Pellegrini Winery is part of the little group of wineries along Olivet Road west of Santa Rosa.  For a quick day trip this route is easy and convenient.  Pellegrini is by appointment only but don’t let that stop you from making a call.  The grounds and ambiance are nothing special but the family is welcoming and friendly.

Pillegrini Family Vineyards in the Russian River Valley.

We found their wines to be a very good value.  Their Carignan from old vines in the Redwood Valley in Mendocino to the north was a special delight.  If you haven’t tried Carignan, normally a softer red wine, then this is the place to get started.  For a long time Carignan was a blending wine but fortunately it is available as a varietal in a few wineries.  The Pellegrini old vine Carignan has a full flavor and aroma profile but soft and gentle.  We buy Carignan wherever we find it and this one is memorable.

We also recently enjoyed their Cloverdale Ranch brand 2006 Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon.  It is a traditional Alex Valley full-bodied Cab with lots to explore but at a reasonable price point.  For good and affordable wine drop by Pellegrini.

- jim

Christopher Creek Winery is just south of Healdsburg in the Russian River Valley. It is a small family owned winery with a tiny and rustic tasting room.  We’ve found that the family and staff are a delight to be with and very helpful.

The winery and tasting room at Christopher Creek Winery.

The picnic area is basically in the parking lot and would not be our first choice for a picnic.  Too bad because the setting is nice with beautiful hills to the east and a view of the Russian River Valley.

Christopher Creek has a nice selection of affordable wines. This is one of those few wineries where we see many cases going out the door.

One of our purchases was their 2005 Dry Creek Valley Cabernet Sauvignon.  This is not a robust Cab.  Everything about it was soft but not timid or dead.  There is good nose upfront, a pleasant body with cherry, and a finish that didn’t fade away too fast.  We found all their wines to be very drinkable and a very good value.

- jim

Casa Nuestra is a small old style tasting room on the Silverado Trail in upper Napa Valley.  For those who think that the Napa Valley is highly commercialized this winery (and many others) will give you a shock.  The grounds are more like a small farm than the typical winery and the property is forested with old oaks for a woodsie ambiance. This is a fine place for a relaxing picnic.

Casa Nuestra's tasting room off the Silverado Trail, Napa Valley.

The tasting room is in what looks like a small old barn style house that is maybe one level above being a shack.  It is rustic and charming.  We arrived on a cold and rainy day and the fireplace was keeping the room toasty and cozy.

While Casa Nuestra (“our house” in Spanish) is open by appointment only they occasionally hang an open sign from their winery sign on Silverado Trail.  That means walk in and make an appointment, which we did.

I hadn’t tasted there since the 1980′s and finally found the time to stop in. The warm hospitality and friendly staff were as I remembered.  The wine selection is broad and deeper than I recall from decades ago and it took us a while to get through it.  One of our purchases was their 2009 Riesling.  It is lighter and dryer than most with mild aroma.  We recently paired it with halibut tacos and it was perfect and an excellent and maybe even a bit unusual choice.  We wanted a wine that didn’t overcome the wonderful flavors of delicate halibut and avocados and this Riesling worked.

If you are looking for an old-time Napa Valley winery experience then add Casa Nuestra to your travel plans.

- jim

1978 was the last year of a drought in California.  The vines were stressed as were just about everything living in California then.  A massive fast-track water pipe project that took up lanes of the Richmond Bridge saved Marin from drying up.  Times were tough but when that vintage’s bottles were opened starting about 1980 we realized that the Cabs were real treasures.

Jordan's palacial estate winery above the beautiful Alexander Valley.

I especially like the Cabs from the Alexander Valley and around Gilroy and bought cases of them. Yes, in them thar days you could afford a case of Jordan or Silver Oak Cab and still have money left over.  There were no tasting fees even at Silver Oak.  It all existed in a galaxy far, far away.

