Sonoma County Winegrowers, Sonoma County Vintners, and Full Circle Wine Solutions periodically band together to showcase Sonoma County’s sixteen AVAs. Their Sonoma in The City event was held recently at The Montage Hotel in Beverly Hills. And lest you think this was purely about Pinot Noir and Chardonnay [make no mistake, there were excellent examples of both varietals represented], the event was designed to really showcase the county’s diversity of terroir and wine varieties.
Participating wineries included:
Alexander Valley Vineyards | Francis Ford Coppola Winery | Mill Creek Vineyards & Winery | ||
Anakota & Cenyth | Gary Farrell Vineyards & Winery | Pali Wine Co. | ||
Balletto Vineyards | Gloria Ferrer Caves & Vineyards | Papapietro Perry Winery | ||
Benovia Winery | Gundlach Bundschu Winery | Patz & Hall | ||
Blue Rock Vineyard | Hartford Family Winery | Paul Hobbs Winery | ||
Bruliam Wines | Inman Family Wines | Pedroncelli Winery | ||
Buena Vista & DeLoach Vineyards | Iron Horse Vineyards | Peter Michael Winery | ||
Cattleya Wines & Shared Notes | Joseph Jewell | Ramey Wine Cellars | ||
Chateau St. Jean & Souverain | Joseph Swan Vineyards | Red Car | ||
Davis Family Vineyards | Keller Estate | Rodney Strong Vineyards | ||
Dry Creek Vineyard | Kosta Browne Winery | Rued Winery | ||
Dutton-Goldfield Winery | La Follette Wines | Seghesio Family Vineyards | ||
Emeritus Vineyards | Laurel Glen Vineyard | Siduri Wines | ||
Evening Land Vineyards | Limerick Lane Cellars | Sojourn Cellars | ||
Ferrari-Carano Vineyards and Winery | MacMurray Ranch | The Donum Estate | ||
Flowers Vineyard & Winery | MacPhail Family Wines | Thomas George Estates | ||
Folie à Deux | MacRostie Winery & Vineyards | Three Sticks | ||
Fort Ross Vineyard & Winery | Martinelli Winery | Williams Selyem |
In addition, there were tables devoted to the various AVAs with additional wines poured not represented at the winery pouring stations listed above:
Alexander Valley Winegrowers
Fort Ross-Seaview Winegrowers Association
Petaluma Gap Winegrowers Alliance
Pine Mountain-Cloverdale Peak Winegrowers
Russian River Valley Winegrowers
Some of the real standouts for me at this event were:
Dry Creek Vineyard (www.drycreekvineyard.com)
2010 Mariner, Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma County
2010 Old Vine Zinfandel, Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma County
Joseph Jewell (www.josephjewell.com)
2011 Hallberg Vineyard Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley, Sonoma County
Martinelli Winery (www.martinelliwinery.com)
2011 Giuseppe & Luisa Zinfandel, Russian River Valley, Sonoma County
Pali Wine Company (www.paliwineco.com)
2011 Durell Vineyard Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast, Sonoma County
Seghesio Family Vineyards (www.seghesio.com)
2011 Home Ranch Zinfandel, Alexander Valley, Sonoma County
Poured at the Pine Mountain-Cloverdale Winegrowers (www.pinemountainava.org):
2011 Imagery Estate Upper Ridge Malbec, Pine Mountain-Cloverdale Peak, Sonoma County
2011 Imagery Estate Upper Ridge Tempranillo, Pine Mountain-Cloverdale Peak, Sonoma County
My two big finds of the day were:
Comstock Wines (www.comstockwines.com)
The 2012 Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel being poured by Kelly Comstock Ferris, partner and general manager of this very new winery, was simply outstanding.
Limerick Lane Cellars (www.limericklanewines.com)
I realize this is not a new winery, but they do have a fairly new owner – Jake Bilbro who with his brother Scot is making outstanding wines. Loved the 2011 Russian River Zinfandel and the 2011 Syrah Grenache blend, also from the Russian River Valley.
Michael Perlis has been pursuing his passion for wine for more than 25 years. He has had the good fortune of having numerous mentors to show him the way, as well as a wonderful wife who encourages him and shares his interest. After a couple of decades of learning about wine, attending events, visiting wineries and vineyards, and tasting as much wine as he possibly could, he had the amazing luck to meet Eve Bushman. Now, as Contributing Editor for Eve’s Wine 101, he does his best to bring as much information as possible about wine to Eve’s Wine 101 faithful readers. (2013 Update: Eve and Michael announced Eve Wine 101 Consulting. Info is here: http://evewine101.com/press-releases/) Michael can be contacted at michaelthezinfan@aol.com.