Carlisle of Sonoma – not just big reds

The contrast between my two visits to taste the Carlisle wines of Mike Officer could hardly be more marked. The first time, back in 2008, he was renting dark, anonymous space in the Copain custom-crush facilty, a large, shared winery in Santa Rosa where he seemed something of a solo operator. Last February he was fully installed in his own winery on Starr Road in the middle of Russian River Valley with 252 graceful old oak trees and stunning views all around, plus a willing and able crew of helpers.

Heavens, he even had a publicist who had fixed up...