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Sonoma County Wineries?
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Sun4MySoul
- Posts: 524
- Joined: Sun May 06, 2007 1:37 pm
- Location: NC
Sonoma County Wineries?
Hi Everyone!
I'm going to a Barrel Tasting Wine Event in Sonoma County in a couple of weeks. You pay one price to visit/taste at all the wineries you can fit into a weekend.
I am pretty inexperienced in the Wine Tasting/Visiting arena and am VERY overwhelmed by the shear number of wineries that I could possibly visit. I think I will concentrate my efforts in the Russian River Valley and Alexander Valley. Has anyone visited wineries in these areas that they recommend or not-recommend as the case may be. So many choices...so little time! Advice is appreciated!
Thanks All!
I'm going to a Barrel Tasting Wine Event in Sonoma County in a couple of weeks. You pay one price to visit/taste at all the wineries you can fit into a weekend.
I am pretty inexperienced in the Wine Tasting/Visiting arena and am VERY overwhelmed by the shear number of wineries that I could possibly visit. I think I will concentrate my efforts in the Russian River Valley and Alexander Valley. Has anyone visited wineries in these areas that they recommend or not-recommend as the case may be. So many choices...so little time! Advice is appreciated!
Thanks All!
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California Girl
Hi Sun...
We have done 2 wine trips in the past couple years and off the top of my head I have to recommend Wilson Winery. We joined their wine club and get shipments a couple times / year and are NEVER disappointed.
Our first trip we stayed in the town of Sonoma and ventured from there.
The second trip we stayed in Healdsburg further north, closer to where you are talking about.
I will pull out my info from those trips and refresh my memory and write more this evening.
It is a fantastic way to spend a little trip and yes, there are so many wineries to choose from but somehow you figure out what is important to you and go from there. We usually had an idea of where we wanted to go but we inevitably stopped at other wineries that piqued our interest for one reason or another.
We tended to like the smaller boutique, funkier places and not the glitzy pillared, palatial estate types. Wilson is not fancy by any means but their wine is good and the staff is friendly and well informed...lovely valley view.
I promise I will pull that info tonite and write more.
YOU are going to an absolutely gorgeous part of CA and I am excited for you!
More soon, Carolyn
We have done 2 wine trips in the past couple years and off the top of my head I have to recommend Wilson Winery. We joined their wine club and get shipments a couple times / year and are NEVER disappointed.
Our first trip we stayed in the town of Sonoma and ventured from there.
The second trip we stayed in Healdsburg further north, closer to where you are talking about.
I will pull out my info from those trips and refresh my memory and write more this evening.
It is a fantastic way to spend a little trip and yes, there are so many wineries to choose from but somehow you figure out what is important to you and go from there. We usually had an idea of where we wanted to go but we inevitably stopped at other wineries that piqued our interest for one reason or another.
We tended to like the smaller boutique, funkier places and not the glitzy pillared, palatial estate types. Wilson is not fancy by any means but their wine is good and the staff is friendly and well informed...lovely valley view.
I promise I will pull that info tonite and write more.
YOU are going to an absolutely gorgeous part of CA and I am excited for you!
More soon, Carolyn
Sun---You'll have a great trip. We were in northern Sonoma this past October. The Dry Creek Valley (my favorite) and the Russian River Valley basically run together. A few of my favorites were Yoakim Bridge (great zinfandel), Lambert Bridge (really pretty winery), Dry Creek, Hop Kiln (wines just OK, but interesting old building), J Vineyards (good wine but a little more corporate), Lynmar (nice wine, neat building). Ferrari-Carano is larger, but it has beautiful gardens. Just wander, and you'll find plenty of places on your own. If Jordan Winery is participating (in Alexander Valley) its worth a trip too. Same for Chalk Hill Winery(gorgeous---a little out of the way).
Healdsburg is a really neat town---great town square. A great restaurant there is called Zin---California/American food done perfectly---really fresh/flavorful---not pretense at all--just good, simple food. Another great place to eat in Healdsburg is Willi's Seafood and Raw Bar. Creative small plates.
We have also been to the "Sonoma Valley" a few other times (further south, toward town of Sonoma). If you get down that way, I'd recommend Matanzas Creek Winery---beautiful lavender fields and great wine. Have a great trip!
Healdsburg is a really neat town---great town square. A great restaurant there is called Zin---California/American food done perfectly---really fresh/flavorful---not pretense at all--just good, simple food. Another great place to eat in Healdsburg is Willi's Seafood and Raw Bar. Creative small plates.
We have also been to the "Sonoma Valley" a few other times (further south, toward town of Sonoma). If you get down that way, I'd recommend Matanzas Creek Winery---beautiful lavender fields and great wine. Have a great trip!
---Jim
We're jealous...that was the trip we did for my husband's 50th b-day.
Iowaguy is right on with Healdsburg. Perfect place. We stayed at the Grape Leaf Inn in Healdsburg for 2 nights and loved it. Wine tasting and cheese/fruit tray every evening included from their wine cellar.
We leaned toward some smaller privately owned vineyards such as Acorn Winery where we tasted in their own kitchen!
It's worth paying a few bucks extra to get into the better tasting rooms at the larger wineries...such as Chateau St. Jean.
Our favs: J Wine Company, Hop Kiln (friendly and historic), Trentadue (had good reds), Chateau Souverain, Clos Du Bois, Rombauer (great wines and a very nice area to picnic), Belvedere, Chateau Boswell, Whitehall Lane, Domain Carneros, Clos Pigasse, Cuvaison.
Be sure to stop into Dean and DeLucca's if time allows.
