I think we stopped here one day to try sparkling wines and they were all out. This winery is on West Side Road, just outside Healdsburg, CA. We had this delicious bottle of wine a couple times at one of our local favorite restaurants, Larruping in Trinidad. http://www.uptickvineyards.com/ Tel: (707) 566-9153 info@uptickvineyards.com SaveSave SaveSave

Toulouse was a bright spot in the Anderson Valley. We enjoyed their wines very much and it was a beautiful and welcoming tasting experience. We didn’t take any notes and we brought some wine home but it’s been over a year since we drank it…… We will definitely go back and we recommend you stop in there as well. http://www.toulousevineyards.com/ info@toulousevineyards.com (T) 707-895-2828 (F) 707-895-2829 Open Daily 11:00am – 5:00pm SaveSave SaveSave

A really nice stop in the Anderson Valley is Phillips Hill. In the summer they utilize a rustic setting underneath the building for tasting. We enjoyed the wines and the experience but didn’t get much in the way of notes or pictures. They have a room full of the tastes and textures of wine. here are a couple of our favorite characteristics.   We often get a strong scent of leather in the nose of the wines we tend to like the best. https://www.phillipshill.com/ Tasting Room: 5101 Highway 128 Philo, CA, 95466 T  (707) 895-2209 Winery: Mailing Address 25690 Greenwood … Continue reading →

At the Northwest end of the Anderson Valley is a very unpretentious tasting room for Lula Cellars. These guys make some great pinots and the tasting experience is very casual. A giant old dog has the run of the place and other people are invited to bring theirs as well. Like I said, Pinot. These are really good. One of the Mendocino Pinots had a nose like it was grown next to a pot farm- really quite distinct. It didn’t do anything much with the taste but was interesting. http://www.lulacellars.com/ 707.895.3737 info@lulacellars.com SaveSave SaveSave

Located on Lytton Springs Road in the northern part of the Dry Creek Valley, Mazzocco makes a wide variety of single vineyard Zinfandels. The first time we stopped here they were pouring all 100% zins – no blends. We promptly joined their wine club and have been enjoying their Zinfandel for a few years now. This was an early spring trip. Nothing much growing yet. They do make a Chardonnay. Last time through we tried one with grapes from Stuhlmuller Vineyards in Chalk Hill. Clean, easy fruit with an alcohol tingle at the end. What we really come for are … Continue reading →

We love Wilson Wines. The Wilson Family of Wineries has 8 members at this time.  When we joined the wine club for Mazzocco we joined the wine clubs at all these wineries. We set out to try them all though that would take us from the Alexander valley to the Sonoma Valley. It took a few trips but we made them all. I’ve got to say our favorite is Wilson. The Zinfandel is beautiful fruity without being tannic at all, which is what our palette enjoys these days. They have a beautiful deck you can use for picnics on a … Continue reading →

This is the place to go for Chardonnay! Located in the Alexander Valley, they have a family feel as well a a bit of old school. Small tasting room so we like to get there right at 10:00 when they open. We tasted three Chardonnays the last time we were here: 2015 Chardonnay Area 27. This is fermented in a large egg-shaped cement vat so 50% concrete and 50% neutral french oak. This is a nice Chardonnay, but after trying several bottles of this and the net one with various pairings we prefer: 2015 Alexander Valley Chardonnay – Tropical Fruits … Continue reading →

Touring around the Chalk Hill Wineries, they are all part of the Foley Family of wines. We stopped at Foley Sonoma on one of our trips south. A beautiful entryway leads to the tasting room overlooking their vine testing area. This particular day there was a lot of smoke in the air, a LOT! – all the way from Humboldt to San Francisco. It had been around a few days so there might be some smoke flavor in the 2017 vintage. 2015 Osborn Semillion Blanc. This is a blend with some Chardonnay which gives it more depth than usual with … Continue reading →

