Planning your visit to Sonoma "County"? This might help.

Bryan_Carr · December 27, 2016, 6:49pm

Brian Tuite:

Bryan Carr:

Lauren and I will be joining her parents for Winter Wineland next month, besides Siduri, Ridge, and Holdredge, are there any suggestions for some high quality places on the tasting pass that might satisfy us (irrational dislike of zinfandel, love pinot/syrah/chard) AND her parents (irrational dislike of pinot, love zin/cab/syrah)? It’s their anniversary and I’m super happy to let them run the show, but if there’s a “can’t miss” winery that comes to mind they’d probably let us pick one or two places. If there’s a Zin place that might make us converts or a Pinot place that might do the same for them I’d love to go.

Winter wine festival: Join Sonoma County's Wine Tasting Event. - Wine Road

Limerick Lane - Great Zin, great Syrah.
Porter Creek - Syrah/Pinot/Grenache
Calluna - Bdx Blends

On the participating winery list:
Ridge
Papapietro Perry
Medlock Ames

Thanks, Brian!

Jeff_Fish · January 5, 2017, 5:34pm

This has really developed into an excellent reference. Thanks for the hard work.

Marlo_M · January 10, 2017, 7:49pm

I should have posted this earlier but, about 3 weeks ago, my wife and I went up Healdsburg way. We have been going to Sonoma since the 1980’s [we were staying at a small B&B on Trenton Road during the great Valentine Flood in '86] and are always looking for wineries we have not yet visited. We decided to include Porter Creek and Limerick Lane based on Brian’s suggestion. At Porter Creek, there was only one other couple tasting and the pourer (Jonathan? Pre-alzheimers or dementia on my part) was as friendly and cordial as could be. We had an extensive tasting of their pinots and picked up half a case. We enjoyed the tasting room, the vibe, and the wines. Later, after lunch, we went to Limerick. I guess I should read reviews better because I had not realized that their strength are zins. There was no one there but the staff. Andy poured the wines and provided us with a history of the winery. He pointed out the hillsides, explained the different locations and types of vines planted on the property and the different soils. He was a friendly, informative and just great all around guy. On this Saturday, there wasn’t anyone out tasting [no one at Rochioli but us] and I asked him whether it was normal for this time of year or whether it was atypical. He said it was usually slow but had been very slow during the past couple of weeks. We picked up one of the Rocky Knoll zins and a few other zins. I felt fortunate to have been given so much time and attention. We had a wonderful dinner at Scopa and stayed overnight at Healdsburg Inn on the Plaza which is on the square. A great short trip.

Tom_Gibson · January 11, 2017, 6:44pm

Marlo M:

I should have posted this earlier but, about 3 weeks ago, my wife and I went up Healdsburg way. We have been going to Sonoma since the 1980’s [we were staying at a small B&B on Trenton Road during the great Valentine Flood in '86] and are always looking for wineries we have not yet visited. We decided to include Porter Creek and Limerick Lane based on Brian’s suggestion. At Porter Creek, there was only one other couple tasting and the pourer (Jonathan? Pre-alzheimers or dementia on my part) was as friendly and cordial as could be. We had an extensive tasting of their pinots and picked up half a case. We enjoyed the tasting room, the vibe, and the wines. Later, after lunch, we went to Limerick. I guess I should read reviews better because I had not realized that their strength are zins. There was no one there but the staff. Andy poured the wines and provided us with a history of the winery. He pointed out the hillsides, explained the different locations and types of vines planted on the property and the different soils. He was a friendly, informative and just great all around guy. On this Saturday, there wasn’t anyone out tasting [no one at Rochioli but us] and I asked him whether it was normal for this time of year or whether it was atypical. He said it was usually slow but had been very slow during the past couple of weeks. We picked up one of the Rocky Knoll zins and a few other zins. I felt fortunate to have been given so much time and attention. We had a wonderful dinner at Scopa and stayed overnight at Healdsburg Inn on the Plaza which is on the square. A great short trip.

I was at Limerick Lane in September and I experienced the same. I wasn’t charged for the tasting for two after buying only one bottle. The 1910 Zin was incredible and I wish I had bought more and shipped them home.

Brian_Tuite · January 14, 2017, 3:33pm

This morning I performed a long overdue update to the OP adding all of Evan’s Petaluma Dining selections. Also added Vérité Wines, Castelli Vineyards, Franchettis’ Wood Fire Kitchen and updated Westerhold to note the Syrah changes.

Evan, when am I going to need to add the Petaluma Gap AVA?

