Imagery Winery Artist Collection

14335 Sonoma Hwy, Glen Ellen, CA 95442

Website: http://www.imagerywinery.com/

Imagery Estate Winery is owned by Joe Benziger, one of the siblings of the Benziger Family Winery in Glen Ellen. I learned about Imagery by visiting Benziger Winery. Any guests who do a tasting at Benziger will receive a coupon to a free tasting at Imagery located a short distance down the road on Highway 12. As the story goes, Joe Benziger decided to go off on his own after working with his family at Benziger for a few years so that he could produce artisan wines that showcase special vineyard lots. As he was developing this idea, he had a chance meeting with renowned local artist Bob Nugent at a polo match and after getting to know each other Bob volunteered to design a label that would express the originality of the wine that Joe wanted to produce. It turned into a partnership that would last over 20 years. Bob Nugent is now the curator of the Imagery art collection and commissions hundreds of international artists to design the unique artwork that appears on the wine labels.

Imagery’s outdoor picnic area

The most notable aspect of this winery is the artwork display in the tasting room and artwork on the wine labels. The outside of the winery looks simple, but inside the tasting room is very modern with stark white walls and light tiled floors. The long rectangular tasting bar is located in the center of the room. There is also a small gift shop area with some pieces of art available for purchase. All of the artwork that is created for the wine labels must include a likeness of the Parthenon replica that stands atop a hill on the Benziger property. According to Joe Benziger, the Parthenon represents the tie between Benziger and Imagery. Part of the fun of getting Imagery wine is to find the Parthenon on each wine label.

The tasting bar at Imagery

Since I am a very big fan of the Benziger wines, it is probably not surprising that I also like Imagery. The cool thing about Imagery is that they are producing wine made from varietals that you don’t see a lot of in Sonoma Valley. They focus on experimenting with new varietals and have fun with some of the names of their wines like the Wow Oui Sauvignon Blanc and Wow Red blend. Their portfolio of wines include Mourvѐdre, Barbera, Tempranillo, Grenache, and Petit Verdot.   My personal favorites are the Petite Sirah and Muscato di Canelli.  I will keep returning just for those wines.  This is a fun, laid back tasting room.  It can get very busy at times, but the bar is large enough to accommodate a lot of people and you can’t go wrong with a coupon for 2 tastings for the price of 1 when you stop at both Benziger and Imagery.