Dry Creek Valley

Solitude at Mill Creek Winery

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Here is a winery that is easy to miss among the big names near Healdsburg in Sonoma County. Mill Creek Vineyards and Winery is a small family-owned winery on Westside Road. The second and third generations of the family are at the helm with a production of 7000 cases from 45 acres of vineyards. We … Read more

Two Throwback Wineries in Dry Creek Valley

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Please give us back the good old days of wine tasting. Please, no more plush tasting rooms with exotic appetizers paired with outrageous tasting fees. Cut the chicness and give us plain wine speak. Here are two wineries in the Dry Creek Valley of Sonoma County that will put back the fun in wine tasting. … Read more

Quivira Vineyards — A Very Biodynamic Winery

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Biodynamic vineyards at Quivira

We have reposted this article that was published a few years back. Our photos were lost in the “Cloud” so we needed to redo the photos and publish again. This winery has been on West Dry Creek Road since 1986 when just a handful of wineries were located on this beautiful backroad in the Dry … Read more

Truett-Hurst along Dry Creek

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Truett-Hurst along Dry Creek – Biodynamic vineyards and gardens Several years ago we visited the Truett-Hurst winery just after they had purchased the old Martin Winery on Dry Creek Road. Today the winery is vastly different in more ways than one. Make no mistake, the estate on Dry Creek Road is a delight to visit … Read more

Kokomo Winery at Timber Crest Farms

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Eric indicates that this has been a most challenging start to the 2014 growing season. The drought and the record-breaking warm temperatures of January are something not seen in the California wine country in many a moon. Erik points to the cover crops growing between rows of vineyards.

Sbragia Family Vineyards – Dry Creek Road in Reverse

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Visitors who drive along the Dry Creek Road in search of great tasting rooms often miss one of the best, the Sbragia Family Vineyards.

Looking for Zinfandel in all the right places: Dry Creek Valley

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We are big fans of Zinfandel wines, especially from the Dry Creek Valley in the Russian River wine region of Sonoma County. The Dry Creek Valley is one of the prettiest wine country areas in California. This AVA (wine appellation) is small by most standards, only 16 miles long by two miles wide. Yet it … Read more

Duxoup Wine Works in Dry Creek

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We met up with Andy Cutter with our friends and fellow wine bloggers, Mike and Mary Beltran. Mike met Andy in the early 1980’s when Andy was peddling his wine to a Sausalito wine shop where Mike worked as wine buyer. Andy has some amazing wine stories to tell, especially the ones about his great friendship with famed winemaker Andre Tchelistcheff.

Teldeschi Vineyards in Dry Creek Valley

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100 year old Zinfandel
Lush grape clusters on this 100 year-old Zin

A little-known and offbeat vineyard resides on Dry Creek Road. Each day hundreds of tourists drive by and never enter the realm of Teldeschi Vineyards and the winery named Del Carlo. There is no signage or tasting room, so the droves of visitors to the Dry Creek Valley never venture into this remarkable world of 100 year-old Zinfandel vineyards and breathtaking views of the Dry Creek Valley’s east bench lands.

We were in the Dry Creek Valley on Thursday and finished an appointment early. On a whim, we called the number on the Del Carlo website. Within 15 minutes we were riding in Ray Teldeschi’s 1950 red flatbed truck through his Home Ranch of 56 acres, 26 of which are planted with vines. We had been introduced to the Del Carlo wines at a trade tasting, and since then had always wanted to visit. Ray and Lori Teldeschi are the second-generation owners of the ranch; Ray’s parents purchased the property in 1948. In 2005, Ray and Lori established the Del Carlo wine label.

Ray Teldeschi

The Vineyard Tour

The vineyard tour on the flatbed truck made a complete circle of the vineyards, with Ray sitting with us giving details of his sustainable farming and his vineyard management techniques. Ray is growing Zinfandel, Cabernet, Petite Sirah, Sangiovese and even some Delicato grapes. Rays sells 90 percent of his vines to several wineries in Sonoma and Napa. These include the makers of the popular Prisoner wine, Seghesio Winery and Carlisle Winery. Ray uses the final 10 percent of his grapes to produce the Del Carlo label, a mere 600 cases of wonderful tasting wine.

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Armida Winery – one of the best picnic wineries

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Enjoying a picnic lunch at a winery is one of life’s finer pleasures. We have our list of favorite wineries with great picnic areas and views, and the Armida Winery is one of those that head the list. Armida is located on the edge of the Dry Creek Valley on Westside Road, a couple of miles from the town of Healdsburg. It is small family-run winery producing 10,000 to 12,000 cases a year.

The winery is situated high on a hill affording a spectacular view of the Russian River Valley area. Yes, although the winery is situated in the Dry Creek AVA, the view is of the neighboring Russian River Valley. The winery has a good-sized deck with several tables that afford this wonderful scene. A pond just below the deck adds to the beauty of the vineyards off in the distance. Once people experience this beauty, they return again and again to enjoy this spot. Saturdays are very popular here, especially from Spring to the early Fall months.

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