enjoying pinot noir at Twomey
We went to Twomey by chance after attending the Williams Selyem “members only” event a few weeks ago in Healdsburg. Actually, we tried going to Matrix across the way on Westside Road instead. But their tasting room was mobbed and just as we arrived a limo pulled up with at least a dozen young overdressed women in full-on party mode. We figured that we’d never get service so Twomey was next up the street. Not a very auspicious beginning.
Twomey is an architectural marvel. The building and landscaping must have cost a fortune. It’s situated a bit down a hill from the road overlooking a stunning valley devoted to viticulture with a romantic mountain view in the background. They have a picnic area behind the main building. After our tasting we ended up enjoying our picnic on one of the many charming lawns overlooking the view.
Turns out that Twomey is owned by the same folks who own Silver Oak in Napa County. We went to a Silver Oak release party a few years ago on a chartered wine bus. It was a cold rainy day and Hegui and I didn’t like the wine that much: it was too flat and metallic for our palates. Plus the price per bottle was absurdly high for our budget at $100 each. Everyone else seemed to love the place and since we were with a lot of young people and it was “all you can drink” many of them really had fun. We were a little bored.
This unfortunate Silver Oak experience created a bias against Twomey as soon as we realized the connection. That said, these wines are good if a bit pricy. According to the Twomey Cellars web site, this place is devoted to pinot noir, merlot and sauvignon blanc. The merlot and sauvignon blanc grapes come from Napa and the pinot noir from the Russian River Valley in Sonoma. They weren’t offering the white on our visit but they did pour an older merlot not on the official tasting list. That was nice.
stunning Twomey tasting room with beautiful view
Tasting was free and I didn’t really feel any pressure to buy anything, so I didn’t. My checkbook is still recovering from Williams Selyem. The literature for the place says that the wines are made to be drunk right away though I think that you could age the merlot a bit without trouble. Wine Spectator says that California pinot noirs are best after about five years of age, so probably you could hold onto the pinot, too.
a large format Twomey merlot
2006 Russian River Valley Pinot Noir: This was a transparent reddish orange-ish color. It smelled of toffee, chocolate and grass. It had a berry flavor with a hint of pepper with an unbalanced, sour finish. Hegui said “I’m not sure I like the flavor.”
2007 Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir: This was a transparent purplish red “burgundy” color. It smelled of coffee and earth. We thought it tasted of sour cherry. It had a bit more body than the first but with a shorter finish.
2007 Anderson Valley Pinot Noir: This looked the same as the 2007 Sonoma Coast pinot. It had notes of earth, caramel with some tart notes and a creamy mouth feel. We preferred this over the Sonoma Coast.
2005 Napa Valley Merlot: This is merlot with 4% cabernet franc. It was a brownish red color. It smelled of “rotten vegetables” or perhaps V8 tomato juice. It was “very thick” on the tongue, suggesting a lot of tannins and some aging potential to us. We noted coffee and spices. It sort of reminded me of Silver Oak cabs or maybe certain red Chateauneuf du Papes.
2002 Napa Valley Merlot: This is merlot with a mere 0.6% cabernet franc. It was quite similar to the 2005 merlot but with more earthy notes and a more pronounced nose. I suspect that it could age even more.
So that’s it. We love trying new wines and wineries in the Healdsburg area. It’s beautiful there. Often the wines are quite interesting. Now that it’s spring, you should really plan a trip.
welcome to Twomey