NORTH BAY BOHEMIAN | DECEMBER 11–17, 2013 | BOHEMIAN.COM
14
Wineries
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.
SONOMA CO U N TY Buena Vista “Our future is our past” is the motto at this historic, remodeled and reinvigorated winery, founded 1857. Watch for character actors, taste Buena Vista Vinicultural Society favorites Zinfandel, sparkling wine and cream sherry—and look out for the crocodile. 18000 Old Winery Road, Sonoma. Daily, 10am–5pm. Tasting fee $10, Saturday tour $20. 800.926.1266.
Deerfield Ranch Winery (WC) The finest wine caves this side of the highway. Twenty-thousand-square-foot underground lair is perfect for keeping wine and wine tasters cool on a summer’s day. Watch for giraffes. 10200 Sonoma Highway, Kenwood. Daily 10:30am–4:30pm. Tasting fee $10-$15. 707.833.2270.
Gary Farrell The namesake is gone but the quality remains. Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. 10701 Westside Road, Healdsburg. Open daily, 11am–4pm. 707.473.2900.
Geyser Peak Winery In the 1990s, the facility was in thrall to Australian overlords the Penfolds, who brought in winemakers Daryl Groom and Mick Shroeter. When their Shiraz won top awards at the Sonoma County Harvest Fair, it was seen as a peak moment in an Aussie invasion. 22281 Chianti Road, Geyserville. Open daily, 10am– 5pm. 800.255.9463
Homewood Homewood offers tasting in a small, somewhat disheveled indoor office or an outdoor deck. Indoors is where the tasty black olive and bread samples are, and the folks are lowpressure and friendly. Free tasting, anything you like. 23120 Burndale Road, Sonoma. Open daily, 10am–4pm. 707.996.6935.
Jordan Vineyard & Winery Fronted by poplars,
wreathed in ivy, robed in privets—à la chateau. Favored by restaurants nationwide, Cab and Chardonnay are served in a sumptuous sitdown tasting with cheese and hors d’oeuvres. How do they peel those little eggs? 1474 Alexander Valley Road, Healdsburg. Tour and tasting, Monday–Saturday, Sundays through October. $20–$30. 800.654.1213.
Adastra Wines To the
Novy Family Winery
International beverage man Sheldon S. “Hack” Wilson built this winery in a Cape Dutch style. Now owned by the Terlato Group, produces distinctive Bordeaux-style wines. 5350 Silverado Trail, Napa. Daily 10am to 5pm. $20–$30. 707.257.2641.
Daily tastings by appointment in a no-nonsense warehouse, and is better known as a celebrated member of the “Pinot posse” by its other moniker, Siduri. 980 Airway Court, Ste. C, Santa Rosa. 707.578.3882.
Portalupi Wine Husbandand-wife team went the distance, selecting Barbera cuttings from the Italian alps: their Barbera was named best in the world. You’ll also find Vermentino, Pinot, and rusticchic two-liter milk jugs of “vino di tavola” in comfortable downtown lounge; wine education classes for groups. 107 North St., Healdsburg. Open daily, 10:30am–7pm. Tasting fee, $5–$12. 707.395.0960.
River Road Vineyards Russian River Pinot for $18 at no-nonsense, solid producer. 5220 Ross Road, Sebastopol. By appointment only, Monday–Friday. 707.887.8130.
Siduri Winery A Pinotheavy slate. 980 Airway Court, Ste. C, Santa Rosa. By appointment. 707.578.3882.
N A PA CO U N TY Acacia Vineyard Acclaimed Pinot and Chardonnay; their biggest client is Costco, but the tasting room is a hole-in-the-wall in a drab beige facility. 2750 Las Amigas Road, Napa. Monday through Saturday, 10am–4pm; Sunday, noon–4pm. $15. 707.226.9991.
stars! Or, a big old horse barn. Here is a Napa winery that’s organic, authentic and makes a wine that pairs great with mammoth. Tasting is conducted on the kitchen table, “the way it used to be.” 2545 Las Amigas Road, Napa. Tour and tasting by appointment, $25. 707.255.4818.
Chimney Rock Winery
Del Dotto Vineyards (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.
Fantesca Estate & Winery (WC) Set on land 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.
Flora Springs Winery & Vineyards Napa Valley’s latest geotectonic eruption on Highway 29 is a stylish place to explore famous Chardonnay, Meritage blend and winery-exclusive Italian varietals. Hip but not too cool, the 30-year-old family winery surely has a sense of humor as well as sense of place. 677 S. St. Helena Hwy., St. Helena. Open daily, 10am–5pm. Tasting fees, $15–$25. 707.967.8032.
Phifer Pavitt Wines Lots of cowgirl sass but just one wine: “Date Night” Cabernet Sauvignon. Hale bale seating. 4660 Silverado Trail, Calistoga. By appointment. 707.942.4787.
Donelan Family Wines Cult Syrah cellar opens doors, warms up to Pinot BY JAMES KNIGHT
N
ot at all long after I email about the possibility of an appointment to visit Donelan, I receive a call from Stamford, Conn. Joe Donelan is on the horn, and he talks emphatically for 15 minutes about the project that he has going on in a Santa Rosa warehouse off Coffey Lane. When I meet his winemaker, Joe Nielson, he tells me with deadpan intensity that he’s sharing gospel about the wines they’re making there. After more than a decade in business, it seems like they can’t wait to tell people about it. The story so far: Fans of cult Syrah may recall Pax Wine Cellars, founded in 2000 by East Coast wine collector Joe Donelan and up-and-coming winemaker Pax Mahle. Their high-proof Syrahs received 90-plus scores, but after a litigious parting of ways, in their new ventures the former partners both avow reformation in favor of lower alcohol and cool-climate vineyards. Nielsen has some experience with that, having studied enology and viticulture at Michigan State. He’s got a balanced view on so-called cool-climate Syrah. “It can be savory without being offensive,” he says, adding dryly, “it can be meaty without being roadkill.” Barrel samples are part of the show. A 2012 Bennett Valley Grenache has a promising, pretty aroma of cherry licorice. Block by block, we tour Walker Vine Hill vineyard, going from blueberry s’more to blueberry milkshake. A 2012 Green Valley Viognier has a fine raft of acidity that zips light stone fruit down the tongue, a far cry from some of the syrupy Viognier vandalisms of the past decade. Donelan is also reaching out to consumers by offering Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, candidly describing them as “gateway drugs” to their Syrah. Toasty, sweet cream buttery accents herald the 2012 “Nancie” Chardonnay ($45) and then become shy while the tension between full-malolactic richness and vibrant acidity energizes a palate of none-too-ripe pear under a faint haze of pineapple. Barrel fermented in 20 to 30 percent new French oak, this puts a lot of Chardonnay I’ve been tasting off the supposedly crisper “unoaked” bandwagon to pitiful shame. Savory with olive notes and red cherry and plum fruit, the 12.8 percent alcohol 2010 Kobler Vineyard Green Valley Syrah ($45) may indeed tempt the Pinot drinker Rhôneward, while the dense and tarry 2010 Obsidian Vineyard Knights Valley Syrah ($90) veers from butcher counter to Christmas candle, blood pudding to purple plum, leaving a hint of bay leaf. “Yes, it will be better with time,” says Nielson, “but it also has to be drinkable in its youth.” Not to mention 90-plus scorable. Donelan Family Wines, 3352 Coffey Lane, Santa Rosa. By appointment only, Monday–Saturday. No fee. 707.591.0782.