22 Aug Please The Palate Pick of the Week: Virtual Vino Vinyasa with Ernest Vineyards
Balance is something we all need, especially these days. We need balance in our lives and we want balance in our wines. So it was a perfect balance when I joined Vino Vinyasa for a virtual yoga and wine event this week and that is why the Virtual Vino Vinyasa with Ernest Vineyards in the Please The Palate pick of the week.
Vino Vinyasa, founded by Morgan Perry, offers private yoga and wine events in New York, Austin and Los Angeles. But with the Covid pandemic, Morgan took Vino Vinyasa virtual. What is great about the virtual Vino Vinyasa is that people around the country can enjoy it together and I was online with people from Texas and New York during our virtual event.
Vino Vinyasa combines 40 minutes of yoga flow with fun wine facts woven in, followed by a wine tasting. After a long day of work and the stresses of the day, it was wonderful to take the time to breath deep and stretch. And as we held poses, Morgan spoke about the featured winery Ernest Vineyards, a boutique, artisan producer of single-vineyard wines of the Sonoma Coast. Ernest Vineyards produces 4000 cases per year and Morgan talked about the cool climate of the Sonoma Coast as well as the two grape varieties Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.
After the yoga flow, during shavasana (the relaxation point), we pulled out our wine bottles and poured the Chardonnay. Ernest Vineyards founder and owner Erin Brooks joined us on the virtual tasting to talk about her wines. I have enjoyed the Edaphos wines, her other label, but had not yet tasted the Ernest wines.
Ernest Vineyards was established in 2011. Erin was working in sales in the technology industry and decided to make a career pivot. She, and her husband Todd, started with 900 cases and today produce 4000 cases. Erin is the majority owner of Ernest Vineyards which is one of the four percent of wineries owned by women. Ernest Vineyards, named after Todd’s grandfather, is located in Freestone on the West Sonoma Coast. The average high temperature in August is 68 degrees with only 4-5 hours of real uv light and the rest of the time there is fog. This means that they get a long growing season as the grapes ripen and the result is light, complex wines.
Ernest Vineyards 2018 Sonoma Coast Chardonnay ($36)
The Chardonnay is sourced from three organically farmed vineyards. The primary vineyard is the Joyce Vineyard, a three acre high elevation vineyard that is the coolest site in the West Sonoma Coast. The wine has notes of stone fruit and citrus and has beautifully fresh acidity. It is soft on the mid-palate with an elegant finish. I later enjoyed this wine with grilled shrimp.
Ernest Vineyards 2017 Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir ($38)