Since 1927, when John Pedroncelli, Sr. purchased vineyard and a small winery in Sonoma County's Dry Creek Valley, two elements remain unchanged: the exceptional place the Pedroncelli family farms vineyards, and the family's dedication to making fine wines.
Coterie Cellars produces distinctive wines of terroir from unique, tiny parcels within California's most esteemed vineyards in the Russian River Valley and Santa Lucia Highlands. Every wine from berry to bottle by hand with as little intervention as possible with the view smallness as a virtue.
Fantastic wines, a great and knowledgable tasting team and one of my most favorite settings make Anderson's Conn Valley Vineyards a wonderful and special place. We toured the vineyard in it's total seclusion, silence and peace; tasted in the caves (a must see); and lounged in their upper terrace while finishing off our tasting.
Renteria Wines is closed to the public, as our caves and winery facility are under construction. However, we are featuring our wines at Ma(i)sonry Napa Valley - an art, design and wine gallery in Yountville - where their wines can be tasted and acquired in a collective wine tasting experience:
Ma(i)sonry Napa Valley
6711 Washington Street, Yountville, CA 94599
Open daily 10-7
For more information or to make an appointment
n 1996, Don and Trish Stephens found their 35-acre property on Howell Mountain Road in the Saint Helena area of the Napa Valley. The old olive orchard that had been planted in the early 1850s and neglected since the early 1900s was a beautiful attraction to the land. After relocating most of this still-producing olive orchard, they made room to plant the seven and one-half acre Moose Valley Vineyard. In 2002, the first wine from this property was released, the D. R. Stephens Estate 1999 Cabernet Sauvignon, Moose Valley Vineyard.
Hit the tasting room in Los Olivos for an afternoon of Pinot drinking. Staff very friendly and fun to taste with. Pinot is solid and enjoyable. This place is nearby several tasting rooms. Upon entering, it was calm and quiet. Since it was a weekday, it was a much different ambiance from the busy weekends as mentioned by the staff. The tasting included three whites and three reds. It was three chardonnays, two pinot noirs, and one syrah.
August West Wine and Sandler Wines are both produced at the winery located in the industrial area of Bay Shore. Anyone familiar with the area would think what an out of the ordinary place to have a winery, but following the new tradition of the urban winery concept, the location is perfect for their production volume. Ed Kurtzman partner for August West and owner/winemaker for Sandler Wines is a great person and interesting winemaker. He sources his fruit from Gary Francioni, Howard Graham, and Gary Pisoni. His wines are approachable, 3 dimensional with a bright red fruit - raspberry, cherry & strawberry, on the fore-palate with just enough acidity, accompanied by a dense forest-floor, earthy yet a bit of a symphony going on ones palate.
Despite the fact that this winery is owned by behemoth wine and spirits company, Brown Forman, we could not have picked a better winery to have a midday tasting. The three ladies that were manning the tasting room could not have been more charming as they set us up with a flight of pourings outside on the beautiful patio. We were surprised at the many offerings that Sonoma-Cutrer only provides from the winery or to wine club members.
This is a great vineyard and they make fantastic wines!
The view from the deck is beautiful. The tasting room itself is nice. The drive up to the tasting room is beautiful and they have a lovely estate with rows of roses and trees, next to the vineyards.
The service is fantastic and they are generous with the pours! I highly recommend going for a visit and enjoying the nice weather and scenery.
They make a number of really nice wines and bottle under a number of labels. You may be surprised just how many different labels they have.
They have some nice little snacks in the fridge there, but they are just enough to stave off hunger, so don't plan on getting stuffed with their snacks before tasting. I recommend getting a bottle and sitting on the deck with your own salami and cheese assortment.
I hesitate to put this Carneros Winery gem on the map . . .but I gotta share the love on this place. Mahoney is the type of vineyard and winery they way things should be! Think back to Napa about 25 years ago, before extreme tourism, overdevelopment and cars, cars, cars all day long on 29 and you have Carneros.
The Carneros area of Napa/Sonoma counties is exploding! Mahoney is one of the only open-to-the-public tasting wineries besides Domain Chandon in the area and serves one of the meanest Pinots in the Napa/Sonoma area.
