My wife and I traveled to Sonoma and Napa last week for a short trip to celebrate our upcoming anniversary.
Day 1 - Flight to SFO, and stop at Scherrer before happy hour at Starks - Santa Rosa. I previously made a post about that (Sonoma Trip Day 1 - Scherrer and Starks)
Day 2 - Peterson, Unti, Nalle, Acorn
First stop was Peterson Winery. The tastings are done in a tasting room housed within a large parking lot containing several other wineries (Amphora, Optima, Papapietro, among others). While I knew the setting, I was surprised how bland the whole experience was. The wines were decent, and we liked a couple of the varietals. The hostess was nice, but had little to talk about other than the basic details about the wines. Maybe it was due to this being the first tasting of the day for us and the winery, but it was fairly uninteresting. We ended up purchasing a couple of the bottles that we did like, the Sangiovese and the Syrah.
Next we stopped into Unti. We had visited Unti in 2017 and really enjoyed it. We were the only guests in the tasting room. The hostess was very friendly and accommodating. She was also really knowledgeable about Unti and their wines, as well as the history of Sonoma. Overall a very enjoyable experience and we bought several wines.
Nalle was our next stop on the tour. The hostess Kathy was very friendly and we had a nice conversation with her. All the wines we sampled were delicious and the winery was very low key with a comfortable outside seating area. The owner Doug Nalle stopped and chatted with us for a bit and provided more insight to the small concrete slab with a makeshift backstop. Doug used to coach Little League when his children were younger and they used it as a batting cage area. Purchased a couple bottles and my wife wanted to join their wine club.
Our final winery of Day 2 was Acorn. We were met by Betsy Nachbaur, owner of the vineyard, and her husband Bill joined us for a few minutes also. Betsy told me that she and Bill are not producing any more wines, and once they sell out of their inventory that they will only be selling grapes to other wineries and possibly selling their business. Almost all the wines we tried were delicious, the only one we didnât really care for was the Rosato. Ordered several bottles. We ended up spending at least 2 hours just chatting with Betsy, and couldâve spent several more if it wasnât the end of the day. We talked wine, life, kids, travel, and just had a very nice time. Regretfully, this is our one and only visit to Acorn.
For dinner, we ended up at Guiso in Healdsburg, It was a great Latin fusion restaurant. The plates are meant to be shared at the table, and everything was excellent, from the service to the atmosphere to the food.
Day 3 - Inman Family Wines and Bodega Bay
We started our morning at Inman family winery. We added the sparkling flight, in hindsight I wish I hadnât because we didnât love the sparkling options. Our hostess, who was fairly new, was engaging and friendly. The wines during the tasting were all fairly good. We especially liked the Chardonnay and the Olivet Grange Pinot.
After Inman, we took a trip to the coast. We stopped and walked around Goat Rock Beach for a couple of hours. Went to Bodega Bay for lunch, and then back to our AirBnb in Santa Rosa, where we ordered pizza from Lâoro Di Napoli. The pizza was very tasty - I would highly recommend.
Day 4 - Smith Madrone, Sherwin, Hayfork, and The Terraces
Smith Madrone was our first stop. It is my favorite winery in Napa. Charlie Smith greeted us and 2 other groups and we all had a tasting at the same time. For anyone who has visited Smith Madrone, Charlie was in standard form. He is not shy to give his opinion, which I very much enjoy. He isnât rude or condescending, he just isnât one to shy away from saying he doesnât think a certain type of wine is quality wine. I appreciate his candor. All the wines were outstanding. The Rosè was better than I remember previous vintages. I always love visiting Smith Madrone and this time was no exception.
We stopped into Sherwin before leaving Spring Mountain, as I was interested in seeing the new facility after they rebuilt from the 2020 fires. Their facility is beautiful. The host, Matt Rapping, was great. He poured us a couple of quick splashes of wine. We loved it all except the Cab Franc. We purchased a couple bottles and made note that we would like to come back for a full tasting.
Hayfork was next on the agenda. I had never heard of Hayfork until just a couple of months ago when it was recommended to me by Samuel Smith (winemaker and owner of Curly St James wine). I am so thankful we visited. Haley Wight is the daughter of the Lewelling family, and she has started her own label. She makes delicious Rosè and white wines from grapes she sources. The cabs are estate grown, and holy cow were they delicious. I was a little skeptical since they were 2020 cabs, but Haley assured me the wine had been tested and I didnât notice any smoke at all. Haley was one of the most friendly and down to earth people we have met in Napa. She told us about her family, the history with her family business and farm, and how she and her husband made their way back to wine country and into the business. If you have a chance, buy her wines, and set up a visit with her. The wines were amazing, and Haley was equally so.
Our final winery was The Terraces. We started with a tour of the vineyard, and a stop in a small concrete building where they are making their own balsamic vinegar - which was very tasty. The winery was very pretty, and it was a great setting. The wines were fine, but paled in comparison to the other wines we had tasted that day. The host was very friendly and funny. Iâm not sure if I would feel differently if I had stopped here first and then done the other wineries. Overall it was fine, but I likely wouldnât return or seek out their wines.
For dinner, we stopped at Mustards. I have been wanting to stop for the last 2 visits to the area, but it never lined up. It was really really good. The Mongolian pork chop was delicious and the service was top notch.
TLDR - most of the wineries were great. Buy Hayfork wine and visit there. Buy Acorn wine while you still can.