Balletto | Dutton Goldfield | Lynmar | Rezonja

Our Getaway to Four Different Wineries in the Russian River Wine Country

We set out on a rainy Wednesday morning on a two-day wine country getaway to visit four very different wineries in the Russian River wine region of Sonoma County.

Our first stop is in the heart of the Russian River Valley Appellation just past the town of Sebastopol on Highway 116. We turn right onto Occidental Road and travel one mile to the tasting room for both Balletto Vineyards and Dutton Goldfield Winery.

The tasting room is owned by Balletto Vineyards, and Dutton Goldfield has a cooperative agreement with Balletto Vineyards to use the winery facilities and to pour their wines in the tasting room.

Balletto Vineyards

Terri Balletto greets us in a very appealing tasting room that was completed in January of this year. As Terri pours the wine, she gives us a concise rundown on the history of the winery and current operation. Her husband John is the vineyard manager and has been tending to this farmland since 1977 when he was a mere 17 years old.  Originally, an assortment of vegetables were grown on the farm but, as the area became recognized as a prime growing region for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, John and Terri gradually shifted from vegetable growers to grape growers.  Today the majority of their grapes are sold off to several wineries, but the best of the crop is used to make the Balletto wines. Case production is currently at 5000 cases per year with plans to expand to as many as 30,000 cases per year.

We tasted several of the Balletto wines and found them to be very well balanced wines. The Zinfandel and Pinot Noir topped our list of favorite wines. At the price range of $12 to $24 a bottle, the Balletto wines are excellent value wines.

Dutton Goldfield

Terri also did the pouring for the Dutton Goldfield wines. This winery has an altogether different focus, which is to produce very high quality premium Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Dan Goldfield is the winemaker and Steve Dutton the grape grower.  Together they collaborate to produce small case allotments of single vineyard Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. The Dutton Goldfield Pinot Noir consistently wins high marks from wine judges and writers.  These are delicious wines.

Lunch at the Underwood Bar & Bistro

It is time for lunch and we visit a favorite of ours, the Underwood Bar & Bistro in the tiny town of Graton. Graton is a short hop from Balletto. We head back to Highway 116, turn right on Highway 116, and then left onto Graton Road to the town center which is all of two blocks long.

Underwood is a terrific place for lunch with a great selection of entrées, sandwiches, and salads. It is a local hot spot where many of the winemakers meet to enjoy a great meal and a glass of wine.  Joe has the clams in a sauce of jamon serrano and piquillo peppers. Janelle has the open-faced hot egg salad topped with fontina cheese and pancetta.  We rate the Underwood a 4.75 as a lunch spot on our Five Point Rating system.

Lynmar Winery

There are two types of tasting. For a $10 tasting fee, a visitor can taste and compare flights of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. For a $20 fee, the “Lynmar Experience” provides delicious appetizers paired with the tasting flight.  Visitors must call ahead to reserve a spot for the Lynmar Experience Put Lynmar at the top of your list of exquisite wineries to visit.

In Healdsburg

We check into the Best Western Dry Creek Inn, which is probably the only decent budget accommodation in Healdsburg. With bags unpacked it is time to take a walk to the Plaza area of Healdsburg. The last ten years have seen a big change in the downtown area. There has been a gradual transition from small town shops to upscale boutiques, wine bars, and restaurants catering to the food and wine crowd.  We miss the old days but it is still a fun and lazy way to spend an afternoon. 

Dinner at Barndiva

Barndiva has been open a couple of years and we have yet to eat at this acclaimed restaurant.  We are surprised as we enter this lovely restaurant at 7:30 in the evening that it is almost empty. There is only one table occupied and one couple at the bar.

Outside, the restaurant structure resembles a handsome country barn, but on the inside things are much different. The décor is modern with very comfortable seating and table arrangements.  There is an outside patio nicely decorated where meals are served during the warmer months. 

