To R5 and anyone else who might be interested:
Re: Ledson wines

On the ledson.com website, I found a list under Restaurants, which names retailers that carry the wines. More importantly, I found the name of my wine merchant, a very knowledgeable and well-respected wine seller.

Wanting to purchase this wine myself, I talked with them at length about Ledson wines, the winery and the Sonoma County family who owns it. They confirmed what I already believed: Ledson wines are premium, boutique wines that are very well-respected in the industry, as is the Ledson family. He also felt they were priced well. When I told him the negative comments that had been said about the Ledson castle being a "Hollywood-like facade selling less than quality wines", he commented "what a jerk."

In his opinion, the Reserve Chardonnay and Merlots were some of their best wines. It might have been a Reserve Chard that received the 93 points from Wine Spectator. If you like a sweet dessert wine with strong flavors of orange, peach and pear, their Orange Muscat has won several medals recently--just don't pair it with chocolate. See the website for more details.

You know, I don't appreciate the politics I'm beginning to see here--you may know your area very well, and you're certainly entitled to your opinion, but I have to wonder why you felt the need to bash this place so unfairly and us for showing an interest in it. I believe there's room for all of us here, so please just take it easy.

Winerycat: Now that you've relayed that you think I'm "a jerk" I guess you must feel pretty good about yourself. I never said Ledson's wine were of questionable quality. I did say that IMHO they were over the top in their marketing-specifically thinking of their castle-and there are so many
excellent wineries without such enourmous economic reserves that they are overlooked.
You are correct that all opinions are welcome here, it's a pity you had to spend so much time making mine invalid and it's too bad you took my comments so personally. I shall do my utmost to never diasgree with you again.
I apologize to Dreamer2,as it seems my remarks were taken the wrong way and,
thus I unknowingly hijacked your initial inquiry.
R5

We did purchase some of the orange muscat. It's wonderful! Why not have chocolate with it?

There is the Shallon winery in Astoria, OR which makes a killer orange-chocolate wine that I love over Haagen Daz vanilla ice cream. ***kim***

R5:
Yeah, that's a good one, shift the blame onto me. Go back and read what you wrote--it's so thick with hostility against the winery and the stupid "easily impressed" people who'd go there. If you meant something else, you should have said what you meant, not what you wrote. And coming right after my and another's post, what else could we possibly think you were referring to? It was most insulting, IMO.

And absolutely, my time following up on this could have been spent much more productively elsewhere. However, I felt your post was so misleading, I had to respond to it and to find what the truth was for myself. If anyone was trying to make themselves look better, I felt it was you, at others' expense.

Now, after all this,I hope at least one thing will have been accomplished--that people reading this will understand that the Ledson winery is a producer of quality wine and that they have a beautiful winery, hotel and restaurant. Unless you have an aversion to beautiful things and places, this should please most people--they are lovely places to visit. I'm very much looking forward to seeing them all. And yes, Dreamer2, sorry for the detour, perhaps something good came out of it for you, if nothing but a good laugh.

Ah, Kim, a breath of fresh air. Glad to hear you got some of the Orange Muscat and like it alot. I'm not sure why my wine guy said no chocolate--ordinarily you'd think that orange and chocolate would be a perfect match. Do you think it has something to do with the lesser flavors of peach and pear? I don't know, but he was pretty strong about not pairing it with chocolate. If you'd like, I'd be happy to call him back and get a better explanation for you. But if you've already tried it with chocolate and like it, then I say, enjoy...to each his own!

Wow...orange chocolate wine, I've never had that--I'll bet that's one amazing dessert!

Please everyone, listen to winerycat-
she/he must be right. No other opinions count here.
Winerycat has spoken!
Amen!
R5

Ha ha ha! Oh, R5, there you go again, but of course you didn't mean anything by your last post, I'm just taking it too personally, right? :) Look, let's call it a day, I'm really getting bored with this. Happy travels to ya!

No, I haven't actually tried it with chocolate yet. Yes, ask him. I would also be interested in what desserts that he would recommend with it.

I'm a NOVICE wine lover, I love advice from experts!!! Report back on that, please! I'm assuming it would pair nicely with a fruit and cheese platter but what else? ***kim***

OK, I'll dredge this thing up again for you Kim (and whoever else's interested). I have the info you wanted about what to serve with the Ledson Orange Muscat dessert wine, per my wine guy.

Re: the chocolate, he felt that chocolate clashes a little with it, but you could do it, if you like it. He thought the ideal wine with chocolate is Port.

Cheese: Semi-soft cheese would work well with it, like a Fontina or something of that sort. Or any of the blues, such as Roquefort or others. The combination of the sweet wine and the salty cheese is what makes it work so well.

Fruit: The same flavors already in the wine, such as peaches, or tropical fruit would work well.

Desserts: Also good served with simple cakes, like pound cake, or a simple cookie, like a madeleine or a pastry.

Oh, this is making me hungry. Doesn't this sound good? The expert's advice is nice to have (one benefit of having a close wine merchant whose taste you trust), but in the end, it boils down to what you like, so experiment and have fun with it.

Just in case you don't have these, I've added 3 good wine websites that I like:
hitimewine.net (the best!)
pikeandwestern.com (across from Pike Place Market, Seattle)--specializing in wines from the NW, some CA, and others
bevmo.com

Lots of excellent wine info here--next thing you know, you'll be the expert! :)

Thanks for all the great info, Winerycat! If you ever make it over to Astoria, OR check out the Shallon Winery. The New York Times mentioned it in their article on Astoria a couple of weeks ago.

He also makes a killer wine called Lemon Meringue which is very good! I hope you get to visit "The Castle" on your next visit to Sonoma.

Chateau St. Jean was also a favorite. Wow, what a gorgeous place! ***kim***

Kim & Cat, I so want to taste all you discribed above! Sounds so lusious!
I don't know how any of you do it, I just returned from a week for Glen Ellen, St Helena, Santa Rosa, Sebastopol, Bodega Bay and Jenner. I'm so painfully frustrated, as I feel I didn't even get started! The area is so rich, there are endless "must visit's"!I'm already working on another return trip.

Did you stay at the Bodega Bay Lodge & Spa? Where were some places that you ate in the areas you mentioned? Inquiring minds want to know! LOL ***kim***

Has anyone sta