Major Press Reviews - Current Releases
Woodenhead won big in the 2013 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition! Our newest 2010 Pinot Noir “Wet Kiss” won Double Gold. Our 2010 Bertoli Vineyard, Leras Ranches Zinfandel took silver!
Jay McInerney of the Wall Street Journal interviewed Burt Williams and gave Woodenhead a great review in the November 2012 issue. “Though he's retiring, Mr. Williams looks likely to keep influencing California wine through his protégés. A surrogate son is Nikolai Stez, who worked with Burt at WS for 17 years before going out on his own to create Woodenhead Cellars. Mr. Stez makes several distinct cuvées of ethereal, Burt-like Pinot Noirs in relatively tiny batches; despite his illustrious pedigree and the high quality of his wines, he has flown pretty much under the media radar for almost 15 years. Pinot lovers with a Burgundian bent who get on his mailing list will be doing themselves a big favor."
The link to the complete article is here, Cheers!
Food & Wine Magazine - October 2010
Doug Wilder, Publisher of Purely Domestic Wine Report, gave great reviews of 3 of our wines in Issue 6, Sept. 2012:
2007 Zinfandel, Martinelli Road Vineyard Old Vine, Russian River Valley (88 points)
"A big sweet black fruit nose with berry, dark cherry, salt and plum. The palate is ripe and heavy with cherry, dark berry and Christmas candy: clove and cinnamon. Lots of fruit extraction on the finish... Drink 2012–2017."
2009 Zinfandel, Guido Venturi Vineyard, Mendocino County (91 points)
"Tart red raspberry and cherry on the nose with a honey and pie crust note. The palate has a smooth nectarine, cherry and tobacco combination. The finish is solid cherry with tea-like tannins. Drink 2012–2017."
2009 Zinfandel, Braccialini Vineyard, Alexander Valley (90 points)
"Shows a spicy black cherry nose with some blue fruit elements. The palate is richly sculpted with black walnut, cherry and baking spice on the finish. Drink 2012-2016."
Woodenhead at ZAP Festival
RJonWine.com
"I’ve been following Nikolai Stez’s career for a long time. He was assistant winemaker at Williams-Selyem before launching his own label. He makes delicious Pinots, Syrahs and Zins. I was very sorry to hear that the vines that were the source of the tasty Braccialini bottling were ripped out this year. Pictured on the right is Nick’s business partner Zina Bower, and on the left is her buddy Erin, who also happens to be a longtime friend of mine.
- http://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=774317
2007 Woodenhead Zinfandel Guido Venturi Vineyard – USA, California, North Coast, Mendocino County (1/28/2012)
Ripe boysenberry, ripe berry nose; tasty, poised but hedonistic, berry, boysenberry palate; medium-plus finish (91 pts.) - http://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=821611
2007 Woodenhead Zinfandel Martinelli Road Old Vines – USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley (1/28/2012)
Intense, herbal, dried berry nose; tasty, herbal, dried berry palate; medium-plus finish 91+ points (91 pts.) - http://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=1311216
2009 Woodenhead Zinfandel Guido Venturi Vineyard – USA, California, North Coast, Mendocino County (1/28/2012)
Intense, wild berry, herbal nose; juicy, wild berry, herbal palate; medium-plus finish 90+ points (90 pts.) - http://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=1311218
2009 Woodenhead Zinfandel Braccialini – USA, California, Sonoma County, Alexander Valley (1/28/2012)
Rich black fruit, ripe blackberry nose; rich, black fruit, ripe blackberry, baked black fruit palate; medium-plus finish (92 pts.)"
From RJonWine.com
Written by Richard Jennings
Two of our Zinfandels received top ratings in The Bohemian December 1, 2010 issue. James Knight writes:
"Selecting from a few personal favorites and a mixed bag of likely candidates... blind tasted by a hard-to-please crew of eight... Woodenhead was the standout favorite."
San Francisco Chronicle's SFGate Magazine did another great article on Woodenhead's French Colombard!
Michele Anna Jordan, food and wine writer for the The Press Democrat newspaper of Sonoma County calls our French Colombard "the single best oyster wine I've tasted" !
Dry Creek Kitchen's sommelier Drew Munro has featured Woodenhead's 2006 Martinelli Road Vineyard Old-Vine Zinfandel in Charlie Palmer's September 2010 Newsletter!
"Williams Selyem alumni and Woodenhead winemaker Nikolai Stez's main focus is Pinot Noir, and it shows with this delicious Zinfandel from the Martinelli Road Vineyard. It is dense and rich but soft and silky, exhibiting rich flavors of blueberry, blackberry, raspberry, violets, and a slight bit of pepper supported by fine-grained tannins to give it a solid structure and age-ability."
San Francisco Chronicle's SFGate Magazine did a great feature article on Woodenhead!
Ray Isle, Wine Editor of Food & Wine Magazine calls Woodenhead the "Great Unknown Pinot Noir" in his latest blog!
Woodenhead's 2007 Pinot Noir, Buena Tierra Vineyard won the Pinot Cup at the Pigs & Pinot event at Dry Creek Kitchen on March 19!!
Watch KTVU's video coverage of the event and awards!
See the "Woodenhead a Winner" article in the Press Democrat Newspaper on the event!
"The Pinot Cup is a Pinot Noir competition where 50 hand-picked Pinot Noirs compete in a blind-tasting competition to award the best of the best by a renowned judging panel including top wine media personalities: Ray Isle, wine editor of Food & Wine magazine, Virginie Boone, wine writer for Press Democrat and Rusty Gaffney, founder of The Pinot File."
Thank you Sonoma County Bohemian Magazine readers for voting us Best Tasting Room in Sonoma County and Best Pinot Noir (honorable mention) in the Bohemian's Best of 2010!
Woodenhead was featured on My Daily Grape of Ustream, the largest Internet-TV broadcast in the world!
We had a great write-up in The Bohemian Dec 30, 2009 issue's Year in Review article.
ZAP Tasting 2009 gave our 2006 Martinelli Road Russian River Valley Zinfandel their top score!
We poured our Troika Pinot Noir at Charlie Palmer's 4th annual Pigs & Pinot "Smackdown" on March 21, 2009, and we came in 1st place!!!
"On Saturday afternoon, Pigs & Pinot participants attended The Ultimate Pinot Smackdown Seminar led by master sommeliers Keith Goldston, Fred Dame, Drew Hendricks, and William Sherer. Each Master Sommelier entered his personal selection of 4 Pinot Noirs from around the world. Four heats later, the audience ultimately chose Woodenhead as their favorite."
The Bohemian "Best of the North Bay 2009" - March 2009
Thank you Sonoma County Bohemian Magazine readers for voting us the Best Winetasting Room Honorable Mention and Best Syrah in Sonoma County for the Bohemian's "Best of the North Bay 2009"!!
See our Review Archives page for reviews and awards of our past vintages.
Awards
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2010 West Coast Wine Competition
2009 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition Awards |
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2008 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition Awards |