If you're interested in the workings of a true family run winery, please do yourself a favor and visit.John and Carri produce some great wines at great prices and always provide some fun at the tasting room. With an emphasis on Pinot they still produce two zins, two syrahs, and couple of deserts.
El Dorado's wine area is known for having great Zinfandels, Mourvedres and other reds, but at Holly's Hill Winery there's something there for the white wine lover. Holly's Hill Vineyards is a wonderful family owned and operated winery creating Rhone style wines. Their white wines are solid, dry and not overpowering with strong oakey overtones. You can easily eat food with them - especially the Roussanne and Viognier.
Homewood Winery is more personal and intimate. If you want a less touristy wine experience then you must visit this place. The owner is a 6'7" gentle giant with a warm personality and welcoming manner.
Personal attention in an absolutely breathtaking setting; what more could you want? Casey was very friendly & spent time talking with us about the wine & the vineyard. Oh, and their wine is fantastic, too! We enjoyed the outdoor patio area. Their Sauvignon Blancs were crisp & delicious. Their Cabs were dry & fruity. And, they had a Cab Rose (first I'd ever tasted) that was quite good.
In 1970, San Francisco firefighter Cecil De Loach and his wife Christine staked their claim in the wine grape business by purchasing 24 acres of old-vine Zinfandel in the Russian River Valley of Sonoma County. In the early seventies, the De Loaches decided to acquire additional vineyard land. For several years they watched others make notable wine from their grapes before making the decision to produce wine under the De Loach label in 1975.
The Hoopes Family Winery and Vineyard has been a labor of love. They were fortunate when selecting land for their new estate in Oakville by purchasing 14 acres that happen to be some of the greatest grape growing territory in Napa Valley. They first planted the land back in 1991 with the expectation of selling the crop to local wineries. The first mature harvest in 1994 was quite good and the people they sold the grapes to said these were the best grapes they had purchased. Hoopes continued to sell the grapes with the same input each year until 1999 when they decided to produce their own wine, with their own label. The results were better than they could have hoped.
We popped into this beautiful tasting room. The lady behind the counter was very informative and sweet, and understood that we were in a bit of a time crunch so she poured our wines quickly while still giving us explanations of the grapes that were used to produce each wine. I thought the wines here were very different because they were blends of grapes grown in different regions. We had the general tasting ($15/person) and particularly enjoyed the pinot noir and the syrah. Art work from wine artist Agata Zaborowski - Agata Art Gallery
Horse & Plow Winery merges the best of old and new world techniques to produce authentic, hand-crafted wines from Northern California. Horse and Plow Winery utilizes organic farming, small lot fermentations and traditional techniques to make balanced, food friendly and site specific wines. The North Coast, including Sonoma, Napa & Mendocino Counties, is where they live and work.
Taste with Hourglass
Tastings are by appointment only and are complimentary for our active mailing list members. There is a $125 per person tasting fee for new guests. The fee is waived with a three bottle purchase per person within the group.
Please continue to contact us at tnt@hourglasswine.com to schedule a tasting.
Established in 2000, Housleys Century Oak Winery has quickly made a name for itself with our family approach to award-winning wines at affordable prices. We have been fortunate enough to garner scores as high as 96, 95 & 94 points from respected competitions and many Gold Medals from judges and tastings across the country. Open the first Saturday of every month from 12-4 and by special appointment.