Mendocino

Mendocino

Roederer Estate

Nestled into Mendocino's rolling hills and surrounded by vineyards, Roederer Estate is barely visible from the roadway. The rustic exterior may not be what one expects from the venerable House that created Cristal. Although the company could easily have built an elaborate showplace, Roederer opted instead to emphasize the natural beauty and relaxed charm of the Anderson Valley.

Inside the tasting room, visitors can sample the Roederer Estate sparkling wine, including the Magnum - there IS a difference!

Navarro Vineyards & Winery

We arrived on a sunny May day and it was easily over 90 degrees. We stopped by Navarro and I have to say - the grounds were gorgeous! There was a bench with a picnic table for those who wanted to lunch and wine. It overlooked gorgeous green lushy grass on a hill. The tasting room was very cozy and small but definitely very welcoming. Our pourer was friendly and gave us a great restaurant recommendation.

Domaine St. Gregory

Gregory Graziano's grandfather, Vincenzo Graziano, and his wife Angela, first planted vineyards in Mendocino County in 1918 where they grew and sold grapes. In the late 1920's Vincenzo had to depend on selling grapes to home winemakers on the east coast and bootlegging wine to support his family. Gregory Graziano, Vincenzo's grandson, now carries on the family winemaking tradition that his grandfather set the foundation for and that his father Joseph later handed down to Gregory.

Brutocao Cellars & Vineyard

Winemaking traditions often begin around the table. Brutocao Cellars’ roots go back four generations to a Venice, Italy dinner table. When the Brutocao family came to the New World and married into the Bliss family of farmers, it was only natural that they would combine their passions and become grape growers and winemakers.
Today, the family still blends their Italian heritage with their rural agricultural lifestyle to make some of California's finest wines. Brutocao Cellars has tasting rooms in Sonoma and Hopland as well.

Parducci Wine Estates

Established in 1932, Parducci Wine Cellars is the oldest winery in Mendocino County, California's northernmost premium winegrowing region. The winery produces approximately 150,000 cases of premium and super-premium wines and has recently been certified as an organic processor. Parducci's estate vineyard encompasses 30 acres of benchland surrounding the winery. The site boasts gentle slopes and shallow soils ideal for the robust red varieties - Syrah and old-vine Petite Sirah - that comprise the majority of its vines.

Edmeads Winery

The first row of vines were barely in the ground when the neighbors began lining up to lean on their shovels and scoff.

Grapes in Anderson Valley? Nobody could make it work, they insisted. The naysayers grew so vocal that Dr. Donald Edmeades dragged some old redwood planks out from behind the barn, found some red paint, and christened his vineyard with a sign out on Highway 128: "Edmeades' Folly." "When we first planted up there, people said we were nuts," said Deron Edmeades, son of the Pasadena cardiologist who founded the winery and vineyards. Nearly four decades later, nobody is laughing at Anderson Valley wines.

Naughty Boy Vineyards

Naughty Boy Vineyards is a small organic Pinot Noir Vineyard. Planted in 1996 by the owners and farmed organically by Jim Scott.

The Pinot Noir is made in the Burgundian style. Naughty Boy Vineyards buys only new French oak and barrel ferment for 18 months to 2 years before bottling and then wait a year to release it. Naughty Boy Vineyards offers two labels, our original label has our pet boxer "Little Ricky" who was a faithful vineyard dog and helped with planting and frost protection

Three Families Winery

This is a tiny wine tasting room, just next to the old School House in Hopland. You miss it in the blink of an eye and probably wouldn't see it unless you were looking for it. While the tasting room can't compare to most of the extravagantly decorated & spacious wineries we've been to, you quickly forget that as you begin to taste. This really is a three family winery, and it's so cool to hear the stories of how the families got into this business. It's clear this is their passion and it shows through their wines and in the energy of their people. Shares a tasting room with Dogwood Cellars. So they taste two labels.

Husch Vineyards

Husch Vineyards is a small, family owned and operated winery. It is the oldest winery in the Anderson Valley appellation, located in Mendocino County (Northern California) just 2 1/2 hours north of San Francisco. The tasting room is in a hobbit cottage straight out of the Shire. Worth stopping just to see it.

People were friendly. The wines were very earthy and herby, almost gamey. Definitely distinctive.

The tasting is free, which is rare even in Anderson Valley, so you have nothing to lose but a little bit of time and room in your stomach for something else.

Yorkville Cellars

This is the place if you like the wines of Bordeaux, individually and collectively. And when I mean Bordeaux, I mean the varietals of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Petit Verdot, and Malbec. They actually had two of the white Bordeaux grapes, Sauvignon Blanc and Semillion. CARMENERE!!! With only 50 acres is California, Yorkville Cellars has 2 of them. Its pretty much gone in France and now Its all about Chile. Its an incredible wine with such vibrancy and juicy feel.

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