Winery/Producer: Buttonwood Farm Winery and Vineyard; 1500 Alamo Pintado Rd.; Solvang, California
Appellation: Santa Yenz Valley
Tasting Room and Location: 2 miles north of Hwy. 246
Grape Variety Tasted:
2009 Buttonwood Marsanne 2010 Buttonwood Sauvignon Blanc 2012 Buttonwood Syrah Rosé 2009 Buttonwood Cabernet Franc 2009 Buttonwood Syrah 2009 Buttonwood GrenacheTasting Price: $12.00
Knowledge and Helpfulness of the Person Pouring the Wine: Helpful and friendly. The gentlemen pouring the wine had as much character as the vineyard itself. He knew about the wines, the vineyard, the area and added to the whole experience of the wine tasting.
Recommendation from the tasting: We did not purchase any Buttonwood wines.
Comments: Buttonwood is a small winery and vineyard in Santa Barbara County’s beautiful Santa Ynez Valley. In addition to the vineyard it’s also a working farm with orchards containing peach, pear, olive and pomegranate trees. Named for the native Buttonwood (or Sycamore) trees that dominate the scenic valley landscape the tasting room is appropriated located in a grove of Buttonwood trees. We visited Buttonwood in the Spring and the tasting room was filled with fresh-cut daffodils and blossoms from the fruit trees…a VERY nice touch
The wines we tasted were all pretty good and reasonably priced. The hospitality of the staff and friendly atmosphere of the tasting room was about as nice as it can get. It was a very enjoyable tasting.
One note on the wines we tasted. They all (white and red) had a barnyard bouquet. Since it was in all the wines, even with my rather limited knowledge, I would say it may well be the presence of Brettanomyces; a non-spore forming yeast commonly referred to as “Brett”. In this case it had a positive effect on the red wine, but didn’t strike a happy cord with the whites.