Wine Country Round-Up!

You enjoy wine? Plan on ever visiting Sonoma or Healdsburg? Just like to be nosy at what I was up to? If you answered “YES!” to any of the questions above, then this is the post for you.

CHEERS!

Bella Vineyards & Wine Cave-Absolutely adorable grounds with the tasting room located inside a cozy candlelit cave. Love, love, love. Enjoyed the 2008 Petite Syrah and Late Picked Zinfandel. Not such a fan of their Ten Acre wines. Tasting was $5 for the 5 Bella current releases and $10 for the current releases + 2 of the Ten Acre Pinot Noirs.

Family Wineries Dry Creek Valley- We were driving to another destination and came across this really interesting place. Smaller, family owned wineries in the area have formed a co-op to form a retail space. One space…several wineries! It was pretty neat, but I was really missing that personal touch that actually visiting a winery can give you. We found some great wines though! Faves were Lago di Merlo and Forth (the vineyard we were staying at!). Bought a Lago di Merlo Muscat!

J Vineyards & Winery- Gorgeous surroundings and tasting room. I picked this tasting room because many of my friends belong to their wine club and I’ve enjoyed their sparkling wine on more than one occasion. Although I enjoyed the Rose Brut quite a bit, the rest of their wines were not all that impressive to me. At a price of $20/5 tastes I was hoping for a bit more. The service was fantastic though and we were given quite a bit info for other vineyards in the area to visit.

Rodney Strong-  Right next door to J, we had to visit. We also had a 2 for 1 tasting card and I can’t pass up a deal. I’ve enjoyed a few of their wines in my day, but I wasn’t blown away by any of their tastings. I have to admit though that this was getting close to the end of our day and it was getting to be a bit tough to distinguish wines. The stand-out for this group was a Port that was for the tasting room only. Delish! The tour is self-guided and with interesting history tidbits to read along the way.

Limerick Lane Wines- Based on the recommendation (and a free tasting card!) from one of the other wineries, we made an unscheduled stop at Limerick Lanes. This is a wonderful little small operation where we had a tasting with the actual winemaker. It was great to hear his notes on the variety of wines we were tasting. The wines weren’t the best I’ve ever had, but it was certainly quality wine that I enjoyed in such a comfortable setting.

Francis Ford Coppola Winery- This winery is an experience unlike any other. In addition to a tasting room, this location has dining options, lodging, and a pool. It also has TONS of memorabilia from the Director’s movies. It was like a little museum. The wines were excellent, especially the Director’s Cut Syrah. In addition to a tasting, each visitor can also enjoy a complimentary Rosso and Bianco table wine tasting.

Alderbrook- Last winery of the day and a stop on our drive back to our cottage. It was raining and the whole tasting room was so inviting! With a warm fireplace, a checkers game ready to go, and some comfy seating, this tasting room made me want to hang out for a bit. I enjoyed ALL of the wines in our tasting, including a wine club only wine called “Zinfluence”. The people there were nice enough to let me buy a bottle though and then proceeded to also give me TONS of Free Tasting and 2-for-1 cards for other wineries. Great priced wine and a cute little space that has some fun “For Wine Club Members” events.

Next up is Napa and Sonoma!