I love my Wine Authority membership because I get to try all kinds of stuff I wouldn’t find on my own. Premium wines, small-production wines, overlooked grapes and regions–you never know what’s going to be on the tasting bar.
This week was a Russian River Valley tasting. I order a Russian River Valley Pinot Noir or Chardonnay from time to time–however, I confess I usually pass over them in favor of bolder and more aromatic New World styles. But color me edumacated, because Balletto Vineyards was in the house with four of their tasty Russian River Valley wines!
The weekly wine club tastings work like this: Sample all the wines, talk to the distributor or winery rep, order by the glass or the bottle if you wish. My tasting notes are at the bottom of this post.
Balletto Vineyards is located in Sonoma’s Russian River Valley with 850 acres of vineyards across several sites. Balletto is proud to be one of the few Russian River wineries to make 100% estate-grown and bottled wines.
The winery produces 20,000-25,000 cases annually, though many batches are much smaller. Winemaker Anthony Beckman selects about 10% of their crop for Balleto’s own label wines–the rest are sold to other Sonoma-area wineries.
With vineyards located in the cooler southern third of the Russian River Valley, they take advantage of the climate to produce light and delicate varietal wines with pronounced acidity. Pinot Noir and Chardonnay have long been specialties of the estate. Our tasting also included a Sauvignon Blanc and very limited (<1000 cases) Zinfandel. (The 2021 has sold out but the 2022 is coming soon.)
I don’t always take notes or pictures at evening tastings–it’s a loud, busy bar and I’m having drinks with friends, after all. But this week I managed to git ‘er done. It helped a lot that the winery rep gave me take-home copies of the spec sheets after I maybe asked too many questions. 😳
Tuesday’s tasting was of four single-varietal wines from Balletto Winery (Russian River Valley AVA):
Balletto Sauvignon Blanc (2024)
Zesty and bone-dry with a puckery tart finish. Key lime, tangerine, bit of pineapple rind, minerals. Light. 100% Sauvignon Blanc. Retail: $25
Balletto Teresa’s Chardonnay Unoaked (2023)
Fresh and super-dry Chablis-style young Chard. Apple, quince, cream cheese. Tart lemony finish. Winemaking: Unoaked with whole cluster fermentation. Slight tannins from skin contact and 60% malolactic fermentation add weight and roundness to the palate. Retail: $25
Balletto Pinot Noir (2021)
Classic Sonoma-style Pinot. Like their white wines, it also leans pale and dry and very sippable. Raspberry, light oak, strawberry leaf, hint of smoke. 100% Pinot Noir. This is their blended Russian River Valley Pinot Noir–Balletto also makes several single-vineyard Pinots from different sections of their estate. Retail: $30
Balletto Zinfandel (2021)
A bantamweight Zin with translucent purple-y red color and bright acidity. I actually assumed it was the Pinot in my glass before it got to my nose. Creamy vanilla, coconut, and cocoa butter aromas yield to fresh Bing cherry, red plum, blackberry, and dusty ground pepper. Aged 10 months in French and American oak, 30% new. (This was the crowd favorite, and mine.) 100% Zinfandel. Retail: $30
Further reading:
Review disclosure: I was not compensated or provided any free products for this review (except for the tasting included with my paid membership at The Wine Authority). Opinions expressed on The Wine Fairy blog are entirely my own.
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