Wineries
13
S O N OM A CO U N T Y Armida The wines are original, and there are three mysterious geodesic domes on the property. Plus: bocce! 2201 Westside Road, Healdsburg. Open daily, 11am–4pm. 707.433.2222.
Christopher Creek The tasting room is a small, woodpaneled anteroom stocked with bins of wine. There are no fountains, Italian tiles or anything not having to do directly with the business of sampling wines made on the premises. Chard and Cab shine. 641 Limerick Lane, Healdsburg. Open daily, 11am–5pm. 707.433.2001.
De La Montanya Vineyards & Winery
Red Car Wine Co. Lay
Madonna Estate
some track to the “Gateway to Graton” and take your palate on a ride with Boxcar Syrah and Trolley Pinot from Sonoma Coast vineyards. Next stop: Côte-Rôtie on the way to Beaune. 8400 Graton Road, Sebastopol. Thursday-Monday 10am-4:30pm. Tasting fee $10. 707.829.8500.
Millennial contingent of multigenerational family winery, once known as Mount St. John, finds success running it old-school: touristy, oldfashioned, and wildly popular. Refreshing Gewürztraminer for summer picnics. 5400 Old Sonoma Road, Napa. Daily 10am to 5pm; $5–$10. 707.255.8864.
Unti Vineyards Very friendly and casual with an emphasis on young Italianstyle wines. Yum. 4202 Dry Creek Road, Healdsburg. By appointment. 707.433.5590.
N A PA CO U N TY Bouchaine Vineyards
Small family winery turns out diverse small lots culled from the best of a large vineyard operation, just for kicks and giggles. Tucked under Westside Road in a casual barn setting, fun tasting room offers good wines and cheeky diversions: De La Montanya wine club members get both case discounts and the opportunity to pose in fishnets on “PinUp” series labels. 999 Foreman Lane, Healdsburg. Monday– Friday, 11am–5pm. Tasting fee $5. 707.433.3711.
Venerable producer of estategrown Burgundian style wine in the rustic wind-scraped hills of Carneros. Pinot Noir and Pinot Meuier with a coolclimate, cherry-skin crispness that nearly crunches in the mouth, and Chardonnay with a “mouth of butter.” Patio service in fair weather, cozy hearthside tasting in cooler days; good-humored hospitality throughout. 1075 Buchli Station Road, Napa. Open daily, 10:30am–4pm; tasting fee $5. 707.252.9065.
Harvest Moon Winery
Del Dotto Vineyards
Two paths diverged in a bramble, and the one lesstraveled leads here. Tart, taut, and enchanting loweralcohol Zinfandel in modest, comfortable tasting room in the middle of family-owned vineyards. Sparkling Gewürz, too. 2192 Olivet Road, Santa Rosa. Open daily, 10:30am– 5pm. 707.573.8711.
(WC) Caves lined with Italian marble and ancient tiles, not to mention Venetian chandeliers and mosaic marble floors. They host candle-lit tastings, replete with cheese and chocolate, Friday–Sunday. Opera resonates until 4pm; rock rules after 4pm. 1055 Atlas Peak Road, Napa. By appointment. 707.963.2134.
Moondance Cellars
Fantesca Estate & Winery (WC) Set on land
Dogs, Cabs and cars are the focus; when a supercharged 1965 Corvette is parked in front, the vintner is in the house. Also, Port and Sherry from Sonoma Valley Portworks. 14301 Arnold Drive, Glen Ellen. Daily 11am–6pm. $5 tasting fee. 707.938.7550.
that was the dowry gift when Charles Krug married in 1860, this estate winery specializing in Cab features a wine-aging cave built right into the side of Spring Mountain. 2920 Spring Mountain Road, Napa. By appointment. 707.968.9229.
Olabisi & Trahan Wineries In the fancy heart of downtown Napa, a low-budget “cellar” where wines are shelved, with clever economy, in stacks of wood pallets; vibes are laid-back and real. Carneros Chardonnay and fruity but firm and focused Cab and Merlot from Suisin Valley, Napa’s much less popular stepsister to the east. 974 Franklin St., Napa. Open daily, noon–5:30pm. Tasting fee, $15. 707.257.7477.
