When we visited the Dry Creek Valley last fall, we gave a full report on Mazzocco Sonoma winery and winemaker Antoine Favero along with our stay at its onsite Briar Cottage:
Perlises Pick: Mazzocco Sonoma in the Fall of 2025 – Part 1 – Eve’s Wine and Spirits 101
Perlises Pick: Mazzocco Sonoma in the Fall of 2025 – Part 2 – Eve’s Wine and Spirits 101
This spring, we stayed once again at the Briar Cottage, with the plan to meet up with Antoine at deLorimier winery, where he shares winemaking duties with owner/winemaker Diane Wilson. We had not planned to taste or report on the wines at Mazzocco Sonoma this time, since our last visit was so recent. However, our morning stroll ultimately took us to the tasting room, and our conversation with the ever-charming and knowledgeable tasting room associate Eddie inevitably led to us tasting some wines.
The tasting experience at Mazzocco is always leisurely, fun and delicious. While we did not have our usual notepads to write down detailed tasting notes, we really enjoyed everything we tasted, as always. Standouts to us [we know because we bought them!] were the following Zinfandels: 2023 Dry Creek Valley Maple Grand Reserve, 2023 Rockpile Pomo Reserve, 2023 Dry Creek Valley Seaton, 2023 Dry Creek Valley Verano Old Vine Reserve.
We finished our tasting at Mazzocco and headed over to deLorimier winery to meet with Antoine. Just a quick drive from the Dry Creek Valley to the Alexander Valley and we were sitting on the deLorimier winery courtyard overlooking the beautiful vineyard.
The deLorimier Winery was founded by Dr. Alfred deLorimier in 1986 and acquired by Ken and Diane Wilson in 2008. As mentioned above, winemaking duties are shared by Diane Wilson and Antoine Favero. The portfolio has been expanded from the original focus on Bordeaux varietals to include Zinfandel, Primitivo, Petite Sirah and more, making for an exciting and delicious tasting experience.
These are the wines we tasted:
2023 Chardonnay Estate – 100% Chardonnay with Meyer lemon and honeydew melon notes. Very balanced with medium acid, body and finish. Would make a classic pairing with shellfish.
2023 Friday Night White- a very interesting and tasty blend of 79% Chardonnay, 9% Sauvignon Blanc and 12% Viognier, all from the Alexander Valley AVA. Notes of Honeysuckle flower notes and brightness from the Sauvignon. This wine had a delightful vibrant lingering finish with a whisper of bubbles and kept you wanting more.
2023 Primitivo Estate – 100% Primitivo. Very deep magenta in color with a black cherry nose. Ripe plum/prune notes with a lengthy, medium finish. The grapes were picked from the block in front of the winery.
2023 Primitivo River Lane – also 100% Primitivo from the Alexander Valley AVA. An energetic and robust wine with delicious berry and spice notes. It was fun to do a comparative tasting of the two Primitivos.
2023 Zinfandel Tombstone – 100% Zinfandel, Alexander Valley AVA. A deep, rich purple color that segued into a dark fruit forward flavor with chocolate and vanilla notes and an ever so slight tinge of nutmeg and ginger.
2023 Petit Verdot Estate – 100% Petit Verdot. Petit Verdot is usually used as a blending grape, so we always appreciate when it is made as a standalone varietal. Lush, ripe cherry notes with a floral hint in the background and an extended finish.
2021 Mosaic Meritage Estate – 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Cabernet Franc, 20% Malbec and 10% Petit Verdot. Plum and blueberry notes. Very smooth and refined.
2021 Mosaic Artisan Meritage – 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Malbec and 10% Cabernet Franc from the Alexander Valley AVA. Bright notes and a hint of sweetness on a medium finish. Very lovely mouthfeel. A nice comparison of two Meritage blends.
2022 Cabernet Sauvignon Preston Ranch – 100% Cabernet Sauvignon from the Alexander Valley AVA. Very elegant and balanced in tannins, body and acidity. This vineyard is located near Cloverdale. This wine was awarded Best of Class at the 2026 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition.
2022 Cabernet Sauvignon Warm Springs Reserve – 100% Cabernet Sauvignon from the Dry Creek Valley AVA – the vineyard is at 1,500 feet elevation. The wine showed earthy, dark berry notes with abundant mouthfeel and a prolonged finish. This wine spent 30 months in French Oak.
Speaking of Cabernet Sauvignon…
While tasting at deLorimier, we also had an opportunity to chat with Antoine about the latest news with the Wilson Artisan Wineries, at least when he wasn’t in demand from his fan club. One of the things he seemed most excited about is the in-process Pocket Peak AVA high in the hills, far above the Alexander Valley. Three Cabs are made by the Wilson Artisan Wineries from this exciting new soon-to-be AVA. In fact, Antoine’s Mazzocco Sonoma 2022 Cabernet Sauvignon Pocket Highlands, Alexander Valley recently won Best of Class at the 2026 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition! Since it is a Mazzocco wine, we didn’t taste it when we were at deLorimier. But we did have a chance to enjoy it with Antoine a couple of days later. It was delicious, with deep notes of plums and cherries.
And that is how our story about deLorimier is bookended by Mazzocco Sonoma. We want to thank the staff at both wineries for the great experiences. We recommend you visit them both. Even though they are in two different valleys they are just about 15 minutes away from each other!
2001 Highway 128, Geyserville CA
1400 Lytton Springs Road, Healdsburg CA
Karen and Michael 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.
