I’m mulling over a trip to Napa/Sonoma that would focus on visits to wineries that bring bang for the buck. For screening purposes, I’m looking for bottles under $50, the choke point for some of our travel companions. I realize that cuts out a lot of board favorites, but am not bothered by that. This isn’t our first visit there, and hopefully won’t be our last.
We prefer appointments, but open tasting rooms work. On my tentative list already: Buehler, Stony Hill, Elyse, Apsara.
Suggestions?
Would suggest white rock and hendry as good stops that will keep bottles under your threshold.
Both will require appointments.
Ridge.
It will be an easy task to find excellent wine for under $50 throughout Sonoma County. If I’m not mistaken, bottles priced over $50 are the exception.
Personal favorites include Ridge, Woodenhead, Swan, Limerick Lane, Davis Family, Gary Farrell, Hartford. Those last two may have some bottles that push up on a $50 limit.
For true qpr (ie $25 and under) Foppiano and Caffaro make good, well priced wine.
Good list so far. Seavey’s Caravina and Merlot are right there in the price point and while the Estate cab is not it’s a terrific value for what you get if you want to splurge.
Lot’s of options in Sonoma. If Harvest is over I’d ping Chris at Bedrock. Great wines and almost all under $50.
Zepaltas and Siduri/Novy for Pinot, Chard and Syrah
Calluna vineyards.
Reds or whites and when is your trip?
Karen,
Reds or whites. Trip still in early planning stages, likely Spring, 2015.
Thanks for the suggestions so far, and I agree on Sonoma being an easier nut to crack at the price range.
as suggested above, plenty of very good wine in Sonoma [Valley] for under $50. check out the pinned Sonoma Trip Thread in this forum.
also, with harvest in full swing for nearly everyone in the North Coast, appointments for small producers will be very hard to come by.
have fun!
Spring should allow you to get to most. Bedrock would be my top choice. I’m hoping we can catch them during our trip in October. Aspera is a great visit and very nice wines for the $
Randy
You can come by Laird Family Estate. It is where I make my wine. They have a couples chards that are worth looking at for around 30. Depending on the time you are here it is possible to show you all the “real” down and dirty action that takes place in a custom crush.
I’ll second Calluna for Bordeaux-inspired Cabernet Merlot blends. Amazing press just came out from John Gilman: http://www.callunavineyards.com/press
I work with David Jeffrey at Calluna and can attest to their QPR.
Cheers!
Jim
We’re planning for next summer and have never visited Ridge. Is it a good visit?
My wife and I did the Estate tasting in June and had a great time. We toured all around the vineyard in a golf cart with a very knowledgeable host, learning a lot of interesting history that we didn’t know about the area and that specific property (Lytton Springs). Then, we got a brief winery tour before heading upstairs to a private tasting room, where we sampled 6 wines (including a mix of Z-list and ATP wines) paired with a selection of cured meats and cheeses. A Monte Bello was included. Afterward, we were able to sample anything else they had open at the walk-in tasting counter for free. They had all of the current releases open, so we tried one or two things we were interested in before purchasing a couple bottles. We had a very good time and were the only ones paired with our host, so we got to ask a lot of questions and had a great conversation for about an hour and a half. I’d definitely recommend it.
I think Gundlach Bundschu and Loxton offer great value and a good experience.
I did not find it to be a very good visit, but others have had very different experiences. When, I was there on a Saturday it was really crowded. I had a very hard time getting anyone to help me. There was no tour or anything. Just a person that poured a few wines - not even an ability to talk with that person as she need to go on to others as soon as she poured for us. Don’t know whether that day it was unusually crowded or something, but not a great experience. And, I really love Ridge wines.
This was in Cupertino two years ago. They have another place to visit in northern Sonoma at Lytton Springs, which was much less crowded the one time I was there (this was a number of years ago). Still, not much other than tasting a few wines, but at least then I could talk with the pourer.
I have had much better experiences at other wineries when I was out there two years ago, esp. at Montelena, at Mayacamas and at Stony Hill.
Let me just put a plug in for making an actual appointment at Ridge. They offer a few different tasting experiences (at least at Lytton Springs, where we visited) and I’m sure the experience is much less personal and enjoyable when simply walking in to taste at the counter vs. reserving a specific tasting ahead of time.
Copain. Only a few single vineyard pinots are pricey and the spot is the best. Right up the street from Swan, so hit Swan first, get over to Copain and settle into an adirondack chair. It’s hard to imagine a better way to spend a couple hours.
Failla, which is on the Silverado Trail and a good appointment with Pinot, Chard and Syrah around that price point.
See if you can meet with Dirty & Rowdy.
Pride Vineyards for the tour and wine (Syrah and possibly Merlot under $50)
Round Pond
Not sure “Napa” and “QPR”, should ever appear in the same sentence.