Heading to Russian River Valley: Can Only Visit Two.

[Mark_Cochard]

@Berry Crawford

How does one control fruit flies when you are fermenting wine?

You need lots of spiders like this

[Roy_Piper]

A
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I
S
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A

They usually pour far more wines than other tasting rooms.

[Terence_T-Bone_Livingston]

I would mistakenly rebook your tickets to SBA instead…

heard there’s some Pinot around there, and your wife will love you for Santa Barbara!

(just thinking about the Mrs…that’s all!

[Andrew_Christiansen]

Copain would be my first choice. Great wines and beautiful view of the river/valley. Classy operation. Actually, many/all of their wines are from outside the RRV such as the Anderson Valley, Santa Lucia Highlands, etc.

After Copain, depending on time, Swan is a nearby and would be a contrast to the atmosphere of Copain. A bit rustic, but classic, old school RRV . Although the flies are annoying, the wine is free and tasty.

As Paul mentioned, Arista is relatively close to Copain and just across the river. The drive across the bridge to the west side is quite scenic. Arista has a beautiful Japanese garden and a well appointed tasting room with classic RRV wines. Rochioli is practically across the road from Arista, although I haven’t been.

I also dig Inman and Scherrer, but they might be a bit further from the three above. I would recommend them as highly as the others, however. Scherrer requires an appointment, but it’s worth it. Both Fred and Kathleen are excellent hosts.

I’ve been meaning to try Holdredge, and his posts on this board are always entertaining. Apparently his wines don’t suck either. His winery is in Healdsburg however, just a bit north of many of the wineries above.

[ToddFrench]

I think Evan is going to have a VERY hard time deciding where to go…

[Kathleen_Inman]

We would love to have you visit Inman Family!

I am no longer by appointment only, but open Mon-Sat 11-4. I take appointments on Sundays. It won’t be long and we will be in our new tasting room and winery at Olivet Grange…but for now we are in Windsor.

[Alan_C_h_a_n]

Welcome to the board, Kathleen. Have heard many good things about Inman’s wines… you guys are on my list of things to try soon…

[Kathleen_Inman]

Hey Alan. I have been lurking from time to time, but I am so busy with the vineyards, winemaking and most of all building my winery, that I have had no time to even read any wine boards, let alone post, but while having my lunch I thought I would take a look!

[Frank_Murray_III]

Copain and Siduri/Novy.

[zachary_l_a_n_g]

Kathleen, great to see you here!
I recently had your 2004 Inman OGV…it was fantastic!

[ToddFrench]

@Kathleen Inman

Hey Alan. I have been lurking from time to time, but I am so busy with the vineyards, winemaking and most of all building my winery, that I have had no time to even read any wine boards, let alone post, but while having my lunch I thought I would take a look!

Hey Kathleen!

Great to have you on board!

(just noticed this is my 8000th post!)

[Randy_Bowman]

Evan,

The reality of it is, you don’t have enough time to enjoy the area, scenery and wineries. Sonoma County has some outstanding wines and wineries. The Russian River and its quaint towns take two days, the coast two days and wineries, ummmm, about a month.

If you can’t schedule more time, then I would start with Holdredge. Contact John and make arrangements for the visit and ask him for a suggestion for your second stop, (after a food stop). John won’t steer you wrong and can give you good insider knowledge based on your particular likes and dislikes in wine. A bonus would be to have John there when you visit, as long as you’re not from Tex as.

That said, Napa is purtier.

[Randy_Bowman]

@Evan Dawson

Great stuff already - thanks. My wife asks a pertinent etiquette question: If you book an appointment, is there an unspoken expectation that you’ll purchase X bottles or spend X dollars? Does that expectation change based on time spent with the winemaker or owner as opposed to a regular staff member? We’re obviously coming from a wildly different landscape here in the Finger Lakes, where it’s common to book an appointment, meet the winemaker, taste from barrel, chat about styles and approach - and there is no expectation of purchase.

Now, to state the obvious, our intention would be to walk out with a nice bounty, assuming we enjoy the wines and the experience.

But I thought the etiquette question was an interesting one.

As far as the etiquette, I have a tendency to lean towards the “you should buy, if it is wine you like.” Nobody expects you to buy wine you don’t like. Of course, what are you doing at wineries that make wine you don’t like? Right now, some of the wineries have outstanding pricing and deals on wine, plus cheap or free shipping. Unfortunately, you won’t get the chance to visit many of them.

[Evan_Dawson]

@Randy Bowman

Evan,

The reality of it is, you don’t have enough time to enjoy the area, scenery and wineries. Sonoma County has some outstanding wines and wineries. The Russian River and its quaint towns take two days, the coast two days and wineries, ummmm, about a month.

If you can’t schedule more time, then I would start with Holdredge. Contact John and make arrangements for the visit and ask him for a suggestion for your second stop, (after a food stop). John won’t steer you wrong and can give you good insider knowledge based on your particular likes and dislikes in wine. A bonus would be to have John there when you visit, as long as you’re not from Tex as.

That said, Napa is purtier.

Randy,

All good points. We’ve been to Napa three times, Sonoma twice, though one of the visits was in much more novice days when it comes to wine appreciation. This trip mixes a bit of free time with some business for me, so unfortunately I don’t have the time to soak it all in. But your point is well taken. We’ll happen to be in RRV on one of those days for me, and it turns out that RRV is the appellation where I’ve spent the least amount of time in the past.

We’ve already connected with John, who is generous enough to accommodate us.

Again, many thanks…

[Evan_Dawson]

@Kathleen Inman

We would love to have you visit Inman Family!

I am no longer by appointment only, but open Mon-Sat 11-4. I take appointments on Sundays. It won’t be long and we will be in our new tasting room and winery at Olivet Grange…but for now we are in Windsor.

Kathleen –

Thanks for taking the time to post here. I’ll be contacting you directly soon. Your wines come highly recommended by some of the folks on this board, and we’d love to taste with you.