I’m sure there’s more to do. Places come and go. If you notice an omission and/or needed change please PM me or mention it in the thread. Thanks for the feedback. I intended this to be of value so I am happy to see it provide that to some of you.

Bryan_Carr · January 17, 2017, 5:57pm

Just want to say we visited Holdredge on Saturday based on the recommendation from this thread and wow, good stuff!

Also, maybe another edit, Arista is now appt only and their tasting fee is $35, which they didn’t tell us until AFTER we had tasted AND the guy talked us out of sharing when we walked in, the SOB

Evan_Pontoriero · January 18, 2017, 5:34am

Oh those wheels of government grind slowly. For all intents and purposes we are an AVA they only need to write the final ruling which could take a few months.

Brian_Tuite · January 18, 2017, 2:15pm

Do they waive the tasting fee with a purchase?

Bryan_Carr · January 19, 2017, 9:06pm

Half a case

Brian_Tuite · January 20, 2017, 1:46am

Tom_Gibson · January 20, 2017, 1:48am

Artista was $35/pp and waived with 2 bottles in Sept. no appt. I didn’t think it was a good tasting then. Def don’t now.

Bryan_Carr · January 20, 2017, 5:53pm

They’ve had a lot of organizational and ownership upheaval in the last couple years according to one of the employees, I think their new owners must be trying to go upmarket, looks like I got to be the test case

Marlo_M · January 23, 2017, 9:23pm

The San Francisco Chronicle had a section Sunday on Healdsburg and included an interesting story about Joe Rochioli, Jr… Rochioli Vineyards has deep roots in Healdsburg I had not realized the connections between Rochioli and Davis Bynum and Gary Farrell. The section of the paper included places to visit such as Porter Creek and Arista. They included a photo of Arista and listed the pricing for tasting at $20. It’s been a few years since I last visited the winery [a member of Wine Berserkers had recommended the Longbow Pinot] and I remember the Owner of the winery at the bar and talking to visitors. If they are going upscale with $35 tastings, it seems a shame.

Kurt_B_e_i_t_l_e_r · January 30, 2017, 6:23pm

Brian, update from Freestone/ Occidental area:
Our wonderful neighbor, Joseph Phelps Freestone, has unfortunately closed their Freestone tasting room. Their wines are as good as ever and their tasting room & excellent staff will be missed!!

Brian_Tuite · January 30, 2017, 7:19pm

FIFY!

JesseC · January 31, 2017, 8:20pm

Have been meaning to post a little info about a trip we took to Sonoma/Napa over the MLK holiday weekend, we stayed 3 nights in a farmhouse halfway between 101 and 128, so it was a good jumping off point to both valleys.

Where we ate:

Schellville Grille (Sonoma) - BBQ spot for lunch, pretty good sandwiches and a few craft beers on tap. Meat was tasty, we tried pork, brisket and chicken between our group. This would be a great place to throw a party or event at.

Bosko’s Trattoria (Calistoga) - fun laid-back vibe, food was pretty good. Wine list was reasonably priced and a few good beers on tap.

Chalkboard (Healdsburg) - excellent small plates, 4 of us shared about 6 or 7 dishes and we enjoyed everything. Service was a little spotty but it was a busy time and we weren’t in a rush so not a major issue for us.

Willow Wood Cafe (Graton) - neat spot in a town we’d never visited before. We were there for lunch so our table had a few sandwiches and a chicken pot pie, all of which were excellent. Pickled veg on the side of the roasted pork tenderloin and grilled steak sandwiches were a nice touch!

Clayton_Wai-Poi · February 1, 2017, 5:38am

Quick question for the Santa Rosa folks - how realistic is it to get uber or taxis between Guerneville and Santa Rosa? Have a couple of events in Santa Rosa, but thinking of staying in Guerneville.

Brian_Tuite · February 1, 2017, 2:24pm

No problem at all.

Rich_Salsano · February 14, 2017, 3:54pm

Currently out here now so I thought I would add a few points (not sure if previously mentioned).

Scopa in Healdsburg is closing in April. Get there while you can. Killer meal last night.

Acorn Winery is under the radar but producing some fantastic terroir driven field blends. I had not heard of them before this trip.

Visa Signature has a program of participating wineries that cardholders get free tastings and or discounts at a number of places. You can lookup the list online.

Bryan_Carr · February 14, 2017, 11:19pm

Quick update on Arista: I wrote them an email re: the tasting-fee debacle and they were completely apologetic, refunded our fees, and have updated their tasting sheets to note the tasting fee amount to avoid confusion in the future.