The road from Highway 17 to Byington Vineyard & Winery tests your driving skills. Numerous hairpin turns and steep drop-offs challenge even the best drivers, but hang in there. The reward awaits inside the winery’s iron gates.
Byington’s winery is housed in a grand, Mediterranean-style building with a red tile roof. On the day we arrived, a lively bocce game was in session, picnickers dotted the front lawn, and wine-loving hikers were jaunting off on vineyard trails. All tempting, but our mission was the Barrel Tasting in the Wine Cave experience, led by Brian Gardiner, an entertaining guide with a Brit’s dry wit. He started making his own wine in the 1970s; he is now retired but still makes a limited-edition syrah for Byington.
We descend 40 feet below ground into the wine cave. “If you really want to taste a wine, it should be at room temperature,” Gardiner says. “When I say ‘room temperature,’ I’m talking about British stone castle temperature, which is 60 degrees.”
Gardiner pops the bung — the big rubber stopper — from each barrel. He inserts a glass thief — a fancy siphon — and draws out wine samples so we can sample five wines, a mix of chardonnay and pinot noir, as he explains how the wines have changed since they’ve been in the barrel. The wines will continue to change after bottling and aging for one to two more years before release.
The details: Open Thursday-Sunday for wine tasting ($12). Reservations recommended for the 25-minute weekend barrel tasting ($25). 21850 Bear Creek Road, Los Gatos; www.byington.com
The sips: Out of the barrel, the 2014 Wright’s Station Vineyard Chardonnay smells like apple and pear. The 2013 Estate Pinot Noir is fresh and fruity now, but Gardiner says it will be even better in two or three years. Good wine requires patience, we venture. “Patience be damned, let’s drink it now,” he replies.
Nearby: Try David Bruce Winery or Black Ridge Vineyards, or find other Santa Cruz Mountains wineries at www.mercurynews.com/south-bay-wine.
— Mary Orlin, Staff
