Sonoma County Rhône Producers? - Another winery recommendation request thread

I was hoping that I could get some assistance from the vast knowledge of the board. I’ve combed through old posts (especially the Sonoma County sticky) and follow the board fairly closely but I’m still struggling here.

A buddy of mine, who I have been slowly getting into wine, is making a work trip to Sonoma Cty next week. He proposed we meet there early for a brief weekend of tasting.

Through trial and error we’ve found my buddy really enjoys cooler climate Syrahs, but he’s also more or less at least openminded on most wines. Keeping this in mind, combined with my previous experience with a few trips to the area, I’ve been trying to come up with a grouping of last minute appointments for us.

So far I’ve got Joseph Swan and Pax (Bedrock is unsurprisingly booked up already and Carlisle is closed on weekends). We’ve got Saturday from lunchtime on and all day Sunday. I’d love any recommendations you all might have.

Bonus points for a good restaurant or two that 2 guys in their 30s would enjoy for dinner.

Thank you all in advance!

Hit up William Allen at Two Shepherds. Makes a lighter style of wines in general and is a ‘natural wine’ advocate but not dogmatic about it. You might also hit up Hardy Wallace from Dirty and Rowdy - so syrah but plenty of other interesting things. And ask each for their recommendations - and I’d be curious who Pax would recommend as well.

Cheers!

No brainer here, Chris. In the village of Sonoma, MacLaren has a tasting room and makes outstanding cold-climate Syrahs.
And as a bonus, a short walk away is Girl and the Fig restaurant of SondraBernstein with a wine list loaded with Rhones, some actually from that RhoneVlly place in France where they reportedly make some decent-enough wines.
Tom

Thanks Larry! I’ll check them out. Asking for rec’s is a great idea.

I’d never heard of MacLaren but it sounds just like what I was looking for, so thank you Tom!

I can’t believe I forgot about The Girl and the Fig! They catered my wedding for crying out loud!

Drinking a ‘15 Desire Lines Griifin’s Lair Syrah tonight that tells me Cody Rasmussen knows what he’s doing but a tasting might be a stretch.

If you’re up towards JoeSwan, there’s a little Italian restaurant in Forestville that’s excellent. Forget the name, but there ain’t a whole lot of choices in Forestville.
Tom

Canneti Roadhouse Italiana. Be sure to order the Tuna of Chianti.

Porter Creek makes good cool climate Rhone and Pinot in Sonoma. A good Syrah that’s often co-fermented with Viognier.

Out in Sonoma Sixteen600 makes a meaty Syrah, on a bigger side but still balanced imo.

Just out of curiosity why would you ask recs for Rhône producers when clearly you want Syrah. The way I see it Rhône is so much more than just Syrah and seems really odd to categorise all the Rhônes into one group when there is such wide diversity between north and south. Actually there are big differences between two neighbouring appellations.

Mikko, I was saying that I have been trying to get my buddy more into wine and that he’s already gravitated towards more cool climate Syrah. I was mentioning this as a data point that might inform those giving the recommendations as to which style of wines he’s already enjoyed.

Obviously there is quite a diversity of types, styles, etc between North/South, appellations, and even producers. I’m not necessarily trying to give my friend exclusively more of what he already knows he likes, but perhaps I should have been more clear.

Now that that’s out of the way, Mikko do you have any recommendations of Sonoma County producers specializing in Rhône varietals that my friend who likes cool climate Syrah’s might also enjoy?

PORTER CREEK

Aforementioned Syrah but also a gutsy and beautiful Carignane and my personal favorite domestic viogner. Also really great place to taste, superb staff in Jonathan and Paul.

Arnot-Roberts in Healdsburg would be a fun set of wines to try. The Syrah’s I had from them are very balanced and elegant.

another vote for MacLaren. Steve makes some outstanding cool-climate Syrahs.


(Note: Steve moved his tasting operations from the Sonoma Square to his property in Sonoma Valley (i.e. Kenwood) over a year ago. Be sure to set up a reservation in advance.)

Unti

Just visited Two Shepherds this past Saturday and was blown away by their hospitality and passion for wine. Loved every second of our visit and their new bottling of sparkling cinsault in cans is perfect for everyday summer drinking.

Peay.
The Les Titans and La Bruma Syrah are year after year fantastic
Cool climate wine for sure.

Jeff Cohn Cellars

I think Copain is a good choice, particularly the Les Voisins Syrah which is the midrange bottling. Good value and it drinks very well on release.

Isn’t Pax partially Sonoma? He has some nice stuff in the lighter spectrum.

Second on both the Peay syrahs and I will add Failla. Most of his syrahs are Napa/Carneros, but now he’s doing some from Sonoma Coast. The 2017 Estate is excellent. Cool climate syrah.