Ken and Diane Wilson began acquiring land and planting vines in Sonoma County’s Dry Creek Valley in the 1980s. They started making wine when they bought the historic Fredson Winery in 1993 with its century-old tin barn. It is now known as Wilson Winery of Dry Creek. The redwood vats were replaced by modern tanks and eventually the famous steel Coyote sculpture created by local artist Bryan Tedrick was installed outside after its debut at Burning Man. Diane Wilson makes the wines here, as she does at some of the other several wineries that the Wilsons now own.
We had not visited Wilson in several years, so we were very excited to taste the latest wines, especially since Diane had once again won multiple awards at the latest Sonoma County Harvest Fair. This is a longstanding habit of hers and the other Wilson Artisan Wineries winemakers Antoine Favero and Chris Barrett. We sat on the deck overlooking the beautiful vineyard as tasting room associate Paul brought out wines for us to sample.
As with Mazzocco from our previous article, the Wilson Winery tasting has a big focus on Diane’s amazing Zinfandels; we also tasted a few other wines as well.
Wilson Winery has three sets of wines: those that are made from their several estate vineyards named after family members, those wines from vineyards that are owned by others (known as their Grower Series), and three vineyards in nearby Rockpile AVA – one of which they own.
Starting out, we tried the 2023 McClain Primitivo from the Alexander Valley, part of the Grower Series. This wine won Double Gold at the 2025 Sonoma Country Harvest Fair. This wine showed currant notes, smooth and friendly tannins, and a medium to long finish.
Then we moved heavily into Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel…
2023 Ellie’s Old Vine Zinfandel, an estate vineyard bottling named after Diane’s mother. With 10% Petite Sirah, this rich wine showed ripe cherry and blueberry notes with a kiss of caramel and a lovely finish. The vines were planted in 1969. This wine took Gold at the recent 2025 Sonoma County Harvest Fair.
2023 Molly’s Zinfandel, another estate vineyard wine, this one named after Diane’s dog. This wine has 6% Petite Sirah and showed blueberry on the nose and palate. This finish was structured, layered and lengthy. This wine was also awarded Gold at the Sonoma County Harvest Fair.
2022 Sydney Zinfandel, with 6% Petite Sirah, one more estate vineyard Zinfandel, named after Ken and Diane’s eldest daughter. The wine showed beautiful dark stone fruit on the nose and palate with a touch of baking spices.
2023 Snake Patch Zinfandel Reserve. The first of two Grower Series Zinfandels we tried. Very complex with ripe blackberry notes and hints of mocha and cedar. 20 months on 40% new French Oak. A double gold winner at the Sonoma Country Harvest Fair.
2023 Forchini Old Vine Reserve Zinfandel. Another Grower Series Zin, this was luscious with just the right amount of jamminess and notes of blueberry and plums. This vineyard is definitely old vine – it was planted in 1886.
Those were some great Zins we just tasted through – not surprising given Diane’s reputation. But who would have guessed that Diane’s winning Best of Class wine from the Sonoma County Harvest Fair would be the 2022 Dorothy’s Estate Syrah from their Warm Springs Vineyard. This wine is named after Ken’s mother. Deep, dark burgundy in color. Delicious cranberry and espresso/spice notes on the palate, it was full-bodied with a long and luscious finish.
Finally, as if all the above wasn’t enough, the Wilson Artisan Wineries are also well known for the wines they make from the neighboring Rockpile AVA. We couldn’t leave without trying the 2022 Rockpile Petite Sirah. With boysenberry and dark chocolate notes, it had concentrated tannins. Sophisticated and elegant with a very slight sweetness on the lingering finish.
This winery is a must stop, especially for Zin, Syrah and Petite Sirah lovers. That’s pretty much everyone, right? And you can’t miss it. Just look for the giant Coyote!
Wilson Artisan Wineries – A family of boutique wineries in Northern California
Wilson Winery – A Family Owned Winery in Dry Creek Valley. Healdsburg, California.
1960 Dry Creek Road, Healdsburg CA 95448
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.
