Homewood Winery

Homewood winery was a quaint little winery out further into the farmlands east of sonoma with a small little tasting room, but it's wines were as good as any of the others. It reminded me of the smaller wineries back home.

Veranda white was the first we tried, named for being a easy wine to sit on the porch with. Light tropical aromas. They had a deal of buy 1 get 1, and if we didn't have to ship everything home we might have done so.

MC and I had different flights, with hers being all whites. Her first was the Chardonnay, aged in stainless steel. Nothing mind blowing, but a very solid wine.

Sauvignon Blanc was next, and had very nice pineapple and citrus notes. Would pair excellently with seafood. We took one of these home.

Rousanne was next, on MC's custom white flight. It had a bubble gum type sweetness to it, and was very interesting, and not unpleasant. It had a dry lemon finish.

Tempranillo was the first of my reds, and was my favorite. Soft tannins and vanilla notes made this a very enjoyable wine to try. We bought a bottle of this. A note on pronunciation: Its Knee-o, not nill-oh.

MC had a wine club exclusive wine named after the wine dog, but unfortunately I didn't take any notes on this one, just wanted to mention it because she liked it.

Merlot was the next red I tried. Fruitier, and no green pepper to it as is found in VA wine. It had a rhubarb nose to it.

Next came the zin. After having so many amazing Zinfandels in Healdsburg, this one did not stand out as much, but it was still good. Black pepper and a nose of vanilla bean and berry.

Semillon was the last white wine we tried. Nose of orange and apricot, it had a floral and honeysuckle taste.

The last red was the interestingly names Flying Whizzbanger. Herbal and cocoa nose, a good porch sipping red blend, but nothing I haven't had before.

Gloria Ferrer

By far one of the best views in Sonoma, with a very nice fancBlanc De Blanc: Citrusy, toasty, with hints of green apple. Very Dry, and my favorite. 100% Chardonnay.

Royal Cuvee: Ripe red berries and fruit, mostly dry, very easy to notice the Pinot Noir it was made with. 67% Pinot Noir, 33% Chardonnay.

Demi-Sec: The sweetest that the winery makes, but not overly so. Citrus and honey ginger notes. 100% Chardonnay.

Brut Rose: Strawberry nose, creamy berry taste. I prefered this over the royale Cuvee. 92% pinot noir, 8% Chardonnay.

Jacuzzi

Jacuzzi was right across the street from Cline, and their sister winery. It was founded with the intention of making traditional Italian wines in Sonoma.

The first wine we tasted was the Arneis. Light tropical notes and a bright acidity. This was my favorite of the whites here, and we ordered a bottle. Next, was the Gilia and Pinot Grigio.The gilia hadhints of bright crisp apple, and the pinot had hints of peach and pair, and would be great with chicken dishes.

Then we moved to the reds, the first of which was the nebbiolo. Big berry flavors with hints of spice on the finish, but still not overly tannic. This was my favorite of the lighter reds. Then we had the pinot noir, which was lighter than most and had a nice soft cranberry taste. 

The remainder of the red wines were darker and bolder. Barbera, Primitivo, Montepulciano, and teroldego. The Barbera had distinct cherry nose and taste. The primitivo had red berry and spice notes, with a toasty oak finish. Montepulciano was excellent, with dark berry nose and a little pepper bite on the finish. The Teroldogo was also very good, and was one of the darkest wines I've had so far on this trip. Nose of dark fruit, firm tannins, and hints of chocolate and coffee on the finish. This was my personal favorite.

Between the Montepulciano and the Teroldego, we took home a bottle of the lighter Montepulciano.

We finished with the sweet wine, the La Dolce Vigna red. It was a light, fruity after dinner wine.

Cline

The old vines were brought over from Italy on potatoes and are over 100 years old, 2000acres. 200 sheep prune and fertilize the land. Built on geysers and hot springs. Family were engineers, made original jacuzzi tub out of a horse trough

Ancient vines zin: kitchen spice
Bridgehead: more fruity, still spicy/vanilla
Live oak: bold, tannic, black currant
Heritageb Thick, blend of first 3
Cashmere: good dinner party wine, lighter and easier drinking but still nice peppery and tannins with fruity nose

MC tasted the chardonnay, viogner, mourvedre, Estate syrah. The estate syrah was really good, smooth tannins a little black pepper, and dark berry. The chardonnay had a beautiful nose to it.

We enjoyed a nice picnic next to the jacuzzi pond.

Kendall Jackson

We sampled both the signature and estate tasting.

The rose of pinot Noir was light, with only a few hours contact with the skins. The syrah, grenache, and pinot Noir blend rose was a richer pink color. They tasted similar, with stronger fruit notes on the blend.

We tried 2 chardonnay, both from the Santa Maria Valley, near Santa Barbara. One was more heavily oaked, while the estate was more buttery.

Next was 2 pinot Noir, one from Anderson valley, and the estate from Petaluma. The Anderson pinot was more fruity, while the estate was fruity and earthy, with richer tannin.

Then was the merlot and syrah. The merlot had the characteristic pepperyness to it, which lead to cooked berry notes.

The syrah was my favorite. Inky, full tannins, and dark berry flavor.

Last were the cabernets. The knight valley cab was the darker of the two, really heavy mouthfeel, nice tannic bite without being overpowering. The Alexander Valley cab had softer tannins and was more fruit forward. We toured the grounds with these two wines, and it was amazing.

First we came to their learning Vineyard, where I tried almost 30 different grape variety. My favorite were the chenin Blanc for white and the nebiolo for red. The Zin tasted like a very fruity version of the wine, but gewurztraminer tasted most like it's liquid form. The viogner and riesling grapes were very tasty, and honorable mention goes to the muscay grape, which was better than the wine. We also saw some beekeeping and a flavor sensory garden.

Foppiano

We tasted sauvignon blanc(lemongrass, honeysuckle) , chardonnay(vanilla, peach) , pinot Noir(cranberry, earl grey) carignane(cinnamon, nutmeg) , zinfandel (dark berry fruit bomb) , and petite sirah(dark berry) . We also tried their wine on tap, a petite sirah nonvintage blend. It was good, although slightly acidic. We enjoyed a picnic overlooking the Ridgeline where we had stayed in Healdsburg.

Williamson

Wine and food pairings. Many recipes found on their YouTube channel.

Gertie gewurztraminer paired with mango ginger cheese. The wine cut through the cream to show fruits.

Tickeled pink rose, soft strawberry, bone dry rose. Paired with truffled gouda. The wine cuts through the cheese to showcase smoky and truffle flavors.

Trinity GSM paired with cheddar and truffle salt. GSM is a red blend, similar to pinot Noir, but softer tannins. The pairing cuts the salt to leave behind the buttery cheese and truffle.

The last pairing was the scandal Zin paired with bacon pepper jam on cheddar. The wine was slightly peppery and and smoky, very soft tannins but bold. The pairing cuts the pepper and brings forward the bacon, then cheese. These wines are hand pressed and separated

The last wine was the elate grange cuvee, a blend of shiraz and cab. Australian style. Paired with herb garlic balsamic jam.

Look up truffle salts when you read this again. We took home the gewurztraminer and pumpkin honey mustard. George, our server, was very knowledgeable, and was excellent at guiding us through our tasting.