The Graziano tasting room is beside Highway 101 in tiny Hopland in southern Mendocino County.   Hopland is becoming a wine town with almost a dozen tasting rooms to welcome you to the county.  The area is best known for wine originally with Fetzer Winery.   The tasting room is small and friendly with a variety of their brands available to taste.  The Graziano family winemaking heritage goes back to their native Italy but in 1918 they planted their first vineyard in Mendocino County.

Their focus is on unusual varietals from Tuscany and Piemonte such as Cortese and Arneis, two white varieties that are close to Pinot Grigio in taste and dryness. Graziano also produces the local red bend called Coro Mendocino.  We brought home the Cortese and Arneis wines to sample.  Both are light nose, body, and finish with slight differences between the two that makes tasting both at the same time interesting.  We loved them with halibut and sea bass, both light flavor and rather delicate tasting fish.

We found their pricing to be nicely lower than usual and a good place to stock up.

- Jim