Fetzer Vineyards
If you fancy fine wines, are delighted to spend an overnight or more in a cozy bed and breakfast, enjoy walking through acres of flowering and fruiting plants, and find joy in browsing displays of tantalizing foodstuffs or racks of unique gift selections, you will find any or all of the above when you visit the Fetzer Vineyards Tasting Room and Visitors Center at Valley Oaks just east of Hopland. And, lest you fear there will be large crowds and little elbowroom, you’d be only half right. People do flock to Valley Oaks, but with 95 acres to ramble around and an enormous picnic area under a cool, leafy trellis, finding quiet paths to stroll and a spot to settle down for a sandwich, salad and a glass of wine is no trick at all.
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Not too many moons ago, those wishing to try Blackstone Winery wines would have to consult their maps and head for the tiny hamlet of Graton in western Sonoma County. Wine tasting premises were shared with a couple of other wineries, and while the building was quaint and beautifully restored, there was no winery to tour, or winemaker to meet.
Although Fritz Winery, in Cloverdale is probably best known for its outstanding Chardonnays and prize-winning Zinfandels, a new star has risen that is proving to be just as dazzling. It is the Dutton Ranch Pinot Noir – vintage 2000 now in release. This particular vintage is a blend of grapes from two of the famous Russian River Valley vineyards owned and farmed by the Dutton family, and winemaker Christina Pallmann says that this wine makes a “powerfully explosive statement, with its strawberry, sour cherry, cinnamon and vanilla mix of aromas and flavors.”
Since 1971 the two Geyserville wineries, Geyser Peak and Canyon Road (formerly Nervo Winery) have been under a single ownership, although that owner has changed several times over the years. Today these charming sister wineries are owned and operated by Jim Beam Brands Co. Pretty much at the helm is executive vice president Daryl Groom who is also a member of the quartet of winemakers who guide spectacular grapes through their evolution into elegant wines. The other three winemakers are vice president Mick Schroeter, Ondine Chattan and Chris Munsell.
If they were handing out awards for the most spectacular view from a winery, there is little doubt that Armida Winery would walk off with a golden statuette. The magnificent display spread before the visitor stretches from the lake just below the picnic deck far down Dry Creek valley and off to the hills on either side. The deck, under the trees, has become a favorite picnic spot for wine lovers and the really great news is that now the deck has been expanded three-fold, with more tables and benches for al fresco dining.
There are those who say that the arrangement of small tables and comfortable chairs in the tasting room at Rios-Lovell Winery in California’s Livermore Valley makes the wine taste better. Whether it does or not, it certainly makes the tasting experience more enjoyable and welcoming. Hospitality director, Jill Reya, describes the setting as one of comfortable elegance, and she is absolutely right.
Starting in 1996, with a barrel tasting of the first vintage of their classy Meritage wine, “Reflections,” the Kreck family has celebrated each succeeding blend with a gala dinner party. A special benefit for those attending that first party was the opportunity to buy futures – i.e. purchase a case or so of that first Reflections, vintage 1994, to be delivered in 1997, when winemaker Hank Skewis and Mill Creek Winery owners Bill and Yvonne Kreck decided it was ready for release.