Joseph Peters-Mathews

Review of Ledson Winery

A friend who is an employee invited me, but he and...

A friend who is an employee invited me, but he and I had not coordinated on timing so he was not available for us. The person we had was friendly in his recommendations of our next wines to try, however did not read his audience (three progressive gay men all of whom have spent a fair amount of time in France) very well. He was Francophobic: if there was an opportunity to point out how something would be "illegal" in France he pointed it out and took pride in it. If there was an opportunity to suggest something should remind us of "American freedom" he did.

Of the six wines we had a few were tasty, however none of them was stellar. Almost none of them warranted the price per bottle. The $15 tasting fee isn't waived upon purchase, and purchases are not cheap. This venue would make a gorgeous setting for a wedding, and its size (with at least three tasting bars) easily accommodates large groups. The size, however, is detrimental when looking for a particular open bottle for tasting, thus calling the other tasting bars.

Ledson Winery makes 86 different wines, and it showed in the tasting. Cutting down to a few wines with a little more focus on each could potentially greatly make them all much better. Although there is no distribution of Ledson wines, there is quite the production. I prefer smaller wineries with smaller tasting rooms and staff that are personable without trying to prove anything about themselves, their wineries, California, or the United States.