I think the last time I had Jordan’s 1978 Cab was in a hot tub high above Napa Valley in the mid-1980′s.  David (David’s Jewelers in St. Helena) and I crawled under his house and found a broken case of Jordan 1978 Cab. The bottles were lying in the dirt and scattered about.  It was more of an archeological scene.  We headed to the hot tub to share it with our naked wives.

I noticed Jordan on Twitter last fall (@jordanwinery) and asked if they had an old bottle of their fabulous 1978 Alexander Cabernet laying around.  They still have a small stash of magnums in their library collection and had one left available for 2009.  $400.  Ugh, but I wanted to share it with my wife.  She has heard me bragging about Jordan 78 Cab for 15 years and she needed to try it.  I drove up to Jordan and bought it.

Our engagement anniversary is more special to us than our two weddings (Vladivostok, Russia and Anchorage, Alaska).  I proposed to Katya in front of the Parthenon in Athens then taught her how to sail through the Greek Islands on a charted boat for a week.  That’s another wine story but back to Jordan.

Our bottle of 78 Jordan Cab in Katya's table setting design with our Greek dinner.

For our 15th engagement anniversary on April 15 this year (special date, I was a CPA) we decided to open our precious bottle of 78 Cab.  Katya brought home a Greek dinner from a local restaurant and we sipped the Jordan Cab with it. The old spicy Cab was still there, beautifully preserved, but the tannins were softer.

We tasted the wine for the next three days and it was wonderful each time.  I injected argon inert gas into the bottle each day and that worked very well.  There was no sign of oxidation.

I’m telling this story because it is a decent story.  DO NOT BUY ALL OF JORDAN’S 1978 Cab and leave none for me!  Try some other years or just dream but don’t act.  Get it?

- jim

The Santa Cruz Mountains Passport is one of the best.  Buy a Passport and it doesn’t expire.  You can visit each winery once, and there are plenty of visit.  A mostly unexplored section of this wine region is on the southern end north of Watsonville.  This past January we decided to see what is there.

Alfaro Family Vineyards and Winery in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

Alfaro is a working winery in a big barn with a long tasting room to one side. Nothing special about the ambiance but the surrounding hills are beautiful and they have a nice little picnic area behind the barn.

Is Afaro worth your time to visit? Yep. The reason?  Pinot Noir. This is Pinot that reminds me why I like Santa Cruz Mountains Pinot. It isn’t too light like many.  Soft and refined but full nose, flavors, and a nice long finish.  Most Pinots are a bit too soft for us. This one, and the estate Pinots at the nearby wineries, are not Pinots for newbies only. They are fun and interesting to drink.

Visit Afaro as part of a tour of the southern Santa Cruz Mountain wineries near Corralitos.  There are enough wineries for a full day. Bring a picnic and enjoy the hospitality.

- jim

There are a lot of wineries to explore and discover in the Russian River Valley. It is tempting to only hit the biggies. However, there are little quiet sleepers throughout the valley. One of these is the River Road working winery on the west side of the valley near Graton.  This is a little family owned by appointment only winery so call before visiting.  They want visitors so don’t be shy.

The River Road Vineyards winery.

We visited during the recent Wine Road Barrel Tasting event and of course River Road had several barrels open for us. They also poured their finished wines.  We enjoyed their whole collection but came home with their 07 Cabernet Sauvignon, 09 Sauvignon Blanc, and 08 Hopkins Chardonnay.   Nice to find some special whites.  The Cab seemed more robust in the winery than at home but the soft nose is full of fruit, the medium body should work for almost everyone, and the light refined finish did linger around for a while. Not big wines but not wimps either.

A big draw are the wine prices. Here you find very nice wines in the teens and twenties. Tasters walk away with cases.  Combine that with no tasting fee and this is one of the better wineries to stock up for the long haul.

The tasting room is TINY so don’t bring a crowd unless they want to hang around outside. Tasting at River Road is a wonderful experience with the family pouring their wines for you.

- jim

While Pedroncelli wines can be found on store shelves nationally it is still a little family run winery at heart.  The tasting room isn’t huge, the staff is friendly and happy to host you, and the wine selection and quality is excellent.  It has an old-time winery ambiance.  They source much of their fruit from local vineyards that have been in the extended family for generations.

