Sonoma

Sonoma

Annapolis Winery

glass of wine - pixabay

The vineyards were planted in 1978, replacing an old apple orchard. After farming for several years, Basil Scalabrini began making wine commercially. With no winery, the first wine was made in a redwood grove at the top of the hill, a 1986 Cabernet Sauvignon… It was a good one! The Scalabrini family built the winery in 1987, and began making wine from each vintage thereafter. A family owned and operated, and the family is involved in every phase of the wine growing process. At Annapolis Winery the focus is on quality, not quantity and the winery produce a very small amount of wine, taking personal care at each step of the process. The results are wines that are naturally lush and intense.

Toad Hollow Vineyards

wine corks and glass - Pixabay

Longtime friends Todd Williams and Rodney Strong created Toad Hollow Vineyards when they released their first vintage of unoaked chardonnay in 1994. As one of the leaders in unoaked Chardonnay, their consistent style featuring bright, crisp fruit flavors, continues to be a favorite.

Jacuzzi Family Vineyards

wine tasting with small bites

Jacuzzi is a unique place for sure. Yes, there are a lot of wineries that combine both vino and olive oil, but I think Jacuzzi "owns it" as good as anyone. They've got a huge facility with a very generous, separate area devoted completely to the olive oil, so you've really got two completely different tasting experiences in one stop. Both the wine and the olive oil tastings are free; another pleasant surprise since even Sonoma county is running low on the complimentary tastings.

Trombetta Family Wines

Wine label for Trombetta Pinot Noir

Trombetta Family Wines handcrafts beautifully balanced small lot Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from vineyards that exemplify the area in which they are planted. Erica Stancliff winemaker and daughter, takes great pride in producing wines with purity of flavor and balance. Rickey Trombetta, mother and owner, works closely with Erica and our growers to identify only the best fruit for our wines.

Trombetta Family Wines story began around the family table with food harvested from our garden paired with wines we loved. Our journey into winemaking began in the mid 80’s as home winemakers. Our passion for great food and wine led us down this lifelong journey.

Rickey and Roger learned to make wine from Carmine Indindoli, a wine grape grower, co-worker and neighbor. A passion was ignited and they pursued winemaking courses at Santa Rosa Junior College and UC Davis.

An opportunity to work side by side with Paul Hobbs in 1998 changed our hobby into a passionate pursuit of winemaking. One night at dinner, Paul discovered Erica’s palate at age 10. Encouraging Erica’s talent, Paul walked vineyards around Napa and Sonoma counties with her. In 2010 Erica graduated from California State University Fresno with her degree in enology. 

As a note currently the winer is having tasting (outside, weather permitting) by appointment.

Nalle Winery

wine barrels - Pixabay

icest folks, best wine.. however if you like fruit or oak bombs or over ripe alcohol bombs this is not for you. These wines are for the lover of a more classical earlier picked style of wine like; the Cali wines from say 25 years ago. If you love old school european wines, these are the wines for you. Doug is wonderful as well as the whole crew. Open every Saturday 12pm-5pm. By appointment all other days.

Longboard Vineyards

pouring a glass of wine - Pixabay

Wines were nice and we really LOVED the vibe in this surfer-chic tasting room. It's a dogs-welcome kind of spot where you want to stand around and chat up all the customers who wander in. Definitely worth a stop when you are in Healdsburg.

Davis Family Vineyards

glass of wine - Pixabay

This place doesn't have boutique winery hipster appeal so if you're looking for that, go elsewhere. The pourer we talked to works in the field with the winemaker; she said that they all wear many hats. The people behind the tasting counter are just wonderful. Last time it was the wine maker himself! Though he said it's rare to find him doing the tasting.

Christopher Creek Winery

Grape Cluster - Pixabay

The variety & quality of the wines were great. The owners were also very friendly & accomodating to our dogs, allowed them in the tasting room and even shut the door so they could run free. It was a gorgeous day and when another group decided to taste outside on the deck, we decided to finish ours there as well, a really nice outdoor space with great views.

Singer Wine at Baker Lane Estate

grape Cluster - Pixabay - a i generated

Stephen Singer founded Baker Lane in 2003 after decades of work in the wine business in the San Francisco Bay area. He was the wine director at Chez Panisse for many years and was married to owner Alice Waters. He has partnered in the restaurants Cesar in Berkeley and Pizza Vino 707 in Sebastopol. Singer farms an estate vineyard just beyond Sebastopol planted to Syrah and Pinot Noir. The winemaker is Steven Canter. Baker Lane wines have some restaurant and retail distribution and are sold online.

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