We booked a tasting appointment at 750 Wines on the advice of the President of the Palaka Wine Co. Located just past the main shopping strip in St Helena town, owners David and Monica Stevens first ask you several questions re: your wine preferences. What varietal(s) do you favor? What are you drinking now? What are you collecting now? What type of music do you favor? What are your price points for wine? What other wineries are you visiting? They then schedule the appointment with you with several hand picked selections based on your responses. Obviously if you only consume box wine or Yellowtail and your price point is $10, you probably won't be granted an appointment. And since there's no charge for the tasting, I personally feel obligated to purchase a couple bottles of wine.
The space at 750 Wines is like a large artist's warehouse complete with artwork. They have one large shelf with various wines that they procure and they specialize in smaller producers that may not have hit the Parker or Spectator radar yet. So if all you seek is Opus One, you may be better off going directly to the source. But if new and unique wines are your passion, then 750 Wines is for you.
Our tasting menu looked like this:
2012 Carne Humana White
70% Sauvignon, 20% Semillon, 7% Grenache, 3% Viognier
Derek Beitler, winemaker
300 cases, $20
2012 Antica Terra "Botanica" Pinot Noir
Maggie Harrison, winemaker
300 cases, $75
2012 Studio Fifty Seven Pinot Noir
Russell Bevan, winemaker
75 cases, $65
2012 Keplinger Lithic
47% Grenache, 28% Mourvedre, 25% Syrah
Helen Keplinger, winemaker
195 cases, $60
2012 Relic Ritual Red
30% Mourvedre, 17% Carignane, 20% Grenache, 17% Syrah, 16% Petite Sirah
Michael Hirby, winemaker
450 cases, $50
2011 Detert Family Vineyards Cabernet Franc
Tom Garrett, winemaker
108 cases, $75
As you can see, they personalize your tasting experience. Monica even poured a couple of other wines using a Coravin including several higher end (more than $100 bottles) Cabernets for us to sample.
And yes, I did end up purchasing some wine... actually a case of wine and I did have to cut back on a couple of bottles to bring it down to one case. If I did have the storage space, I probably would have purchased another case... or two... which is still less than the President of the Palaka Wine Co...
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