Quixote There is a sense of dignity to the colorful little castle that grows out of the landscape beneath the Stag’s Leap palisades, commensurate with the architect’s humanistic aspirations. 6126 Silverado Trail, Napa. By appointment. 707.944.2659.
Raymond Vineyards Burgundy scion Jean-Charles Boisset has put his stamp on staid Napa producer. See the Theater of Nature, depicting biodynamics; feel the Corridor of the Senses; luxuriate in the members-only Red Room, party in the gold-plated JCB Room; or just taste good Cab in the club-like Crystal Cellar. 849 Zinfandel Lane, St. Helena. Daily, 10am– 4pm. Fees vary. 707.963.3141.
The Wine Garage Defunct filling station with a mandate: No wines over $25. Well chosen from Napa Valley and beyond, plus half-gallon house jugs for $29.99. 1020-C Foothill Blvd., Calistoga. Monday–Saturday 11am–6:30pm; Sunday to 4:30pm. Tasting fee $5–$10. 707.942.5332.
Joseph Phelps Freestone Vineyards Cold comfort for the polar bear BY JAMES KNIGHT
H
acks that we are, wine writers may be counted on, come November, to promote a Pinot pairing for T-day, nod to the best bubbly for NYE blowouts and to swoon with enthusiasm for lip-smacking summer sippers come May, employing all the awkward alliteration that the genre allows. It’s all pretty standard stuff, until you get to International Polar Bear Day. That’s observed on Wednesday, Feb. 27, at least according to a freebie Ocean Conservancy calendar that I received from my folks—thanks, folks. On this day, the organization Polar Bears International only asks that we take the “Thermostat Challenge,” turning it down a few degrees as a gesture of action on climate change, which threatens to erase the habitat of that most charismatic of megafauna. Celebrate with ice wine, naturally. This is not in jest. As noted in studies from Germany’s wine-centered Geisenheim Institute, the ice wine category faces a similar threat if temperatures continue to rise. Ice wine is made from white grapes that freeze toward the end of the season. The result is a sweet wine that’s a bit unlike other “late harvest” wines, since ideally, the grapes have frozen before raisining or being overtaken by botrytis mold. Traditionally made in select years in Germany, it’s been popularized in Canada, where, indeed, Ontario’s Ice House Winery features polar bear statues as mascots. But if the grapes don’t freeze on time, ice wine is off the menu. Meanwhile, in St. Helena, Joseph Phelps Vineyards got the notion to produce an ice wine from estate-grown Scheurebe grapes in the 1990s. The 2011 Eisrébe ($50 split) has an aroma that’s more banana liqueur than white raisin, and a mead-like, clean, sweet palate. Although it feels heavy, with more than 20 percent residual sugar, the alcohol is only 8 percent. It’s available at the tasting room in Freestone, which, by the way, has been renamed to emphasize that it’s the westernmost outpost of Joseph Phelps. Fans of vibrant Chardonnay, or Pinot of the forest duff and fresh plum variety, might want to stop by at some point. Look for the little red barn. But where does Phelps come up with an Ontario-level freeze? Alas, the Scheurebe is trucked to a commercial freezing facility in Sacramento. So it’s got a little carbon footprint. Just turn down that thermostat and bundle up. No doubt that Eisrébe paired with apple cobbler will add an extra layer of fat to see you through the winter. Joseph Phelps Vineyards, 12747 El Camino Bodega, Freestone. Daily, 11am–5pm. Tasting fee, $15. 707.874.1010.
NO RTH BAY BO H E M I AN | FE BR UARY 27–MA R CH 5, 201 3 | BOH EMI A N.COM
Most reviews by James Knight. Note: Those listings marked ‘WC’ denote wineries with caves. These wineries are usually only open to the public by appointment. Wineries in these listings appear on a rotating basis.