Day 5 - Back to Sonoma, Stock up for Thanksgiving

God forbid we go into Thanksgiving without having 25 bottles of wine to enjoy. We spent Wednesday going into the more laid back Sonoma. We left the house and went out straight west and then north. We ventured into areas I have never seen and ended up on the River Road heading to the Pacific. I think next time we are in the Valleys we are going to drive the entire way. That road and that area was absolutely beautiful. On a separate note, although the wines of Napa are far superior, except for Zins and Pinot Noirs, I LOVE Sonoma, especially Northern Sonoma. The people, the wines, the free tastings. It is just my type of place. I will always love the Napa wines, but the Sonoma people own my heart.

1. Hook and Ladder - Cecil De Loach, a San Fran firefighter opened the vineyard in 1970, hence the name Hook and Ladder. This has been a stand by winery for our family for years and we have never been to the winery. Well it was fantastic. It was a perfect start to the day. We took great pictures at the old fire truck and tasted in the tasting room which looked a lot like the warehouse. They where tasting everything, and I mean everything. At least 12 bottles open. We did not taste much of the whites but what we did taste was ok, except the white zin. The Pinot's and Cabs where good but the blends, Tillerman and Station 10, and Zins where a great inexpensive buy. Definitely a great table wine for less than $20.


2. De Loach, notice the similarities. This too was owned by Cecil, although he has since sold it to a French company. Someone forgot to tell the French company that they where in Sonoma and not France or Napa. TOO pretentious for me. Pinot Noir's where very good I must say. But the tasting staff took away from it. Their whites where very crisp as well. Was not impressed with any of the reds except the Pinots, which is what they are known for.
3. Korbel- Kind of kidding here as we got lost, but my parents and sister actually went it. We did not.
4. Gary Farrel- Unbelievable Pinot Noir's and unbelievable view of the Valley. Russian River Valley. A bit to artsy for my taste and the drive up the cliff to get to it was a bit much in the rental Dodge Caravan. This was when Melissa started to actually appreciate, maybe even like, Pinot's. Much like Cab Franc if it is made well it is superb but most people are not wild on the dry taste of it. Did not get to taste the Chardonnay they made and I felt the Zin tasted too much of pepper. I do not know off hand what the specific Pinot's we tasted but all where fantastic. Did not try the Cab or Merlot either.


5. Hop Kiln- Beautiful winery built from an old beer(hops) kiln. Wines are very inexpensive and where not as good as I had hoped. Only white I liked was the 1000 Flowers, which Melissa did not. Very crisp with strong, obviously, floral tastes and bouquet. Malbec, Rushin River Red, and Big Red, where the only reds I enjoyed. All had good table wine quality.
6. Longboard-This was one of the ones I was excited about as I had done a good amount of research and this was one of my 2-3 finds I had hoped. At this point everyone but Melissa, Isabelle and Dad had went home. I want to use Melissa's exact words on this one so as to completely capture the feeling. So, "Total surprise in a good way, completely off the beaten 'wine country' path. Located in a neighborhood. True to is name, the owners are complete beach bums with very laid back attitude and an all are welcome mentality. if I hadn't been the end of a very long day, it would have been a great place to kick back and talk with the owners for hours. Unfortunately, Isabelle was at the end of her rope so we cut the visit a little short. I would definitely go back, if for nothing else, to hear all the stories these guys have to tell. The wine was a great surprise and was free flowing... so we got to taste a lot. Who knew a place covered in surf memorabilia and videos would make good wine." I could not say it any better. The owner is an Israeli surfer and it is downtown off Main in Healdsburg. We tasted everything and nothing was bad. The highlights where the North Coast Syrah, the Point Break blend, Maverick's Cab, and the Late Harvest Semillion which tastes somewhere between an ice wine and a port. Fantastic.