Dear A. Rafanelli,

We hope this letter finds you well. More importantly, we regret that in recent years we haven't spent as much time together.

We opened a bottle of wine tonight and thought of you. Your Zinfandels are absolutely fantastic.

It is inexcusable, but the last time we visited Dry Creek Valley was the summer of 2006. Several months before our visit, the itinerary started taking form. This process consisted of choosing our favorite stops, making some appointments, and positioning the subsequent visits to line up efficiently from a driving perspective. A. Rafanelli was certainly a must stop.

Our itinerary will filling quickly, but you told us when we called that you do not take advanced appointments – something we could respect – and to call back closer to the visit date.

Persistence is often essential to success, and we were persistent. Having previously enjoyed your wines, usually opened up on only the most special of occasions, all our unanswered calls were not a bother. You may want to check on your answering machine though, because it very rarely picks up. Fixing the answering machine is not imperative, since we both know you don't return calls anyway. Who of us isn't the same at our work!

We flew from Texas to California with you penciled in to the itinerary… not exactly penned in, but maybe erasable-penned in. Your wine making is brilliant. It is easy to look past the high cost and very limited distribution of your wines. Each sip is a reminder that it is all worth the trouble. Having previously visited and being on your "list" (wine clubs are for wineries of the pedestrian sort), we feel visiting wineries is as much about soaking in the experience as it is getting access to limited releases, so this was a stop we did not want to scratch off the itinerary. The day before we were to visit, we still had not made contact.

It was the fourth of our four day stay. We began the morning with breakfast at our Healdsburg, CA hotel and a phone call to you. No answer. Ferrari-Carano served as our breakfast stop that day and Quivera our brunch stop. By noon, we were still unsuccessful making contact with you; nevertheless we headed to your property. Surely as previous visitors, customers, and passionate admirers we would not be stood up at the gate.

But there we were, parked at the gate to your winery and still no answer.

We thought of that moment at the gate while we began writing this letter. We understand a certain level of pretentiousness when you produce the kind of wines you do with a small and family owned business. As we mentioned, your Zinfandels are truly fantastic, but you are a**holes.

Today is not a special occasion. We are casually enjoying a glass of Lambert Bridge Viognier (Dry Creek Valley Bevill Vineyard, 2008). After being snubbed at your gate, we needed to go somewhere to settle the disappointment from your indifference to us. With Gary Farrell scheduled for later in the afternoon and now a hole in our itinerary, we headed south and pulled in to the next closest winery. This winery was Lambert Bridge.

What a find. Similar to your business, they too make wines that are not widely distributed because of their limited production. Their wine tasting was not free, but we were impressed enough to move to the Reserve Tasting Room. We were served by an unforgettable wine steward named Dean. His Boston accent was contradictory to Lambert Bridge's elegant tasting. We immediately nicknamed him Boston Dean, which I understand stuck based on conversations with the winery in recent years.

After several outstanding wines and possibly as a rebound from your "visit," we joined Lambert Bridge's Liquid Assets Club. Only seconds after merely vocalizing our intent to join the club, Boston Dean reached under the desk and brought out additional glasses and wines that were not even available for purchase. In a moment etched in all our minds, Boston Dean said "you are family now" as he set the new glasses down on the bar. We are family now. Nice.

As we finish off this bottle, we just wanted to thank you for introducing us to Lambert Bridge. You indirectly made a love connection that summer of 2006. While we never connected that trip, we still have one thing between us. You may be a**holes, but you make fantastic Zins.

Cheers!

The Ferm

I'll be the first to admit, I'm a wine novice. I like it, but I have trouble categorizing exactly what I like. I don't like Sauvignon Blanc, it gave me a hangover once. White Zins bore me. Cabernet Sauvignon is a bit too red. But other than that, I'm game. I play it by the book when it comes to wine/food pairings.

In my naivety, I like wines from all over the world...Francie, Italy, Cali, Chile, Aussie,...and Maui. Took a trip to Maui (for obvious reasons) a few years ago, and per a coworker recommendation, stopped by a local winery for the daily tour. What kind of grapes to they grow there? None. It's pineapple wine. Why not?

The winery is everything you'd want in term of experience. It's 2000 feet up toward Haleakala National Park. You might think of Hawaii's beaches as the signature terrain, but at 10,000 feet, Haleakala stretches 1000+ feet higher than the highest point in Texas (peak usually not visible from shore b/c of clouds). But the drive up is picturesque to say the least, not often you feel the need to pull over every mile or so for yet another breathtaking view of the shore. There's a nice grocery store nearby to grab some lunch, it came highly recommended to grab something for the winery on-site picnic tables to enjoy with some of the wine samples. More on that in a minute.

The layout of the winery was as beautiful (as one would expect in the foothills of an isle like Maui) and the tour was appropriate in length and detail.

Random winery tank

Unfortunately, the tasting room was a distance from the picnic tables and it wasn't exactly easy to enjoy a shotglass sample with the box lunch. We should have popped our purchased wine on site (can't remember if that was legally an option) but in any event, it seemed anticlimactic to enjoy a nice sandwich lunch in the garden under the oak tree at a beautiful winery with a breathtaking view of the southeast shore with everything rain-kissed green in every direction you looked (in the perpetual 80 degree weather) without sipping on a glass of the Maui wine!




The view from the winery ain't bad

As for a wine review, we stuck with a white, the Maui Blanc. All samples were good, we just weren't enough of wine people to go past the samples on the rest. The Blanc was fruity and tasty and not too dry. While buying wine from the winery is a nice gesture and in the spirit of free tours, the bottles are widely available for a more competitive price at any local grocery store on the island.

As an aside, there is a beautiful Botanical Garden (Kula) on the drive up or back depending on your route. A well spent small fee for a great sample of local flora.