Tantara was the name of a horse owned by Bill Cates some years ago. After Tantara was retired to pasture, she defied predictions of an imminent demise and lived to a ripe old age. Horses symbolize elegance, grace and power and in Tantara’s case, long life, all of which are qualities Tantara Winery has for their wines.
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Woodbridge Winery is located near the historic town of Lodi, California, just south of Sacramento. Visit Woodbridge Winery and experience the wines that bring joy to the table every day.
Nothing was extremely stand out here, and the room is very small. However, I was intrigued by the Howlin' Good Red and the donation they give to Monterrey County SPCA, so we stopped by and gave it a whirl. Caught them right before closing and had a nice tasting session. It is a pick and choose list if I remember correctly, and the ones I picked were very good but maybe priced a little too high. The Howlin' Good Red was a very good, upper middle of the road red blend, that I enjoyed enough to get a bottle.
Norman and Gino rented a small farm building in the Carneros region of Sonoma County. They purchased winegrapes, some 50-gallon oak barrels and a redwood vat. Three hundred cases of Pinot Noir and a small amount of White Riesling represented ZD's first commercial vintage in 1969. The grapes were purchased from the Winery Lake Vineyard, which had been planted a few years earlier by René di Rosa. ZD's 1969 Pinot Noir carries the historical significance of being the first wine to have a Carneros designation on the label. It states, "Made in Sonoma from grapes grown in the Carneros region of Napa." The Chardonnay winegrapes from Winery Lake Vineyard were not in production until 1971, which is the first vintage of ZD Chardonnay.
The location is beautiful! So much greenery and I loved the rustic surroundings. The railroad tracks in the middle of the property just gave it a really cool feel, I don't know why, but it did. We started off with a tour which I thought was the perfect start to the day. The lady was nice and gave us a great background on the winery and how the wines are made. The pourings were delicious.
Point Reyes Vineyards, family owned and operated on scenic Highway 1, overlooking the beautiful Point Reyes National Seashore, is 40 miles north of San Francisco. For three generations, our family has proudly farmed the rich, fertile lands of Marin County. In 1990, our love of fine wines led to the planting of a small vineyard.
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
The Auteur wines have been highly touted in the wine press and are sold by allocations through a mailing list. The owner/winemaker is Kenneth Juhasz who is also the winemaker for The Donum Estate and the Robert Stemmler label, and a consultant for other wineries
Delicious wine and sparkling views of Napa. I know there are tons of quality wineries around that have similar offerings, but Rombauer is definitely one worth visiting. Gorgeous garden space with some cute little trails to walk along while you enjoy your wine and soak up the Napa Valley air.
I prefer to go in Fall or early Spring or during the week. The servers or more relaxed and they seem to have a better time introducing you to their wines and letting you know more of the wine history. You get to sample 5 of their wines including their AMAZING chardonnay and Fiddletown Zin. These are the bottles we always end up with and they are usually priced pretty similar to what you would find in a big store (BevMo, Total Wine, etc.). Most of their pricier zins like the Fiddletown aren't sold in stores however. They give you the wine glasses as part of the tasting as well.
Spacious, classy, inviting, beautiful fountain in the front, cool patio! The limited edition tasting we got were actually being server outside in the patio, so it was super cool to sit comfortably at a table and have the wine brought out to us. Pretty reasonable too, 4/$15.