All the foods ingredients are obtained from local sustainable purveyors. We split a deliciously prepared organic salad. Janelle has the chicken breast with creamy mashed potatoes and Joe has the very light but scrumptious lasagna.  It is obvious everywhere in this restaurant that much care and planning have been put into each meal. It is a delightful spot and we rate it a 4.5 on our 5 Point Rating Scale. It’s a little unbelievable that more folks are not eating here; the food is delicious and the décor and atmosphere tops.

Breakfast at the Flying Goat

The Flying Goat is pretty much our standard place to grab a quick bite to eat and have a delicious cup of coffee. It is quite the hangout for the locals and everyone seems friendly and welcoming. You get the sense that these folks love to sit and chat with each other before heading off to a day's work.

Rezonja Wine Cellars

We have made an appointment to visit this only-one-of-its-kind winery located at the very northern end of the Alexander AVA at an elevation of 2000 feet.

In Healdsburg we meet Doug Fogel, a rep for Rezonja, and follow him north on Highway 101 to Cloverdale. It’s not that visitors cannot find their way to this winery, but Doug wanted to make it easy on us on this stormy day.  We travel 15 miles and take the Citrus Fair Drive exit in Cloverdale.  We then make our way up Pine Mountain Road to the gate for Rezonja and Sky Pine Vineyards. Doug punches in the code and a dirt road leads up again and to the winery. Here we are atop Pine Mountain with amazing views of the vineyards on steep hillsides and spectacular views of the valley below. The weather is biting cold with threatening skies.  We meet Steve Rezonja, the owner and winemaker of Rezonja and Tim Ward who, along with his wife Kandy, owns and manage Sky Pine vineyards.

Steve and Tim have a unique partnership. Besides being close friends,  they share a similar philosophy about farming grapes and making wine. The results of this relationship are very evident in the Rozonja wines.

Steve believes these grapes offer special winemaking opportunities. Steve makes his wines in Bordeaux style with soft and food friendly structure.  We tasted the Merlot and the Cabernet Sauvignon. Our first sip on this very cold day found the wines to be tight. As we let the wine sit while we chatted, the wines opened with delicious aromas and flavors. It was almost magical. We can’t wait to try these wines in a few months with food. They will be delightful.  Steve only makes very small amounts of wine so there are limited quantities available through the winery.

Steve loves to have visitors, so give a call and Steve can make arrangements for you to visit this very wonderful and interesting winery.

Locals Tasting Room

Before we head for a late lunch, we stop in Geyserville at Locals Tasting Room. Geyserville is a tiny town just north of Healdsburg. The town is more reminiscent of what the Russian River area used to be like before the influx of wine country tourism. It’s a good thing.

Our main reason for visiting Locals on this day is to taste and compare Sauvignon Blancs made by the winery Sauvignon Republic. Locals offers visitors a chance to compare and taste wines in flights from several different local wine producers who do not have tasting rooms.

The Sauvignon Rebuplic makes one varietal, Sauvignon Blanc. Their goal is to make the best possible Sauvignon Blancs from key vineyards throughout the world. Today, we taste three of their wines, a 2005 Russian River Valley, the Marlborough from New Zealand, and the Stellenbosch from South Africa. The 2005 Russian River Valley tops our choice with the lush aroma of grapefruit and delicious flavors on the palate.

We also do a comparison tasting of Sangiovese, a wine we learned to love when we were in Italy this last year.  We compared four Sangiovese wines from local producers and found two that were quite delicious. The Peterson Sangiovese reminded us more of some of the Italian Chiantis, while the Ramazzotti was a bigger and jammier wine.

Lunch at Santi Restaurant

We love this authentic Italian restaurant. We are excited when we find that it is open for lunch.  Janelle orders the Caesar salad while Joe has a tasty grilled chicken Panini with avocado and fontina cheese.  Santi rates a 4.75 on our Five Point Rating scale. This is the perfect way to end our getaway. Now we head back towards San Francisco and the rain just keeps on coming.