Sonoma wineries: April 6

April 6

We started today with Mass at St. Rose of Lima in Santa Rosa. Tom said we were rewarded for getting up and going to church—the liturgy was really enjoyable. It was First Communion for about 20 second graders (1/3 of the class), which is always neat and special. Good mix of traditional and contemporary with our kind of music accompanied by guitars. A good way to start the day.

One of the many guide posts showing which direction for different wineries in that area:

Tom planned a busy day at Sonoma wineries today, beginning at Chateau St. Jean.

This was the first demonstration vineyard we had seen. They planted examples of each grape they grow in their vineyard and had used (and labeled) several types of different trellises, but of course not the one we had been wondering about. It was interesting to see the different varieties growing side by side. It would be fun to come back several times during the growing season.

The vines are beginning to start their Spring growth and the pale green leaves are pushing up from the dark gnarly vines. They start at different times, depending on the variety. The Chardonnay vines seemed to be the most ahead, and a couple of the reds were just beginning to tentatively send out shoots.

Tom examining Pinot Noir vines at Chateau St. Jean:

Tom sampled several of their wines. He can describe his tastings in his blog.

A little Chateau St. Jean vineyard humor:

I am finding interesting things at the visitor’s centers and gift shops and having fun starting to pick up small unusual gifs for Christmas stockings.

Next we went to Kunde Winery. (Pronounced, we were told, like a day of the week: Sunday, Monday, Kunde.) This is the largest family-owned estate bottled winery in Napa and Sonoma.

Tom tasted, I wandered.

We were right on time for a tour of their wine caves.

The wine caves are bored into the side of a hill, 175 feet below the hill’s surface, under a grove of old oak trees. The same type of machinery was used to produce the caves that dug the Chunnel in Europe.

Over ½ miles of tunnels, carved into 6 million year old volcanic rock, provide a cool environment to age their wines, a constant 58 degrees with high humidity.

In the caves are over 6000 barrels of wine, each barrel holding enough wine for 300 bottles.

Here we are on the wine caves tour:

To make the barrels they use French Oak, Eastern European, and American, the French being the best.

In their demonstration vineyard, the guide told us that not only do the vines start producing leaves at a different time, the various varieties’ leaves also turn different colors in the fall, reds, oranges, and yellows. Sounds beautiful.

Tom wanted to sample some Alexander Valley wine, so we drove to Silver Oaks, only to find it closed on Sundays. None of the booklets that listed hours mentioned that.

But not far away was Clos du Bois, which I recognized.

I happened to stroll by the tasting bar in time to hear them tell Tom that the Zinfandel he was tasting was from 85 year old vines. We had been wondering how long the effective producing life of the vines is, so we asked. It apparently varies with the variety of grape. Grapes from Zinfandel vines up to 150 years old can be used, but other varieties are only good producers for about 65 years. The taste of the wine is affected by the age of the vine.

We had seen fields of old vines along the highway that looked very old, but there were no trellises near them. They have apparently been abandoned as too old. The guide told us that the old ones usually are taken out and new vines planted.

Next we went to Simi Winery.

Here they were really pushy about trying to get us to join their wine club. It is a good way to buy a variety of different wines on a regular basis, but a bit expensive for retired folks, especially paying for shipping to NC.

Most of the wineries mention the clubs, give you an application, and that is that. Here I found they sort of harped on it.

Our last stop was St. Francis Winery. I actually also tried one of the Chardonnays and really liked it. Anne would like it too as it is light and does not have much oak. We got a bottle to share in Mendocino. I don’t often drink wine, but this is worth it.

Unfortunately the person pouring for Tom was working her first day in the tasting room, so could not tell him much about each wine. She was very personable, but not too well informed. She will be really good with more experience, I think.

They had an incredibly ugly statue of St. Francis in their garden.

The bell in the bell tower at St. Francis Winery was forged and blessed in Assisi. We heard it peal while we were there and it has a mellow beautiful tone.

We neither tasted nor toured here, but I loved the building and we drove in just to see it.

Ledson winery and tasting room:

Favorite names of businesses seen along the way:
Pawsarotti, a pet supplies store and Video Schmideo, a video rental place.

I enjoyed Sonoma much more than I did Napa when we went there several years ago. It is prettier, less crowded, and I’m told not as expensive. I remember it as being more pretentious, but that may not be an accurate memory.