Our last winery stop of the day was Brengman Brothers with its huge tasting room. It was elegant, clean, and bright with a long marble tasting bar. The outdoor facilities were impressive.
We’d been drawn to Brengman Brothers by what we thought was an emphasis on German style wine making. Although they were heavy on the whites, we also knew there were some interesting reds. Unfortunately the ones were we most interested in were for club members only. Those that were available were Italian and not native to the area. With a sister winery located in Italy, there seemed to be a much bigger emphasis on the Italian rather than the German.
Tastes also came with a price. We’ve come to expect tasting fees, but with as much as $4.00 each for a meager sample, it was a bit much. Even their lower end wines were $2.00 each for a tiny sample. We were actually ready to leave before we even got started. Our hostess pushed us into some tastes which of course she charged us for.
We sampled the following before telling her we had had enough:
- 2012 Superiore Valpanera
- 2011 Riserva Refosco Valpanera
- 2011 Alma Valpanera
- 2012 Red Wine – a blend of Refosco, Cabernet Sauvingon, and Merlot
We did not find the wines as outstanding as we had hoped given their higher price points. Our expectation has been set quite differently and our experience was generally lacking and off putting which I’m sure colored our opinions. With its location in a friendly tourist area, the atmosphere of haughtiness and exclusivity didn’t seem to be a fit to us. Sadly, we never made it to the German style wines that we had originally hoped to try.