Russian River Wine Country – Sonoma Cty.

Arista Winery

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Arista Winery is a beautiful new addition to the wineries located along Westside Road in the Russian River Valley wine appellation in west Sonoma County. Arista began making wine in 2002 but the tasting room did not open until 2006. Its location above Westside Road provides some of the most beautiful views in the Russian … Read more

Trione Vineyards & Winery — The Old Nervo Winery

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Trione Vineyards & Winery opened just a few months ago on the site of the old Nervo Winery. A new modern winery was built complete with a very elaborate tasting room. The landmark of the Trione Winery is the “Old Stone Building”that once was the Nervo Winery. The structure has been a familiar sight for years and can be easily spotted by drivers on Highway 101 between Healdsburg and Geyserville. Thankfully, the Trione Family preserved the structure and restored it to its glory days. Frank Nervo Jr. had the stone building constructed in 1908 and used the building to make some wonderful wines. The Nervo Family sold the historic building and adjacent tasting room in the 1970’s to a conglomerate wine group that housed Canyon Road wines until the Trione Family purchased the property for their winery.

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Peña Ridge Winery Opens Tasting Room in Geyserville

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Last week we attended the grand opening of the Peña Ridge Winery’s tasting room in Geyserville. Peña Ridge is a small 600-to-1000 case production winery owned by the Piccetti Family. The family owns vineyards on Bradford Mountain in the Dry Creek Valley and for years have been farming and selling their grapes to local wineries. A few years back the family decided it was time to get into the wine business and use their finest grapes to make Peña Ridge wines. John Piccetti, along with consultant winemaker Kerry Damskey, have teamed up to make some amazingly good wines. The wine is custom crushed at Everett Ridge winery.

John Piccetti, Kerry Damskey, and Nicole Piccetti
John Piccetti, Kerry Damskey, and Nicole Piccetti

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The Tale of Two Harvests — Russian River Valley

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We have been here on Limerick Lane at the northern end of the Russian River Valley for three weeks. Our stay is over and we have witnessed an amazing frenzy of harvest activity the first ten days of our stay. Several days of over 100 degree weather ripened grapes, especially Zinfandel, almost all at once.

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West Dry Creek Road – Best Wine Country Backroad

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There are many backroads in Russian River wine country and each one is interesting and different. We have explored every small country road in the area beginning in the south in Sebastopol to Cloverdale at the north end. West Dry Creek Road near Healdsburg has our vote for the best wine country backroad in the Russian River area, and perhaps the best damn wine country backroad in all of California.

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Best Places in Healdsburg

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We have spent many occasions in Healdsburg and never tire of walking the streets around the Plaza and other nearby haunts. These are our favorite places in the town of Healdsburg.

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Healdsburg — Best Wine Town in California

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We have been to all the great wine towns in California including Yountville, St. Helena, Calistoga, Napa, Sonoma, Paso Robles, Los Olivos, and others, but Healdsburg remains are favorite wine town by a wide margin. In the Russian River wine region, all roads lead to the town of Healdsburg.

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Stephen-Walker Winery — Nice Wines, but $$$$

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Stephen-Walker is a new winery, one without an actual winemaking facility or vineyards. They custom crush at a nearby facility and source their grapes from various vineyards in the Russian River Valley, Dry Creek Valley, the Napa Valley and Monterey. Their tasting room is in Healdsburg on Center Street. It is a lovely tasting room and was very busy on a Sunday afternoon when we visited.

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The Wine Traveler on Copain Winery — Don’t Miss it!

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Copain winery is an incredible place. It sits by itself high on a hill with one of the best views of the Russian River Valley, near Healdsburg. The winery was recently built so everything about it is high tech and first class. The tasting room is exquisite and behind the tasting bar is a double glass doorway that gives visitors a view of gleaming stainless steel fermenting tanks. It seems as though no expense has been spared in putting this winery together.

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The Wine Traveler Visits J Vineyards & Winery

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After spending a lazy mid-morning at Foppiano Vineyards, walking the self-guided vineyard tour and tasting Foppiano wine we headed down the road to J Vineyards. What an amazing contrast in wineries. Foppiano represents much of the past in wineries with its modest tasting room and winemaking facilities. J Vineyards on the other hand is far removed from the traditional, with a lush tasting room, state of the art winemaking equipment, beautiful grounds, and more expensive wines.

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