Septentrio Winery is an off-the-beaten-path find right here at home in Tinytown (Arcata, CA). We first noticed this wine at one of our go-to local restaurants.  They had this Septentrio Napa Chardonnay on tap. We tried it once and have been hooked ever since. This Chardonnay has light notes of melon, tropical fruit, butter, vanilla/baked goods with a silky mouth feel. We found it bottled at the Arcata Co-op. This is the special Reserve. We found out later they also have an unoaked Chardonnay, all stainless with a little malolactic action that exhibits some melon and tropical fruit characteristics. Another … Continue reading →

We have been wine club members with Husch longer than any other winery. One of the great benefits is $1.00 shipping on a case. We wish more wineries would do that.  Another benefit is their annual picnic, which just happens to be around his birthday every year.  Free for club members, it’s a fine opportunity to spend some time in Mendocino and the Anderson Valley. Here are a couple of the tables with wine and food pairing. Vin Gris of Pinot Noir and Cabernet. We got to do some barrel tasting of the components that go into their Grand Oz. … Continue reading →

We had a little extra time before our appointment at Grgich so we stopped in at Raymond Winery. We had no idea what to expect – or even if there was something to expect. The owner likes to party and keeps this place as a party palace. When we walked in we were asked which tasting. We thought the cellar sounded good so she said “Down the rabbit hole you go,” and directed us to this hallway. Passing through the doors we encountered the cellar with the stainless steel tanks all quite lit up. There was also a dinner table … Continue reading →

We did a really nice sit-down tasting at Grgich Hills with the winemaker’s daughter. The tasting took place in their library, which has a bottle of every wine they have ever made. It was quite the experience. We got to taste some unique and interesting things we wouldn’t have tasted otherwise. Unfortunately we enjoyed the experience without the distraction of taking notes. At home we tasted: 2012 Grgich Miljenkos Old Vine Napa Zinfandel. – Nose – Plum, a latex clad mistress, nettles, fern, a rhubarb pie.  Mouth – Dark, dark, dark cherry, Mature Tannins, thin feel with a bright fruit … Continue reading →

We stopped at Duckhorn when we had an hour before an appointment close by. We waited for them to open and right at 10:00 they had a lot of appointments, ours included. We sat at a nice outdoor table and were served a good collection of wines. We’re pretty sure there are more pictures somewhere and we will post them if we ever find them. They have beautiful grounds and we enjoyed walking around looking at things. Oh – the wine was really good, too. Our server was busy with several other tables so we only got a little of … Continue reading →

Part of the Wilson Family of Artisan Wineries, we visited Matrix expecting Chardonnays and Pinots and in that they did not disappoint. We tried to taste outdoors but it got too windy. They have a cool fountain in the entryway. Fountain We have had wines from grapes grown at Bacigalupi Vineyards at several different wineries. This one has a nice Chardonnay. Again, in addition to several others they have the Pinot from Bacigalupi as well. Tasting Room is open 11:00 to 5:00 (707) 433-1911 Home SaveSave SaveSave

We decided to stop at Coppola on one of our many trips south. To say it was far more than we expected would be an understatement. We found the Disneyland of wineries with exhibits, bars, a restaurant and a pool. There was so much going on here that this is going to be more of a travelogue than a wine review. In fact, the wines are pretty good, but maybe overshadowed by everything else that is going on here. To begin, we walked n and went right upstairs to a wine tasting zone. I’m not sure what made us think … Continue reading →

We love Rombauer, and most people we know do as well, though there are some who disavow anything so mainstream. Rombauer reduces the iconic “cougar juice” in their big, buttery Chardonnay which really shows off the malalactic fermentation prevalent in Napa Chardonnays. The view from their deck is expansive and breathtaking. Our first visit here we arrived a little before they opened and spent some time in their sculpture gardens. They have lots of beautiful flowers and many whimsical, unique sculptures. Rombauer Zinfandel is a big, juicy fruit bomb with a lot of sugar. The Fiddlehead Zinfandel is one of … Continue reading →

