Russian River and Santa Rosa wineries

J

Jonathan Loesberg

Jonathan Loesberg
I will be visiting my brother and sister-in-law, who live in Oakland, and to cater to my wine geekery, they are asking for the names of wineries to visit in either Russian River or Santa Rosa (I expect other ones close by would be good, too). I really am woefully ignorant and the internet doesn't give me any names I think of as ones I would want to go to other than Montelena. Are there other suggestions for non-spoofed wines near to Oakland?
 
In RRV, I'd recommend Joseph Swan for Pinot and Syrah, Wind Gap and Arnot-Roberts for those and more. Monkey-approved Hobo/Folk Machine is in Santa Rosa.

Mark Lipton
 
Salinia in Santa rosa for sure. Kevin Kelly is great to taste and chat with.

Wind gap just opened a new tasting facility in Sebastopol at a new conglomerate of shops called "the Barlow". You probably can taste Ryme there too. Shoot an email to Megan or Ryan off the Ryme site to see if you can arrange to taste Ryme, Wind Gap at same time.
 
and if you aare into beer at all. russian river brewing is in santa rosa. you can pick up some pliny the elder to bring home.
 
If they'll go to Napa, Mayacamas and Stony Hill can be fun visits. Both out of the way, authentic, and making wines that most folks here would enjoy.

In the Santa Cruz Mountains, consider seeing Mount Eden and Varner, in addition to Rhys. All may be open to taking an appointment.

In Sonoma, many of the wineries that make stuff people here might like work in industrial spaces, so you have to compromise on the scenery. That would be true for Hobo/Folk Machine and Arnot Roberts. If you want to see the vines, consider Porter Creek in Russian River. They're more consistent than Swan, to my palate, although Swan is close by and certainly worth seeing. In Dry Creek, Nalle makes pretty, balanced Zins and Rafanelli may be of interest, albeit in a relatively brawny style.

Not sure how long you're here, Jonathan, but Cory and I both live in Oakland. Perhaps we could do a mini-Jeeb. Professor Lipton has dined with us before and lived to tell the tale.
 
originally posted by kirk wallace:
or, you could save some gas andjust go here.
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Ordinaire is a great place to try some of the "New California," as well as disorderly standbys from Europe. It's around the corner from my house -- I don' think that was part of Bradford's business plan, but it's worked out well for him.
 
isn't pliny the elder akin to over oaked chardonnay or over roasted coffee beans? an interesting taste at first, but pretty monolithic feel really quick. but then again, i don't drink a lot of beer and perhaps this is the goal for some beers.
 
Oakland is my home town! My grandfather used to own a liquor store just a few doors East of Ordinaire. Edmunds Liquors! Same font that ended up on the top of our label! if you're coming to town, let me know!
 
Stony Hill alone makes it almost worth figuring out more to do in Napa. Chateau Montelena will be a very different experience. So will Corison, but that's way too convenient to pass up. And there are a few to several intriguing producers on mountain tops and valleys far away from Highway 29.

Everything is really spread out in Sonoma. You'll need to pick a chunk.

Out from Healdsburg towards the coast along Westside Rd. Porter-Bass has surprisingly nice chardonnay and just a little brawny zinfandel. Healdsburg has dinner, so you might want to take that into account and work your way back.

Beginning in Sebastopol gets you Wild Flour Bread Bakery and Freestone Artisan Cheese, legit snack time.

And then there's Alexander Valley and Geyserville. You can always end there hitting Ridge and dinner at Diavola. If you started in Geyserville, there's a breakfast place (probably the only breakfast place) where growers gather to talk shop.

Oh, and on your way in, Santa Rosa has pretty good coffee in the Railroad Square Flying Goat and Chloe's, a solid causal French lunch in a medical building near Kevin at NPA.
 
Steve and Jim,

Although Gail and I would love to get together, I doubt my brother and sister-in-law would be up for it, although I can ask I guess. They are more grandchild geeks than wine geeks. We're only there for four nights and haven't seen them since they moved west a few years ago. Thanks for the recommendations and keep them coming.
 
originally posted by Mark Anisman:
isn't pliny the elder akin to over oaked chardonnay or over roasted coffee beans? an interesting taste at first, but pretty monolithic feel really quick. but then again, i don't drink a lot of beer and perhaps this is the goal for some beers.
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Most definitely not.
 
originally posted by Jim Hanlon:

In Sonoma, many of the wineries that make stuff people here might like work in industrial spaces, so you have to compromise on the scenery. That would be true for Hobo/Folk Machine and Arnot Roberts. If you want to see the vines, consider Porter Creek in Russian River. They're more consistent than Swan, to my palate, although Swan is close by and certainly worth seeing. In Dry Creek, Nalle makes pretty, balanced Zins and Rafanelli may be of interest, albeit in a relatively brawny style.

Not sure how long you're here, Jonathan, but Cory and I both live in Oakland. Perhaps we could do a mini-Jeeb. Professor Lipton has dined with us before and lived to tell the tale.
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Yes to Oakland jeebuses! I'd go back to Camino in a flash, though I'm sure that other, equally attractive options are available, too. Interesting comments re Porter Creek and Swan. My visit to Porter Creek was a while back, but their wines have failed to wow me, despite my wanting to like them. I did find their Carignan to be the best example of the variety that I've had from CA, at least as a single varietal wine, but that may be damning by faint praise. OTOH, I love visiting Swan because talking to Rod Berglund is to me about as close as it gets to my visits to French vignerons. He knows his terroir and loves to talk about it (and he owns the land that he farms). Not all his wines appeal to me, but my hit rate with his wines is well above 50%.

Mark Lipton
 
originally posted by MLipton:
My visit to Porter Creek was a while back, but their wines have failed to wow me, despite my wanting to like them.
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I was a fan of Porter Creek but my last visit there cured me of it: they updated the tasting shack with slick, shiny surfaces and the pourer was a blithering git who didn't know what they (meaning, Porter Creek) were doing. His main talent appeared to be getting wine in the glass without spilling too much of it.
 
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