At the Feet of the Master: Tasting With the Brilliant and Zany Mike Weersing of Pyramid Valley Vineyards

This coming March 14 marks exactly a year the last time Vineyard Gate hosted a tasting with Mike Weersing of Pyramid Valley Vieyards. That's either ominous or just biodynamic forces at work. March 14th happens to be a Fruit day in the biodynamic calendar, the best day for tasting wine.

Mike Weersing will again join Vineyard Gate this year for an intimate tasting and walk-through of some of his monumental hits. He'll be accompanied by his new Managing Director, Caine Thompson, and their US import partner, Chris Terrell. It doesn't get better.

The following wines will be poured:

2010 Marlborough Pinot Blanc "Kerner Vineyard"

2009 Marlborough Riesling "Riverbrook Vineyard"

2009 Canterbury Chardonnay Home Vineyard "Lion's Tooth"

2011 Canterbury Chardonnay Home Vineyard "Lion's Tooth

2011 Canterbury Chardonnay Home Vineyard "Field of Fire"

2009 Marlborough Pinot Noir "Cowley"

2009 Marlborough Pinot Noir "Calvert"

2009 Canterbury Pinot Noir Home Vineyard "Earth Smoke"

This is a fantastic opportunity to meet one of the most admired winemakers today. Mike is a leading proponent of natural winemaking. His wines come from organic and biodynamically farmed vineyards and his winemaking philosophy is consistent to this, maintaining minimum intervention and allowing the wines to express themselves without the addition of yeasts and enzymes and the minimal use of sulphites.

The results of his efforts are wines of rare complexity and expression, totally delicious in the range of flavors they offer and in conveying the unique characters of their vineyard sites. They are wines for ultimate enjoyment!

After graduating from Stanford University, Mike studied oenology and viticulture in Burgundy, beginning at the Lycee Viticole in Beaune, and continuing at the Universite de Bourgogne in Dijon. He has worked extensively in the vineyards and cellars of Europe with producers such as Hubert de Montille, Domaine de la Pousse d'Or, and Nicolas Potel in Burgundy; Jean-Michel Deiss and Marc Kreydenweiss in Alsace; and Ernst Loosen in the Mosel. He has made wine in France and in Spain for Randall Grahm of Bonny Doon Vineyards, vinifying in the Rhone Valley, the Languedoc-Roussillon, and Navarra. New world stints include apprenticeships with James Halliday at Coldstream Hills in the Yarra Valley of Australia, and with Russ Raney at Evesham Wood in Oregon's Eola Hills.

At Pyramid Valley, Mike and and his wife, Claudia, make some of the best wines from some of New Zealand's greatest terroirs. They are firm believers in both traditional and natural viticulture, and with winemaking consistent with this vineyard approach

Advanced sign-up is required. Tasting will start promptly at 5:30pm. Cost for the tasting is just $30 plus tax. Call us at 800.580.8588 to sign up. Limited seatings. Please note that reservation is final and non-refundable. You will be responsible for finding your own replacement if you cannot come. Don't miss this!!!