When we asked Emily Rasmussen of the Historic Vineyard Society for her suggestions of other wineries to visit in Sonoma County, especially in the Dry Creek and Russian River Valleys, she listed a few for us. One that got our attention was Nalle.
Driving Northwest on Dry Creek Road, the sign for the winery might be easy to miss and the winery itself is a little difficult to see from the road. Making the turn into the driveway and heading towards the winery building, its magic quickly became apparent. Have you ever seen a living roof?
Caves are a big thing with wineries and there are some in the Dry Creek Valley. They serve the purpose of keeping wine cool naturally also being a great attraction for visitors. But what do you do if you want a cave but the layout of the property prevents it?
You build one, which is what Doug and Lee Nalle did back in the 1980s. The structure is a half cylinder covered in dirt with rosemary planted as ground cover. Voila! The above-ground cave / living roof cellar allows wine to age at the proper temperature as well as being a great place to taste wine when the weather interferes with enjoying the spacious patio with the vineyard view.
But the history of this property goes back a lot farther.
Lee Nalle’s maiden name is Henderlong. John Henderlong owned property in the Dry Creek Valley going back to the 1890s, eventually owning a sheep ranch on land that is now under water at Lake Sonoma. John’s son Fred and his wife Ruby acquired a property in 1927 off of Dry Creek Road and planted Zinfandel. They had a son, Harold, and Harold had a daughter, Lee. Doug Nalle, who was working in the local winery, met Lee and they married in 1974. Doug started making wine from the family vineyard ten years later, receiving almost instant fame when the Wine Spectator awarded 92 points to the 1987 Nalle Winery Zinfandel. The Wine Spectator featured Nalle on their October 1992 cover and Nalle continues to be recognized by this publication and many others for their high quality.
The family winemaking saga doesn’t stop here. While Doug and Lee remain somewhat involved, their son Andrew is now Nalle’s winemaker and he and his wife April run the winery. April has her own long history with wine, including working harvests in California and attending Australia’s University of Adelaide where she earned her Masters of Viticulture degree. April and Andrew have three children – the website (jokingly?) says the current plan is for them to take over the winery in 2042.
We parked our car and started heading around towards the back of the living roof cellar where the tasting room entrance is. We were intercepted by tasting room associate Frederick who suggested we come in through the door that was closest to us to get in out of the rain, as the weather had made a sudden turn.
Frederick led us past the wine barrels to the table where he had set up for our tasting. Through the open doorway in the back, we could see the patio and vineyards beyond. It would have been really nice to sit out there, but having the tasting in the living roof cellar has its own very cool factor.
Besides Zinfandel, Sonoma County is also famous for Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Nalle makes some of both, with grapes sourced from the Hopkins River Ranch in the Russian River Valley.
We sampled the 2021 Chardonnay. Aged in 25% new oak, it had bright melon and grapefruit notes with an every so slight hint of vanilla.
Tasting the 2020 Pinot Noir, we enjoyed the luscious cherry tones and lingering finish. It was dry, medium-bodied, with bright acidity and silky tannins.
Then, in what might be the coolest segue from Burgundy varietals to Zinfandel ever, we tried the Nalle 2022 Zinot Noir. Yes, you read that right. Rarely produced (the previous version was fourteen years earlier – conditions have to be just right, especially at harvest) this blend of 60% Zinfandel from the estate vineyard and 40% Pinot Noir from Hopkins River Ranch showed off the Pinot’s blackberry notes as well as the bright structure of the Zinfandel fruit.
Nalle Winery actually gets their Zinfandel from two vineyards. The aforementioned Nalle Estate Historic Vineyard, which is listed in the Historic Vineyard Society registry, is entirely planted to Zinfandel. A few miles away, they also source Zinfandel along with Petite Sirah from the Bernier Vineyard (aka Zinyard).
Side by side tasting – 2023 Old Vine Zinfandel and 2022 Estate Old Vine Zinfandel from the 1927 Block. The 2023 Old Vine had 5% Petite Sirah blended with the Zinfandel and was big ripe plum sublimity, deep red in color and a full mouthfeel. The 2022 from the 1927 Block showed hints of white pepper, full mouthfeel and a long finish.
Nalle also produces Cabernet Sauvignon, made from a small amount of estate grown grapes planted in 1988. We tasted the 2020 version. It had great structure with dark stone fruit with a whisper of milk chocolate.
And wouldn’t you know, they blend their Cabernet and Zinfandel too. The 2021 Estate Ranch Red is a blend of their Estate Grown Zinfandel and Cabernet Sauvignon. The structure of the Cabernet went well with the zip and rich fruit of the Zinfandel, making for a memorable and very tasty blend.
Frederick then gave us a treat to taste an older Zinfandel from 2013. Actually, it was a blend of 88% Zinfandel, 8% Petite Sirah and 4% Carignane. It was not a surprise that this wine was showing very well, with the bottle age just giving it added complexity with still very vibrant fruit.
At this point in our visit winemaker Andrew Nalle joined us. We chatted for a while, tasting the 2021 Zinfandel (a blend of 91% Zinfandel, 7% Petite Sirah and 2% Carignane) and the 2022 Classic Zinfandel (90% Zinfandel, 7% Petite Sirah and 3% Carignane). The 2021 showed currant on the nose and had a lively verve of fruit. The 2022 had a floral nose, sweet tannin and medium acidity.
Nalle Winery is a very small production winery, less than 2500 cases per year. Andrew is clearly passionate about what he is doing and works hard to ensure that all the wine with the Nalle label shows that passion and quality. He takes pride in honoring his ancestors and preserving the historic vineyard that his family planted. Nalle Winery never fell victim to the trend of high alcohol fruit-bomb Zinfandels, staying true to its roots. The end results are evident of the family’s commitment to producing wonderful wines and you should definitely pay them a visit.
We want to thank Andrew Nalle and Frederick for taking such great care of us and April Nalle for setting up our visit. And a big thank you to Emily Rasmussen of the HVS for the recommendation. We had an amazing time tasting extraordinary wines!
Michael and Karen Perlis have been pursuing their passion for wine for more than 30 years. They have had the good fortune of having numerous mentors to show them the way and after a couple of decades of learning about wine, attending events, visiting wineries and vineyards, and tasting as much wine as they possibly could, they had the amazing luck to meet Eve Bushman. Michael and Karen do their best to bring as much information as possible about wine to Eve’s Wine 101 faithful readers.
