Unique Varietals

Unique Varietals

West Wind Wines & Caves

West Wind Wines has the only wine cave in Marin County. It took two years to get the permits and two months to build the cave. It is kept at 55 degrees year around to keep the wine in the barrels cool and humid. Inside the cave at an “aroma table”, owner and winemaker Cynthia Klock encourages guests to sniff a hand full of cloves, sniff the wine and then take a sip. The scent will bring out the distinctive essences of cloves in the wine. She also has separate glasses with bits of chocolate, oak, herbs, leather, vanilla and pepper to illustrate the different characteristics in other wines. For example, a sniff of vanilla brings out that unique nature in the Muscat Canelli.

Alfaro Family Vineyards

Alfaro Family Vineyards is everything a local Santa Cruz Mountains winery needs to be. The owner is incredibly passionate about his work and drove us over his lovingly cared for property in his pick-up truck. It was an adventure to remember! Fun fact: he is so passionate about the local environment that he re-fenced his property so that the deer can go through it, without being able to access his vineyards. I had a great time touring the vineyard and an even better time tasting the wine. There was a wide variety of wines available for the tasting, and all of them were both tasty and very reasonably priced. Everyone we met here was a great conversationalist and really made me feel comfortable and relaxed. I wish I lived closer so that I could come to taste wines every Saturday for their open tastings! Open Saturdays from noon to 5:00 pm year-round; Sundays June 16 - September 1. Enjoy a flight of 7 or more wines; tasting fee $10

Sobon Estate

All of Amador County is pretty laid back for their tastings. Sobon is one of the more welcoming wineries. You can tell they (and those at the sister winery, Shenandoah) really love wine, the location, and meeting new people. They wines are tasty too! They are probably the most popular winery in Plymouth. They are like Livermore's Wente winery of Amador: popular, but not the best in the biz. No, wait. I disagree with my earlier Self. The service is great here, and though I'm not a fan of ALL of their wines, their Tannat was good. We will make another trip after the holidays and ask to taste all their reserve wines.

Collier Falls Vineyards

Collier Falls is a family-owned winery in Healdsburg, California’s beautiful Dry Creek Valley. Collier Falls Vineyards makes limited quantities of award-winning, estate red wines from their sustainably-farmed hillside vineyards in Sonoma County. Collier Falls Vineyards wines are aromatic, complex and elegant, and the winery's name comes from the waterfall below their Zinfandel vineyards.

Amphora Wines

The Dry Creek wineries produce a wider variety of wines and styles of wines than the traditional PN and Zin crowd along the Russian River. The Amphor tasting room location is in the same parking lot as 10 other wineries tasting rooms - right off Dry Creek Road. Stop at this location and you will be able to taste wines from Amphora, Collier Falls, Dashe, Forth, Philip Staley, Peterson, Lago di Merlo, Kokomo, Mietz and Papapietro.

Keyways Vineyard & Winery

First stop on our wine tasting fun! Beautiful winery as soon as you pull up onto the gravel parking lot.... So many trees, flower bushes, and on the walkway, vintage wine making machines, so cool! We walked right up to the counter, tasting for two! $15 each and you get to keep the glass! The staff was really sweet, enjoyed a good conversation, and she gave us a 2 for 1 card for the next winery on our list!

Crooked Vine Winery

Crooked Vine Winery/ Stony Ridge
The original Stony Ridge winery was established in 1887 at the historic Ruby Hills site in Pleasanton, California. In 1975, a group of young enthusiastic winemakers leased the current Livermore property and continued Stony Ridge Winery. In 2000, the Vaughn family purchased the winery and expanded creating an additional label, Crooked Vine.

Kaz Vineyard & Winery

Pulled into the Winery parking lot and the sign said closed.
Some guy, KAZ waved us in and the next couple that pulled in as well.
I was here to try his ports, but he had 7 other wines to try as well. $5 to taste 5.
The varietals are unique and funky like the winemaker. He's a nice guy. Wines were good, especially the ports.

Pages

Subscribe to Unique Varietals