Weekend Wine Expedition Stop 6; Sojourn Cellars

If you’ve been following the blog, you know that we’re big fans of the Sojourn. So when we figured out we would be in Sonoma on Sunday, one of the first calls I made was to Craig Haserot, partner at Sojourn, to make an appointment. I couldn’t wait…

We were greeted at 10Am sharp by Craig and his sidekick Ziggy, a Fox-Red Labrador who can smell a corked wine a mile away. No, really. This dog is trained to sniff TCA, the chemical that causes corked wines. You can read all about Ziggy here at Food&Wine.com.

Aside from being a merchant of primo Pinot, Craig is a Dodger fan, so we talked a bit of baseball as he gave us a tour. The tasting salon is a well-kept cottage right off of the Sonoma town square. Compete with leather couches, a large table and chairs and Riedel stemware, anyone can make an appointment for a personal tasting, FREE OF CHARGE!

Craig sat us down and poured the current lineup of Sojourn Pinots.. The 2007 Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast, the 2007 Pinot Noir, Sangiacomo Vineyards (you may recall that I enjoyed this one a few weeks ago while get-away-ing with my wife), the 2007 Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast and the 2007 Pinot Noir, Windsor Oaks Vineyard. All of these wines are lush, complex, amazing and sexy… straight up. When we post the webisode you’ll hear my specific thoughts, but they really are all amazing, and all different. Winemaker Erich Bradley is all about making wines that have substantial mouthfeel, and it shows.

We also had a taste of their 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon, Home Ranch Vineyard. A solid cab effort and a nice follow to the four pinots.

As we prepared to leave, Craig asked “…what are your guys’ plans for the rest of the day?” Our answer led us into stop #6, so I’ll blog about that tomorrow. By the way, the Cabernet we tasted is called ‘Home Ranch’ because the grapes are grown behind Craig’s house in Sonoma County. Note to self: Craig’s life doesn’t suck.

The Executive in front of the Sojourn tasting salon.