Range: 1 to 9 (9 is best, 5 is average)
Historic monastery setting. Elegant Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs.
www.testarossa.com
I have to thank my sister for introducing me to Testarossa winery. She has been a wine club member there off and on during the past decade. She brought me there one very nice spring day (such as today) to taste their wines. I was impressed. The quality of their wines is noteworthy. They are tasty, well made, and age-worthy. In fact, they like to show off the age-worthiness of their wines by pouring an older vintage of their wines from time to time. One more thing that I appreciate about Testarossa is that they bottle a Chardonnay and a Pinot Noir in half bottles, which automatically attracts my attention.
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| Historic Testarossa Winery Entrance |
Situated in the Los Gatos foothills just above downtown Los Gatos lays a historic monastery building. Inside operates a fantastic Pinot Noir producer, using much of the same infrastructure and some of the same wine making principals as the original monks. Just off Main Street, head up the hill on College Avenue to the winery. The road is narrow and requires caution, though it is not at all difficult to drive. As you walk up to the winery entrance, you get a real feel for its history. The tasting room lies at the end of a long, stone-faced tunnel. A number of historical images line the hallway leading in. The tasting room is ample, which is good because this winery attracts a crowd. The tasting bars are reconfigurable. Sometimes the counters are corralled in the middle of the room. Today, they flanked two of the walls. The room has a warm glow to it emanating from the large vintage lighting fixtures above. There is an array of branded merchandise, ranging from caps and shirts to chocolate sauce and olive oils. In the summer months, there is also an outdoor patio where you can enjoy a glass of any of the wines they are tasting that day in the filtered sunshine.
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| Inside the tasting room at Testarossa Winery |
The wines on the tasting menu this time started off with a Rose of Pinot Noir, two Chardonnays, and three Pinot Noirs. I was fortunate during this visit because they were pouring a 2005 Pinot Noir from the famed Bien Nacido Vineyard (near Santa Barbara). This is one of the few wineries where I actually enjoy the Chardonnays. The first was a blend of different vineyards from Santa Lucia Highlands, while the second was a single-vineyard wine from the Sierra Madre vineyard near Bien Nacido, both 2010’s. I preferred the blend for its richer body. Next we tried the Pinot Noirs from the same two regions, both 2010’s. Finally, we tried the 2005 Bien Nacido Pinot Noir, which is performing wonderfully right now, with juicy red fruits and wonderful balance. While this was my favorite wine, it is not for sale. So, my favorite wine of the day would fall back to the 2010 Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir.
Based on this experience, I would rate the winery as a 7 and the wines offered as a 7. This is consistent with all of my previous visits.
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