Michelle P.
Yelp
Miraflores is my new favorite winery. Not only do I like some of the wines, but the owner Victor Alvarez is a fantastic storyteller. In fact he kind of reminded me of my grandfather, except instead of having a thick French accent, he had a Spanish one.
Along with a number of other wines, Alvarez was pouring his 2006, 2007 and 2008 Zinfandels the weekend I visited. He says his 2006 Zinfandel probably has the best nose out of the ones he has and even though it's older than the other two, it is only just becoming complex.
But the 2007 is not to be shunned. It is the highest rated Zinfandel in the area. And then there's his 2008 Zinfandel. Mmmm.mmmmm...good. However, the 2007 was my favorite. But Zins were only the beginning. There were many more wines to taste afer this one.
I tasted his Barbera and it was excellent. The particular vintage is not on the list yet as he just put it in the bottle a few days ago, but let me tell you that this wine did smell fabulous. It had a delicate floral character to it. It was beautiful and had the makings of a good wine. I'm definitely going back to get it when he's ready to sell that vintage.
A couple other vintages that are worth mentioning is the winery's Mouvedre and their Cabernet Sauvignon. Both are sill in the barrel, but they will let you taste it (and buy it) as part of their futures.
While the Zinfandels, Barbera and the futures are all worth trying, it was Miraflores' sweet wines that were most memorable. It may because Alvarez tries to stay true to the wine by using traditional grapes or it could because of the passion his winemaker has for sweet wines. In either case, the wines were impressive.
The first one we tried was their 2008 Botricelli which was a Sauterne model and an 80/20 Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc. Alvarez makes only 240 cases a year of this wine. But OMG...this wine was soooo good. I ended up taking a bottle home with me and wish I bought more. It's like drinking a little piece of heaven.
The next wine was the Black Muscat, which smelled like violets. It was smooth, with a long incredible finish. This one was also fantastic. I loved the violet smell and it tasted really good. I almost bought this one too, but held back. Now I'm regretting the decision and may have to go back for it.