New Wine Tasting Room and Wine Education Center

July 27, 2009 - PRLog -- After 30 years of winemaking, Howell Mountain producer, W.H. Smith Wines is open to the public with their first tasting room in downtown Calistoga, CA.  

Joan and Bill Smith began producing wine in 1982 with their inaugural vintage of La Jota Vineyard Co. Zinfandel.  In 2001 they sold the La Jota Vineyard Co. winery and have continued making their W.H. Smith Wines brand producing Pinot Noir and Howell Mountain Estate Cabernet Sauvignon. The W.H. Smith Wines has received many accolades including the Pinot Noir being served at the White House, and high rankings including a 98 in the Wine Enthusiast in 1997 to  number 2 on Robert Parker’s roster of “heroes” in 1994.

The tasting room is managed by their daughter, T’Anne Butcher who runs a Wine Sensory Experience in the same space. The sensory experience is a series of exercises and classes that are developed to educate all levels of wine drinkers to better understand how flavor and aroma profiles are cultivated in a wine and how to train ones senses to be able to identify these characteristics in a wine tasting environment.

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Wine Tasting Room and Wine Education Center. An extension of the winery, the tasting room features Rose of Pinot Noir, 5 Sonoma Coast Pinot Noirs and two Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignons. The Wine Education center includes several self-guided sensory excercises to help develope tasting skills. A formal class is available for a fee by reservation on Friday, Saturday and Sundays.