Our last stop in Sonoma Valley was St Anne’s Crossing. We are members of the Wilson Artisan Wine fFamily, have been making our way to all of the wineries, and this was the last one on the list for us. We have now earned our Wilson Wings. This winery is known for their Zinfandels – and they have quite a variety of them. We also tasted a Chardonnay. Tasting Room is open 11:00 to 5:00 707-598-5200 https://www.stannescrossing.com/ SaveSave SaveSave

Our first foray into the Sonoma Valley and our first stop was Kenwood. We had to wait around for them to open so got some pictures of grapes. It was early in the year so they are tiny. Kenwood wines bring out the best of Sonoma Valley grapes from the Rose’ of Pinot to the series of wines from the Jack London Vineyard. The Zinfandel is rich and dark with a large fruit palate. Each year they create an art label for a unique Cabernet Sauvignon and they have this showcase with many of them represented. Their single vineyard series … Continue reading →

Our search for Sparkling Wines brought us to Iron Horse. Off the road a ways on a gravel drive, this is a popular winery with several tasting stations. Kelly had the sparkling wine flight while I had the still wines. All the wines we had here were good but the sparkling wines are their forte. They were all very light with a flavor range from somewhat sweet to quite dry. The Summer’s Cuvee, only available at the tasting room, has just the right balance of sweet and acid. The tasting facility sits on a hilltop with great views of grapes … Continue reading →

In our search for Sparkling Wine we stopped in at Uptick Vineyards. They happened to be out of sparkling wine on that day so we left without tasting anything.  We have had their Zinfandel before – at a lovely dinner at Larrupin Restaurant in Trinidad, California – and enjoyed it. The tasting room is located on Westside Road, just outside Healdsburg. They open at 11:00. Tel: (707) 566-9153 info@uptickvineyards.com http://www.uptickvineyards.com/ SaveSave SaveSave

Miss Kelly likes her sparkling wine on occasion so we set out to find some sparkling winemakers in Sonoma County. We found Breathless in a little industrial park in Healdsburg, just a couple blocks from Willi’s Raw Oyster Bar, our go-to lunch stop in this quaint city. They had a nice outdoor area that has an interesting feel  since the building has a shipping container style for tasting  and as it was a beautiful day that’s what we did. These were really good wines! This was just what we were looking for-a nice boutique shop with great wines. We took … Continue reading →

Our second stop on the Chalk Hill adventure ended up being Chalk Hill Estate. They had a tasting option that was all wines only available at the winery. In researching the area we read a lot of negative reviews about the experience here but we’re happy to say we had a good experience. Didn’t get many pictures and didn’t take any wine home. We will definitely pass this way again so we can take some of this wine home. Aaaaaand we did! We went back to Chalk Hill in September. It was very early in the month and driving in … Continue reading →

Our final stop on Chalk Hill Road for this trip was at Roth Estate. I was looking forward to their Cabernet but they only had one on the tasting menu. nevertheless, their wines were delicious. We had a lovely outdoor tasting on a rather warm day. This beautiful tasting room would be a great experience with friends. We started with a Sauvignon Blanc that was refreshing while we got settled outside. I noticed melon, pineapple, tropical fruit with a soft mouth feel. We had this again and experienced an evergreen forest. The Pint Gris had a lot of melon and … Continue reading →

We made a foray over to the Chalk Hill area. Our first stop was Stuhlmuller Vineyards at the end of Soda Rock Road. We had a great time with Mathew (with one ‘T’) and tasted some really nice wines. He strayed a bit from the menu, which is always nice. We started with three Chardonnays, all of which had remarkably different characteristics. They were all quite good and I got a picture of this one: And then it was on to the Zinfandel. We tasted several – again with completely different characteristics. Then it was on to the Cabernet. Chalk … Continue reading →