr. Dwyer. “Here it’s considered the demon rum.”

Wine Spectator picked up on our 2011 Scoop the Spectator contest with these remarks:

"trying to predict the annual Wine of the Year is a popular parlor game among enophiles. This year, blogger Wellesley Wine Press held a contest, with New York wine retailer Grapes the Wine Co. awarding a prize of a Kindle Fire e-reader to the first commenter to correctly guess this year's top wine before it was announced. Unfiltered was impressed with the number of Top 10 wines prognosticated by Wellesley's readers. "Senelwine" guessed Château de St.-Cosme Gigondas 2009, our No. 10 wine, "Mike M" guessed Quinta do Vallado Touriga Nacional Douro 2008, our No. 7 wine, "James Z" guessed Baer Ursa Columbia Valley 2008, our No. 6 wine, and "RichardPF" nailed it, winning the Kindle, and the respect of his wine-loving peers. Looks like Wellesley's readers know their wine."

Boston's CBS affiliate WBZ-TV stopped by to discuss why wineries still can't ship wine directly to MA consumers more than a year after courts ruled they should be able to.

WBUR, Boston's NPR news station, did an audio interview with me for a piece discussing MA Question 1: Repealing the Alcohol Sales Tax.

The Chicago Tribune's Bill Daley mentioned the site in Rosé: A wine for more seasons. I said "For me, they're like pumpkin spice coffee drinks: best enjoyed early in the season". Bill alsogave the site a shout-out for a piece the Capitol Case Clubcontributed about restaurant wine service. I thought it was a great example of how print wine writers can effectively engage wine bloggers.

The nice folks at Foodista, The Cooking Encyclopedia Everyone Can Edit, named this site Wine Blog of the Day for this entry featuring GoBYO. Thanks!

Budget Bacchus named this site Wine Blog of the Week. Check 'em out!

Boston University wine educator Stacy Woods mentioned this site alongside wine blogging powerhouses Vinography and Fermentation. Wow- that's great company to be in! Thanks- I appreciate it.

WBZ-TV, the Boston CBS affiliate, interviewed me aboutMassachusetts wine shipping laws. It was kind of surreal having a camera crew in our kitchen but we enjoyed it! Check it out:

Wine Enthusiast Magazine called me a "wine accessory guru". Thanks! I appreciate it.

NPR's Public Radio Kitchen linked to my pieces on "Syrah: The Steroids of the Pinot Noir World" and "Watching the Wine Community Rumble". Thanks for that! I am humbled, and I feel just a little bit like the Car Talk guys do when they say "And even though Roger Clemens stabs his radio with a syringe whenever he hears us say it, this is NPR: National Public Radio."

The Boston Globe's website has been linking to my recent entries as part of their expanded local coverage includingWellesley. I truly appreciate that as it has driven a lot of local traffic to this site.

It was really nice of Thomas Matthews, Executive Editor of Wine Spectator to leave a comment and then check back and answer some questions I had. Awesome guy! Check it out here. And here.

Thanks to The Boston Globe for including The Wellesley Wine Press in their list of local blogs in the Food & Drink section. Check it out here.

The Wellesley Wine Press was just added tohttps://wine.alltop.com. Alltop is an interesting topical take on sorting through the best sites on the Internet- check it out and see which sites are listed for topics you're most interested in.

Gary Farrell's Hallberg Vineyard Pinot Noir

Gary Farrell Winery is a Sonoma producer best known for their well balanced Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays. Gary Farrell began producing wine in the area in the late 1970s. Along with folks like Joe Rochioli, Tom Dehlinger, Davis Bynum, Robert Stemmler and others, Farrell established what Russian River Pinot Noir and Chardonnay would become today. In 1982 he produced his first wine under the Gary Farrell label and gradually built its prominence.

I first got to know Gary Farrell in depth at a winemaker dinner they had at Blue Ginger a couple years ago. Gary Farrell himself sold the winery in 2004. Current winemaker Theresa Heredia joined Gary Farrell in 2012. You may have tasted her wines before since she was the winemaker at Freestone (Joseph Phelps' Pinot Noir project) from its first vintage through 2011.

I had a chance to taste through some of their 2013 releases recently. My notes are below.

Their Hallberg Ranch Pinot Noir has consistently been one of my absolute favorites, and this vintage lived up to my high hopes. Hallberg is also the fruit source for Radio-Coteau La Neblina Pinot Noir (read more) and Emeritus (Wine Spectator Top 100 - read more). I hear Scherrer also does a great Pinot Noir from Hallberg. Definitely one of my all-time favorite vineyards in the world. Here's a link to a YouTube video about what makes Hallberg Vineyard special.

2013 Gary Farrell Hallberg Ranch Pinot Noir
$55
14.1% Alcohol
1,290 Cases Produced

Textbook California Pinot Noir. Bright, ripe black cherry aromatics with supporting smoky notes. Silky texture and uttery delicious. A finish that goes on for minutes in amazing fashion. Very special. Outstanding.

93/100 WWP: Oustanding

2013 Gary Farrell Olivet Lane Chardonnay
$45
13.8% Alcohol
987 Cases Produced

Medium-bodied and more enjoyably powerful and weighty than its 13.8% alcohol would indicate. Golden with hints of green around the edge. Glass-coating and satisfying with attractivate aromatics and flavors of ripe pears, golden delicous apples, and a hint of toasted marshmalllows on the finish. Outstanding.

91/100 WWP: Outstanding

2013 Gary Farrell Russian River Selection Pinot Noir
$45
14.1% Alcohol
11,267 Cases Produced

Medium bodied with lively, potent aromatics and flavors. Classic California Pinot Noir notes. This is young and needs time, as there are some sharp edges at points. But after a night or two on the counter (simply recorked) those traits disipated and the wine held up brilliantly. Outsanding wine.

90/100 WWP: Oustanding

2013 Gary Farrell Russian River Selection Chardonnay
$35
14.2% Alcohol
5,861 Cases Produced

Golden-hued with shades of green around the edges. Baked pears on the nose. Satisfying mouthfeel with commonplace Chardonnay herbaceous notes that stop me short of being wholly enthusastic about this medium-bodied white. Still, well-mannered and enjoyable.

88/100 WWP: Very Good

Samples for review.

For more information about Gary Farrell Vineyards & Winery visit their website:
http://www.garyfarrellwinery.com

Tasting room? Yes, by appointment
Available at retail? Yes
Wine Club/List? Wine club
Ship to Massachusetts? Yes

Question of the Day: Have you tasted Gary Farrell wines? If so, what did you think?

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