If you have the time to drive north, we recommend a stay at the Albion River Inn. Gorgeous!
Hope there will be a trip report.
Iowaguy is right on with Healdsburg. Perfect place. We stayed at the Grape Leaf Inn in Healdsburg for 2 nights and loved it. Wine tasting and cheese/fruit tray every evening included from their wine cellar.
We leaned toward some smaller privately owned vineyards such as Acorn Winery where we tasted in their own kitchen!
It's worth paying a few bucks extra to get into the better tasting rooms at the larger wineries...such as Chateau St. Jean.
Our favs: J Wine Company, Hop Kiln (friendly and historic), Trentadue (had good reds), Chateau Souverain, Clos Du Bois, Rombauer (great wines and a very nice area to picnic), Belvedere, Chateau Boswell, Whitehall Lane, Domain Carneros, Clos Pigasse, Cuvaison.
Be sure to stop into Dean and DeLucca's if time allows.
If you have the time to drive north, we recommend a stay at the Albion River Inn. Gorgeous!
Hope there will be a trip report.
Sun
iowaguy and Terry have given you good advise. Looks like we have been to quite a few of the same places.
We also stayed at The Grape Leaf Inn in Healdsburg and loved our time there. Quite a lovely larger B & B. The evening wine tasting in their "speakeasy" were way cool. They had a wine rep there one night, and the other nights was the evening manager or owner.
We had pre-dinner wine at Zin the night we ate at Willi's. Willie's was good but kinda wished we had stayed at Zin for dinner, the aroma inside Zin was a smoky sensory pleasure. The real extravagant meal we had in Healdsburg was at Cyrus, a 7 or 8 course production paired w/ wine that was probably the most impressive meal in my lifetime. I came home from that trip so pleased and thrilled only to find out I had breast cancer so I have wonderful memories of how special that was before I went thru a difficult time.
We also like Dry Creek Winery and joined their club for a while but we can get their wines here so discontinued membership. Nice setting and grounds. Matanza's Creek has beautiful lavender fields and they were in bloom for the June trip... if you pass thru there its worth a stop. Hop-Kiln is a cool old building but just so-so wines, pretty setting tho. Ferrari-Carano we stopped at for the grounds, really lavish gardens and vistas but we didnt do a tasting there.
A couple days of tastings catches up with you so we would go for drives in the mornings and try not to start drinking til lunch time. If you can take the time for any drives in any direction I highly recommend buying a good road map and finding your way over to the ocean. We headed for Jenner along the Russian River ending up at Goat Rock Park, whew what a stunning view!!! We then went down the coastal highway for a while and back to Healdsburg on more back roads. The map I got online was Napa/Sonoma/Wine Country and many many wineries (350+) are located on it.
There are SOOOO many wineries that you can't possibly get to too many in one trip so just make the most of the ones you do get to. I see on my events calendar from Wilson Winery that they are participating in the barrel tasting so do stop by if you are close by.
Have a GREAT time!!!... and do tell us all about it when you get back!
iowaguy and Terry have given you good advise. Looks like we have been to quite a few of the same places.
We also stayed at The Grape Leaf Inn in Healdsburg and loved our time there. Quite a lovely larger B & B. The evening wine tasting in their "speakeasy" were way cool. They had a wine rep there one night, and the other nights was the evening manager or owner.
We had pre-dinner wine at Zin the night we ate at Willi's. Willie's was good but kinda wished we had stayed at Zin for dinner, the aroma inside Zin was a smoky sensory pleasure. The real extravagant meal we had in Healdsburg was at Cyrus, a 7 or 8 course production paired w/ wine that was probably the most impressive meal in my lifetime. I came home from that trip so pleased and thrilled only to find out I had breast cancer so I have wonderful memories of how special that was before I went thru a difficult time.
We also like Dry Creek Winery and joined their club for a while but we can get their wines here so discontinued membership. Nice setting and grounds. Matanza's Creek has beautiful lavender fields and they were in bloom for the June trip... if you pass thru there its worth a stop. Hop-Kiln is a cool old building but just so-so wines, pretty setting tho. Ferrari-Carano we stopped at for the grounds, really lavish gardens and vistas but we didnt do a tasting there.
A couple days of tastings catches up with you so we would go for drives in the mornings and try not to start drinking til lunch time. If you can take the time for any drives in any direction I highly recommend buying a good road map and finding your way over to the ocean. We headed for Jenner along the Russian River ending up at Goat Rock Park, whew what a stunning view!!! We then went down the coastal highway for a while and back to Healdsburg on more back roads. The map I got online was Napa/Sonoma/Wine Country and many many wineries (350+) are located on it.
There are SOOOO many wineries that you can't possibly get to too many in one trip so just make the most of the ones you do get to. I see on my events calendar from Wilson Winery that they are participating in the barrel tasting so do stop by if you are close by.
Have a GREAT time!!!... and do tell us all about it when you get back!
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Sun4MySoul
- Posts: 524
- Joined: Sun May 06, 2007 1:37 pm
- Location: NC
As mentioned above there are so many very good wineries it's hard to pick just one or even two. Looks like you've got a great list there. Napa is just over the hill to the east, you'll have even that to chose from and it's all short drives.
Someone mentioned it and I'll caution the same. It is very easy to get burned out, if you go from one vineyard to the other. And if you stay for more then 3 days you'll know what I mean. One vineyard will start morphing into another.
Someone mentioned it and I'll caution the same. It is very easy to get burned out, if you go from one vineyard to the other. And if you stay for more then 3 days you'll know what I mean. One vineyard will start morphing into another.