A Lovely Treasure Island Tasting Room

Knightswood Vineyards and Winery / Stein Family Wines / Bodega Wine Estates Combined Tasting Room

This is a shared tasting room/winery located on Treasure Island, San Francisco, CA. The third winery sharing the space wasn't pouring any wines when I was there. They are one of four tasting rooms on Treasure Island.

The tasting room is spacious even with all the t-shirts and winery kitsch that is usually saved for the larger winery tasting rooms. The staff was very friendly and the winemaker for Stein Family Wines was pouring as well. The tasting room was busy, but not crowded when we went. They were doing a prawn paella banquet that day so when it was ready the room cleared up a bit and we were able to taste in peace. Even with the place crowded, the acoustics were such that were could hear each other and the winemaker just fine. They charge a small fee to taste up to five wines of the ten plus wines to choose from.

Two Quick Reviews: Sparkling Wine and Sauvignon Blanc

Delmas Blanquette de Limoux Brut 2007 Cuvee Berlene ($20)

This French sparkling wine is from outside the Champagne region so even though its French and claims to be one of the oldest sparkling wine houses in the world (1531) it is not Champagne. The nose exhibited lemon and toast while the flavors on the tongue added pineapple to the lemon and brought the toast down to a yeasty bread. This was nicely crisp.

Bartholomew Park Winery 2009 Sauvignon Blanc ($22)

The grapes were sourced from Napa and Sonoma counties.This offering was a pale lemon yellow with a slight greenish hue which is indicative of its ripeness. The more golden a white wine the more ripe the berries. This was a wonderful Sauvignon Blanc with loads of guava, hints of passion fruit, and a floral nose. The guava followed through to the palate where it was joined by green apple. It had a lovely crisp finish.

Unoaked Pinot Noir: A Bright New Take On Pinot

Weingut Friedrich Becker Spätburgunder 2008 Pfalz  (15 Euros)

First off Spätburgunder is the German name for Pinot Noir. This is from the Pfalz region of Germany. Pfalz is the second largest wine producing area in Germany. This wine is in the qualitätswein trocken category. Trocken meaning dry and qualitätswein being an indication of wine quality just like it sounds.  Although Deutschland is known for their sweet whites, namely Riesling, the fondness for dry reds is growing and about a third of the grapes grown in Germany are now red. They don't have the climate for the deeper full bodied reds, but they do make some lovely Pinot Noirs. Not as lovely as Burgundy, California, or Oregon, but they are much less expensive (especially in Germany) and its always nice to taste a "new to you" terroir.