Food

It won't be a surprise to most who follow this column that I am a huge fan of the wines of Joseph Phelps Vineyards, especially their proprietary red, Insignia. Along the way there have been other Phelps wines to make me swoon like their Ovation Chardonnay, but regrettably this wine was discontinued with the 2004 vintage.

On a recent trip to Napa and Sonoma, I happily learned Ovation is once again being made after a two-year hiatus at the new Freestone Vineyards in Sonoma County owned by Phelps. Though on a tight schedule, so many wines, so little time, I accepted an invitation to visit Freestone Vineyards. I recall inquiring about the distance to Freestone from our current location and seem to remember being told it was not far.

Thank God for car navigation systems and an adventuresome chauffeur friend. Traveling from Napa to the Freestone Vineyards in western Sonoma County is not an adventure for the faint of heart. After leaving Napa County and its miles of vineyards, we traveled through miles of rolling desolate mountainous ranch land dotted by occasional cows before leaving the main highway and finally reaching Freestone.

This winery is certainly off the beaten path. One senses the tasting staff does not necessarily entertain large numbers of visitors on any given day. We spent a couple of leisurely hours tasting through an array of white wines including Ovation along with other Freestone wines.

The Ovation tasting experience was worth our trip to this forsaken locale. As we were leaving, our tasting hosts pointed out we were only eight miles from the Pacific Ocean and suggested we take the ocean route home. We followed his directions with the help of our navigation system and headed for the town of Occidental, an artsy community once a hippie enclave, where we turned left on a cow trail right before the accentless feminine navigation system voice announced "I have lost your signal, good bye."

Traversing these unmarked cow trails with the gas gauge approaching empty, I became convinced that like Tina Fey's Sarah Palin I was going to be able to "See Russia." Eventually we came upon a breathtaking view of the Pacific, but soon abandoned thoughts of picnicking on the beach because of cold temperatures and ferocious winds.

Such adventures make wine fascinating. I won't ever taste Ovation again without recanting this tale, though I might embellish a bit. You don't have to have a great adventure to enjoy these wines, but remember the nearness of the Pacific ocean and its cooling wind have a profound effect on growing superb chardonnay and pinot noir so much so in fact that Joseph Phelps built an entire new winery, Freestone, solely for the purpose of producing pinot noir and chardonnay.

Try these superb wines when the evening calls for a special bottle. Regrettably these wines are not available in local wine stores, but can be obtained by securing approval to order from the State of Alabama ABC Board. Go to www.abc.alabama.gov, click on Liquor Import, print and complete the form and send to Freestone Vineyards, 12747 El Camino Bodega, Freestone, CA 95472.

Freestone Pinot Gris 2006 Sonoma Coast. $50. Pricey for a pinot gris. Available only at the winery. Limited production. Floral nose with citrus flavors, perfectly balanced. Great food wine. Likely the most superb pinot gris I have tasted.

Ovation 2006 Chardonnay Sonoma Coast. $60. Pricey chardonnay in this economy. A wonderful wine, perfectly balanced. Aged in 70 percent new oak and 30 percent neutral oak, but not a big buttery wine. Naturally made, unfiltered chardonnay rivaling and out performing more expensive chardonnays from Burgundy.

Fogdog 2006 Pinot Noir. $35. Sourced from slowly maturing fog-cooled grapes. Fogdog is a second label of Freestone. The name fogdog comes from a bright white spot seen near the horizon as the fog breaks. Lots of red berry flavors, complex, but with a hint of earthiness on the nose.