Pedroncelli Winery in the Dry Creek Valley hills

We finished a nice bottle of  Pedroncelli 2007 Mother Clone Zin and after drinking a LOT of Zin at various events recently were surprised that we were surprised how good it is.   This and other Pedroncelli wines prove that boutique wineries are not necessarily better.

The wines tend to be on the higher end of mid-range between soft (1) and robust (10) scale.  We rate their wines from 4 to 7.  Most tasters should find something special for them with no wimpy wines and no big bombs.

Pedroncelli is a relatively old winery, started in 1927, and somehow survived Prohibition by selling grapes to home winemakers.  Now the fourth generation of family is working their way into the business.  Not many California wineries can boost that kind of longevity.

-  Jim

We recently finished Tenuta’s 05 Livermore Syrah.  It is a full-bodied robust wine but doesn’t bite.  We found it interesting to explore from the nose through to the finish.  It oxidizes well and tasted great the second day the bottle was open.  Tenuta has some softer wines but big reds and the friendly tasting room staff are why we visit.

Tenuta Winery picnic area and tasting room

Tenuta’s cozy tasting room and long curved bar make an idea place for friends to gather to enjoy a tasting and conversation.

If the timing is right then catch Richard for his enthusiastic winery tour experience. OK, he gets pretty excited about the wines and the processes but he does calm down for questions.

Tenuta Vineyards was established in 2002 and today produces wines from a wide variety of  varietals such as Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Merlot, Cabernet, Zinfandel, Primitivo, Syrah, Petite Syrah, Sauvignon Blanc, Viognier, and various blends. Tough to beat this great selection!

Tenuta  welcomes holiday parties, picnics, and other private events.  Live music often accompanies the public events.

- Jim

So why is Mill Creek in the lower Dry Creek Valley a favorite of ours?  Well, three reasons. One is the always warm and inviting personality at the tasting bar. The other is that we like their flavorful wines. A third reason is that their picnic area next to the water wheel or up on the hill are some of the best in California.  And the fourth of the three reasons are their favorable prices.

Mill Creek Vineyards and Winery in Dry Creek Valley

Dry Creek Valley is famous for Zinfandel so let’s discuss Mill Creek’s Zin.   We recently finished off a bottle of Mill Creek’s 2006 DCV Zin.  It is everything you would expect from a DCV Zin but their prices are lower than most of the wineries.  It is of course the deep, dark full bodied Zin of yore with lots of nose and finish to explore.

Their label says “Since 1914″. Really? I thought I only saw prunes and ‘cots when I traveled there around that time.  OK, BS, but that valley wasn’t much into grapes back then.

Picnicking at Mill Creek is a treat. For seclusion and view hike up the hill to the overlook deck. Lots of picnic tables up there and more seclusion.  However, since we are more social  and love being next to water we prefer a small table next to the mill pond.

- Jim

Far up a narrow and beautiful winding mountain road in the Santa Cruz Mountains west of Gilroy is Fernwood Cellars‘ simple barn and winery.  Katya, Lidia, and I stopped by during the last Santa Cruz Mountains Passport Saturday in January and tried their wines.

Fernwood Cellars in the Santa Cruz Mountains, Gilroy area

The winery folks were cheery and gracious.  The pours were generous and the wines were full of flavor with much nose, body, and finish to explore.

We tasted in the working winery next to the barrels and equipment so they have true winery ambiance. The location feels like you are out in the boonies because you are.

While we enjoyed all of their wines we loved the 2006 estate Cabernet Sauvignon best.  This is a medium body but robust wine with lots of nose and finish to explore – just the way we like our wine to be.

Big robust wines are typical of the Gilroy and Santa Cruz Mountains regions.  There are soft wines available at some wineries for those who prefer them but big wines are our favorites.  Fernwood is more than worth the drive and adventure.  BEAUTIFUL up there!  And Martin Ranch Winery is just down the road – another small winery with full bodied wines and excellent hospitality.

- Jim