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Tour and Tasting at Byington Winery
Byington Winery, Santa Cruz Mountains
Tasted January 23, 2010 by Rob MacKay with 672 views
Introduction
Byington is a 10000 case/year winery in the Santa Cruz Mountains that began operations in 1990 with the release of their 1987 Estate Pinot Noir. Situated atop the Santa Cruz Mountains on 95 acres of which only 9 acres are planted with Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.
Flight 1 (6 notes)
White
2008 Byington Liage
89 points
The 2008 "Liage" is a blend of 80% Sauvignon Blanc and 20% Viognier. Slightly floral with crisp, green apple flavors and a nice finish. Our favorite of the lineup we tasted.
White
2007 Byington Chardonnay
85 points
Good fruit but also a substantial amount of oak. Creamy texture with a smooth finish. If you are not a fan of buttery, oaked up Chardonnay then you would not like this. However, if that's your style preference then at $15, this is a pretty good deal.
Red
2006 Byington Pinot Noir Van der Kamp Vineyard
86 points
Lots of dark berry fruit and a slightly smokey overtone. Well balanced and tasty but has a slightly short finish.
Red
2004 Byington Cabernet Sauvignon Chelle Mountain Vineyard
74 points
By far, our least favorite of the lineup. Way out of balance and downright nasty. Tipping the scales at a whopping 17% alcohol, this wine would be better served for cleaning out infected wounds. Average at best and that's being generous. The winery is trying to sell these off as 'economic stimulus wines'. Perhaps if they have them as the last wine of the day that people taste when they are already blitzed they might get a few people to buy some.
Red
2005 Byington Merlot Messina Vineyard
84 points
Fruity and rather simple but still tasty enough to enjoy. Mild oak influence and a smooth finish. A decent wine but at nearly $30, quite overpriced.
Red
2004 Byington Cabernet Sauvignon Signature
87 points
The Byington 'Signature' Cab is supposed to be their best Cabernet Sauvignon. At $50 a bottle you can do MUCH better. However, they are currently selling these at 2 for $50 which makes them a slightly better deal. The wine shows some decent earthy elements, black fruits and licorice on the palate and mild tannins on the finish.
Closing
The one unfortunate part of the tour and tasting is that we didn't get to taste any of the wines that Byington produces from their own estate grapes. Everything we tasted was from grapes that they source from other locations. We would have liked to have tasted their estate wines as well as they are normally much better then what they produce from outside sources.