A New Wine Destination In Carmel Valley Village

         The Chesebro Vineyards Tasting Room just opened in Carmel Valley Village in what is becoming a cluster of wine tasting rooms at the east end of town.  Parsonage is the grandfather of the bunch.  And now there is Chesebro, Holman, Joyce, and soon Silvestri and Gallante. SO…if you want to experience a variety of wineries, this is the place for you. 

     In this particular blog, we want to focus on Chesebro wines.  Mark Chesebro has created quite a variety of wines at really good prices.  The day we visited the tasting room, Mark was there and, of course, very knowledgeable and enthusiastic about his wines, all of which are “grown, produced and bottled by our family; 8 wines for a total production of 2500 cases.”   

We started our tasting with a 2010 Sauvignon Blanc—very crisp, citrusy and refreshing, with what seemed like just a touch of sweetness at the finish.  Then we moved to what became one of our favorites and one that is rather unique for this valley. It’s a 2009 Vermentino, a white wine, from a grape that was originally grown in Liguria, Sardinia and Corsica.  LC, the resident Italian, couldn’t resist the Vermentino, especially at $16 a bottle.

Our next taste took us to another new white varietal for us, a 2008 Roussanne, a grape native to the Rhone Valley, but grown now, as well, in the estate vineyard in the Carmel Valley mountains.  According to Mark, this is a good cross-over wine, appealing to red wine drinkers as well as the white wine aficionados.  Chesebro also has a Chardonnay and some wonderful reds—a 2009 Pinot Noir and two Syrahs.

We finished our tasting with Chesebro’s 2009 Late Harvest Sauvignon Blanc Dessert Wine which we think would also be wonderful with pears, nuts and/or cheese.  We bought a bottle, so we’ll let you know once we do our pairing.

In all, we really like what we tasted.  Mark Chesebro is quite a talented vintner, having studied at UC Davis, and worked at Bernardus for many years as their winemaker. He has also been a cheesemaker. 

The Chesebro Tasting Room is at 19 East Carmel Valley Road, Suite D, open from Friday through Monday, noon to 5. (831 659 2125).

We think you would really enjoy Chesebro wines.  To read about the variety Mark offers, check out their website at www.chesebrowines.com.