Have you heard of Saini Vineyards? We have to admit that we hadn’t until last spring when we were planning our self-made tour of historic vineyards in Sonoma County. Unfortunately, our schedule filled up quickly but we were determined to make it happen on our next visit to the area, and we did!
Two of the first things we learned are that Saini is pronounced Sigh-E-Nee and is right next to Nalle Winery, which we did visit on our previous trip. Not only that, Saini handles the farming of the Nalle property and the Saini and Nalle families are related – not too much of a surprise since both have very long term roots in the area.
In addition to farming the Nalle property, Saini has its own property to farm. Italian immigrants, in the early 1900s the family purchased land in the Dry Creek Valley and later in the Alexander Valley, growing grapes and a few other crops. The main focus eventually became grapes, mostly sold to other wineries until 4th generation owner Mike Saini made his dream come true in 2008. Holding back a small portion of the grapes grown for the winery, he and co-founder George Christie started Saini Vineyards. With 265 acres in the Dry Creek Valley and another 65 acres in the Alexander Valley, only 3% of the total grown is used for Saini Vineyards’ wine, totaling just about 2,000 cases.
The above is an abbreviated version of what Kara Groom, Saini’s General Manager shared with us on our visit while she poured us a tasting of some of Saini’s delicious wines, all from the Dry Creek Valley.
2024 Chenin Blanc. This wine showcases the fruit with crisp green apple on palate and a hint of ripe apricot. This would definitely be a porch pounder in the summertime. From their Valley floor vineyard, planted in 1975 and fermented in all stainless steel.
2024 Valentina Marie Rosé, 100% Grenache. Light pinkish orange in color, perfect grapefruit acidity in taste and bouquet with an elegant finish. These grapes were picked early just for this wine. This wine is named after the daughter of Mike and Laura Saini, so she is the 5th generation carrying on the family tradition.
2022 Grenache, 100% Grenache. Don’t be fooled by the slightly pale color. This wine had savory and supple cranberry and currant notes. It was very smooth with soft tannins and a medium to long finish.
2023 Sangiovese, 100% Sangiovese. Juicy stone fruit notes with alluring spice undertones and a lengthy finish. Mike Saini planted six acres of Sangiovese in the early 1990s as a tribute to his Italian heritage.
2022 Trailer Block Carignane, 100% Carignane. Red-berry flavor and a subtle touch of rose petals and violet on the taste buds. Very pleasant acidity and tannins. The 1 ½ acres of Carignane were planted in 1942 and produces about 100 cases.
2022 Olive Block Old Vine Zinfandel, 100% Zinfandel. Tall, dark and handsome, this Zin was very plummy with a hint of tobacco and caramel. Full-bodied with a rich mouthfeel. These vines were planted in 1942 and the block is named after its two heritage olive trees on the property.
2023 Apple Block Zinfandel, 100% Zinfandel. Showing ripe cherry notes, great acidity and intense tannins this bold and young Zinfandel came from vines planted in 1930.
Saini Vineyards make small amounts of excellent wines. Thank you to Kara Groom for such a wonderful tasting. Your knowledge and easy-going manner were greatly appreciated. By the way, did you notice the last name “Groom”? Whether you did or not, there is an exciting story there which we will have to defer to our next visit to the Dry Creek Valley, hopefully soon (here we go teasing again). In the meantime, we hope you get a chance to try the Saini wines and enjoy them as much as we did. The 5th generation will be coming up to bat and we can’t wait.
2507 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.
