Glug, Glug

Tried to spend a relaxing weekend doing not-very-much. Mostly succeeded.

Sunday, we took advantage of a free coupon to go wine tasting at a local winery, Testarossa in Los Gatos. Testarossa operates in the old Novitiate Winery facility, set into the hills above Los Gatos and still utilising the original three-level, gravity fed production equipment.

It looks like the grounds etc. surrounding the property must themselves be worth a visit but in late November the only thing that was open was the tasting room.

Standard pricing is $10 each for tasting five wines, refundable against the purchase of any bottles at the end of the process. Hmm, a bit pricey but since for us it was free then OK, what the hell, gimme a glass.

The wines offered were in the $20 to $50 range and covered two whites and three reds.

Overall impression? Not that great. The chardonnay poured was OK but the two pinots we tried were disappointing, especially given the prices they were trying to charge. (Why do wineries continue to beleive that just because it's a pinot they can charge a premium, even if they've never won an accolade or built some kind of reputation?)

We ended up buying a bottle of their shiraz. It was an OK price - especially after getting $10 off for the tasting fee - and has some tannin in there that should allow it to last for a while.

Worth a visit, but more so if the property itself is fully open so you can do more than taste stuff.