Dry Creek Archives - Wine Country Getaways

Dry Creek Road Wineries

August 4, 2017 by Joe Becerra

At the intersection of Dry Creek Road and Yoakim Bridge Road

Dry Creek Road Wineries

The Dry Creek Valley AVA in Sonoma is one of the most densely populated wine regions with regard to vineyard acreage and number of wineries. There is a number of Zinfandel, Sauvignon Blanc, Sirah, Chardonnay Vineyards. Most of the wineries are small and family-owned. As you can see from the roadside directions, one can visit many wineries on Dry Creek Road. Make the wine country town of Healdsburg your dining and lodging destination. Take two days to visit wineries in Dry Creek. Don’t forget about a picnic lunch at one of the wineries. Most Dry Creek wineries have picnic areas with excellent vineyard views.

Healdsburg Information – Gateway to Dry Creek

Dry Creek General Store

June 6, 2015 by Joe Becerra

Dry Creek General Store since 1881

Dry Creek General Store

We travel up and down Dry Creek Road several times per year and, no matter what time of the year or day, the Dry Creek General Store is always busy. The Dry Creek General Store has been there since 1881 and is now a designated historic landmark. In 2001 the Dry Creek General Store was purchased by Gina Gallo. Since then the store has become the place for breakfast, picnic delights, or having a cold one at the old bar. Lunch time is the busiest time of the day. Locals, wine country tourists, and boaters on the way to Lake Sonoma, stop by to gather their picnic lunch. The store also has a garden area with picnic tables. The gardens provide fresh ingredients for many of the menu items. One of our favorite activities is to head over to Dry Creek Vineyard, about 300 yards away on Lambert Bridge Road. We like to do some wine tasting and then select one the lovely Dry Creek Vineyard picnic tables. We walk over to the Dry Creek General Store and purchase our picnic lunch. We find the food at the Dry Creek General Store is fresh and tasty. Although always busy, the staff is well organized, and it is never too long of a wait for a tasty lunch. A glass of the refreshing and crisp Dry Creek Vineyard Chenin Blanc is the perfect addition to our picnic lunch. The Dry Creek General Store is located about 4 miles West of Highway 101 on Dry Creek Road. You cannot miss it; it’s located at the junction of Dry Creek Road and Lambert Bridge Road. Besides the Dry Creek Vineyard, there are plenty of other great wineries with picnic areas. We also like Quivira Vineyards and Lambert Bridge Winery, both located a few miles away on West Dry Creek Road.

Truett-Hurst along Dry Creek

April 11, 2014 by Joe Becerra

On Dry Creek Road

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 and the wines are very good. No wine is made at this venue, but the tasting room is nestled in among vineyards, gardens of wildflowers and vegetables, and the serenity of the Dry Creek stream flowing along the property.

The tasting fee is $5 and you can choose five wines from a list of eight. The Rosé, the Sauvignon Blanc and the Red Rooster Zinfandel were among our favorite wines. All the estate vineyards are biodynamically farmed and any additional grapes that are purchased are from organically-farmed vineyards in the Russian River Valley. The most notable among the principal owners is Paul Dolan. His name is synonymous with Fetzer Vineyards and the Fetzer Family. Paul Dolan and the Fetzers were one of the first to farm biodynamically and were a great influence on other wineries to become biodynamic.

The standout feature of this winery is the outdoor area, which is the perfect paradise for a relaxing picnic lunch in the vineyards. Just outside the tasting room are several tables where guests can enjoy tasting wine or munching on lunch. However, if you stroll just 500 feet beyond the tasting room, there lies Dry Creek on its way to empty into the Russian River. The winery has placed seating areas along the banks of the creek and it is the most wonderful spot to enjoy lunch or just the tranquility. We visited on a Tuesday around lunchtime and this area was occupied quickly. We imagine the area is very busy on weekends. We sat for a full hour just enjoying the musical sounds of nature. With a glass of Sauvignon Blanc, things cannot get much better.

Along the edge of Dry Creek

The winery makes 7000 cases of wine each year. The wines are made at their VML winery, located on Westside Road. Most of the wines are sold directly from the tasting room and a few others can be found at the Total Wine stores around the Sacramento area. The wines are very good and priced reasonably.

Following our visit and preparing for this article, I went to the Truett-Hurst Website and was very surprised to discover that Truett-Hurst is a public company trading on the NASDAQ. The symbol is THST. In the “About Us” menu item of their Investment section I grabbed this snippet of information: “Truett-Hurst is an innovative and growing super-premium and ultra-premium wine sales, marketing and production company based in the acclaimed Dry Creek and Russian River Valleys of Sonoma County, California. The core of our business is a combination of direct to consumer sales, traditional brand sales and “retail exclusive label” partnerships with major retailers, such as Trader Joe’s and Safeway. “

It sort of takes the fun out of the concept of what we thought was a Family winery. Nonetheless, for now we highly recommend a visit to this winery for a tasting and, if not a picnic lunch, a walk around the amazing and beautiful grounds of Truett-Hurst.

To get to Truett-Hurst, take the Dry Creek Exit off Highway 101 in north Healdsburg. Go west for about five miles. The Truett-Hurst tasting room is open daily 10 am to 5 pm. There are several other wineries along this stretch. Check our Dry Creek and West Dry Creek Wine Trails for our suggested wineries to visit.