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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.
SONOMA CO U N TY Atascadero Creek Winery Produces mostly red wines and specializes in small lots of single-vineyard Pinot and Zin. At West County Wine Collective in Pizzavino707, 6948 Sebastopol Ave., Sebastopol. Friday–Sunday, noon-6pm, $12 fee. 707.829.9500.
Clos du Bois With picnicking area, friendly staff and knickknacks galore, Clos Du Bois is a reliable treasure. 19410 Geyserville Ave., Geyserville. Open daily, 10am– 4:30pm. 800.222.3189. Gloria Ferrer Winery (WC) Part of the international Freixenet wine empire, owner Jose Ferrer’s family has been in this business since the 13th century. Explore the Champagne caves on a guided tour. 23555 Carneros Hwy., Sonoma. Open daily, 10am– 5pm. Cave tours at 11am, 1pm and 3pm. 707.996.7256.
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.
Old World Winery Meaning, a simpler time when grapes were trodden under bare foot and wine was made the natural way? Yes. Fun fact: the small, familyowned winery was the original Williams-Selyem location. 850 River Road, Fulton. Thursday–Sunday 11am–5pm or by appointment. Tasting fee $5. 707.578.3148.
Raymond Burr Vineyards Unpretentious, ’70s-den-style room with loads of memorabilia, Emmies and miscellany that the late television great picked up in his travels. Weekends at 11am, greenhouse tour
showcases hybridized orchids in all the colors of the rainbow. 8339 West Dry Creek Road, Healdsburg. Daily 11am to 5pm. No fee. 707.433.4365.
Rochioli Vineyards & Winery White House scrapbook details dozens of luncheon menus featuring waiting-list-only Rochioli wine. Tony Blair had a special relationship with the West Block Pinot. 6192 Westside Road, Healdsburg. Thursday– Monday 11am–4pm. 707.433.2305.
Selby Winery Regularly served at White House state dinners, Selby Chard has been through several administrations. 215 Center St., Healdsburg. Open daily, 11am–5:30pm. 707.431.1288.
Ty Caton VineyardsMuscardini Cellars Ty Caton is both a hands-in-thedirt winegrower, who planted much of the vineyard himself, and savvy entrepreneur. Michael Muscardini is a neighbor who comes from the building trade and focuses on Italian varietals. 8910 Sonoma Hwy. (in the Kenwood Village Plaza), Kenwood. Open daily, 10am– 6pm. 707.833.0526.
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 August Briggs Winery Tasting room is a white barn lit by skylights and often staffed by the owner’s wife or mother. 333 Silverado Trail, Calistoga. Open Thursday– Sunday, 11:30am–4:30pm. 707.942.5854.
Beaulieu Vineyard History in a glassful of dust– Rutherford dust. Somethingfor-everyone smorgasbord of solid varietal wines, plus library selections of flagship Georges de Latour Cab back to 1970. 1960 St. Helena Hwy.,
Rutherford. Daily, 10am–5pm. Tastings $15–$20; Reserve Room, $35. 707.967.5233.
Charles Krug Winery Founded 1861, and owned by the Peter Mondavi family since only 1943, Krug is among Napa’s most historic wineries. Taste awardwinning Sauvignon Blanc and reserve Cab in unassuming low building across from the original stone winery. Ask about the Johannesburger Riesling. 2800 Main St., St. Helena. Tasting daily, 10:30am to 5pm. Fees vary; complimentary for “Napa neighbors.” 707.967.2229.
Chateau Boswell Winery (WC) This small, boutique winery is open by appointment only, selling most its wine directly via post to club members. 3468 Silverado Trail, Napa. 707.963.5472.
Eagle & Rose Estate (WC) Tours of this small winery are led either by the winery owner or the winemaker himself. 3000 St. Helena Hwy. N., Napa. By appointment. 707.965.9463.
Hess Collection Winery An intellectual outpost of art and wine housed in the century-old Christian Brother’s winery. Cab is the signature varietal. 4411 Redwood Road, Napa. Open daily, 10am–4pm. 707.255.1144.
Robert Sinskey Vineyards In the lofty, barnlike hall–as elegant as a theater, as solid as a ski lodge–visitors can take in the tank room action; at least, the gleaming stainless steel, framed by wood and stonework and brewpub-style chalkboard menus imbues the space with a sense of energetic immediacy. “Gluttonous Flight” pairs savory munchables prepared in the gourmet demonstration kitchen with biodynamically farmed Careros Pinot Noir and Bordeaux varietals. Not to worry: there’s no flight for ascetics offered, so go for it. 6320 Silverado Trail, Napa. Open 10am–4:30pm daily. 707.944.9090.
Francis Ford Coppola Winery
T
he old snipe on Napa is that it’s the Disneyland of wine, often as a setup for the purportedly more authentic Sonoma wine country. So when a Hollywood director replaced the peaked rooftops of the former Chateau Souverain with glass pyramids, says winemaker and general manager Corey Beck, neighbors were aghast. Lights! Las Vegas!
Although the skylights are shuttered at night, the winery’s fairytale rendition used in promotional materials does nothing to dispel this perception. Beholding this extravaganza, some might call it a “wine wonderland.” I’m told that one person does, and regularly: Francis Ford Coppola. Candidly aiming for fun for the whole family, the parklike grounds include an amphitheater for daily performances, four huge bocce courts, a swimming pool and wine bars—with scotch on the rocks for the old school. So that this all doesn’t get out of hand—and so that every guest has a recliner in the shade—entrance to the pool is regulated. Children of a bookish nature can opt to read from the teepee lending library, while their parents get poolside wine service. (Unbreakable plastic glasses, natch.) Inside, you can look at the heads (recently unarchived memorabilia from Apocalypse Now is on display) or swivel around to a tasting bar. Underneath a mezzanine where Vito Corleone’s desk is on display, more tasting bars. In the restaurant, heaps of roasted asparagus have just come off the Argentinean-style grill. By the time we’re on the terrace, we’re far from the hubbub, with a smashing Alexander Valley view. The only thing missing is the move-’em-out cash register endpoint. Not an oversight. Beck reminds us that Coppola is, after all, possessing of no deficit of creativity, and everything from the view out the windows to the smorgasbord of available wine labels has been worked over in the director’s eye. Everything has a story behind it. Swimming featured prominently in summer days of Coppola’s youth, for instance; free tastes of Rosso and Bianco hark back to the simple basement wines made by Italian uncles in New York. On this summer afternoon, everything is going smoothly, as if extras on the set were performing their roles. A cadre of women on a girl’s day out plunk down at the bar. A senior couple peruse a menu over iced teas, while a film buff intently photographs memorabilia. The very frankness with which this something-foreveryone destination winery was designed defuses any latent critic’s scoffing. And the wine? Yes, check out the Director’s Cut line of Sonoma County varietals. Nothing to snipe at. Francis Coppola Winery, 300 Via Archimedes, Geyserville. Winetasting daily 11am to 6pm; winery and restaurant open till 9pm. 707.857.1400.—James Knight