Weekly Wine Find: Cinematic Environs Make For an Epic Wine-Tasting Experience

Fantastic review of the Tasting Room as seen in today's issue of the Monterey County Weekly's email newsletter.

The scene already felt elevated: It was Easter, the sun was shining, the Pinot Blancs, Chardonnays and Pinot tastes were flowing in the new, modern Silvestri Vineyards Tasting Room in Carmel Valley (659-1700), and wine mind Gail Summars was giving us a fluid run through the winery's local approach.

But something about the moment had an almost epic quality.

Maybe it was the fact that we had come across a very nice Carmel Valley single-vineyard Syrah for only $25, the earthy 2003 Silvestri Syrah, a triumph of black fruit and silky, seamless tannins.

Or maybe that was just the soundtrack to Back to the Future in the background. (Or was it the A-Team? Romancing the Stone?)

The sleek and simplistic room - the latest in the mini-tasting destination that is its now five- or six-winery-deep strip mall across from the Running Iron (Parsonage! Joyce! Dawn's Dream!) - wisely plays up its owner's film-scoring acumen. Everybody likes wine with a backstory - theirs happens to involve Hollywood. Alan Silvestri famously designed the scores for everything from Forrest Gump to Predator. Posters, background music and rotating digital displays pay homage.

The Syrah, meanwhile, pays homage to local terroir with a very earthy and smoky flavor up front followed by big black currant-blackberry fruit - it's somehow full-bodied without being heavy, its inky complexion revealing its age with a touch of translucence around the edges.

Mark Chesebro, who has a neighboring tasting room with his own admirable Chesebro varietals, crafts the wines with grapes from just down Carmel Valley Road.

Silvestri pours four current release tastes, a 2010 Pinot Blanc ($25/bottle), '09 Bella Sandra Chardonnay ($20), '07 Pinot ($32) and '07 Syrah ($18) for $7, or guests can add library tastes - the 2003 Syrah and 2005 Pinot - for $3 more. (Tasting fees are waived for club members or a two bottle purchase.)

All around, a fine find.

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