Porter Family Vineyards: Coombsville Cave Tastings

Inside the Porter Family Vineyards Cave

Personally, I love wine tasting in a cave. Especially when the wines are delicious and there is an intimate setting. As you might have guessed by now, I'm not a huge fan of large group tours! My experience at Porter Family Vineyards was a perfect introduction to Coombsville at an amazing family run winery. We were greeted by Rebecca, our tasting guide for the day, (fun fact: her family runs a vineyard in Coombsville as well). After peeking around the rolling hills of vines, we retreated to the cave for a seated tasting of their current offerings.

View of the Vineyard

Before we began the tasting, I walked around the cave and noticed a very interesting looking bottle labeled "Time".  It was etched with different stages of the moon, and the vintage was not labeled. I asked Rebecca about it, and she explained that "Time" is a bottling of all previous vintages of Porter Family's cabernet sauvignon blended into one wine. There are different percentages of each vintage (the 2010 distribution is significantly higher than the 2005) in the single bottle and it makes a cabernet sauvignon that encompasses a true tasting of the estate-grown grapes over time. I was blown away at this concept and definitely consider this one of the coolest and most cutting edge finds in my wine tasting adventures! The production of Time is extremely limited (only 50 cases total production), so unfortunately it is not included as part of the tasting. It is available for purchase at the winery, and some day I will definitely come back to reward myself with this exclusive bottle.

Time

Now back to the tasting...we tried four delicious reds and learned a lot about the history of the winery, the family, and the high tech wine making processes that make this family owned gem unique. Rebecca has a wonderful personality and is very easy to talk to while you taste your way through the Porter portfolio. We were very impressed with the wines and especially loved the 2009 Cave Dweller, a delicious blend that we will open up in another year or two. The price points of this winery were reasonable as well, with most wines within the $28-$55 range. I would recommend this tour and tasting experience for a red wine lover looking for an intimate tasting experience in a cave setting. We really enjoyed our time here and can't wait to return when we introduce others to Coombsville!

The Delicious Tasting

Tips - Porter Family Vineyards:

• The winery offers a tour and tasting experience between 10am and 4pm for $40/person by reservation only.
• You can book your tasting online here.
• Expect to spend a little over an hour here and plan an extra 10-15 minutes for your drive to the winery. 

Loved These Reds!