Trentadue Winery
19170 Geyserville Ave, Geyserville, CA 95441
Website: http://trentadue.com/
I was first introduced to Trentadue at the Boston Wine Expo. The winery produces a chocolate flavored port called Chocolate Amore. I am not typically a fan of port, but I am a very big fan of chocolate. It’s hard to go wrong with a chocolate flavored wine. It is different from any other wine I have ever tasted. Hence, when I learned that the makers of this wine are located in Sonoma Valley, I wanted to visit to see what the winery is all about.
Trentadue is located in northern Sonoma in the Alexander Valley appellation. It is right down the street from both the Clos du Bois and Francis Ford Coppola wineries. As we turned into the entrance and followed the gravelly road to the winery, we were surrounded by old vines. The winery is a Tuscan style complex with a small fountain and some stone columns out in front of the entrance. The property that the Trentadue Winery is located on has been around since 1868. At the time, a botanist by the name of Andrew Bouton created a nursery to breed different strains of fruit trees. The present owners, the Trentadue family, purchased the property in the late 1950s and began planting new Carignane vines in addition to the 68 acres of vines that were already growing there. These vines today are among the oldest Carignane vineyards in America. Leo Trentadue went on to plant 8 other varietals in 1974, including Sangiovese. In 1987, Leo encouraged his winemaker to start experimenting in fortified wine, producing their first Petite Sirah port.
Old gnarly vines at Trentadue Winery
Today, Trentadue continues to produce a number of different varietals including Viognier, Chardonnay, Zinfandel, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petite Sirah, and Sangiovese. They also produce several ports in addition to Chocolate Amore. Inside the tasting room they offer tastings of all of their wines. In the center of the tasting room is a U-shaped bar. It is a decent size, but the place was crowded when I visited toward the end of the day. There were a couple of servers behind the bar, but only one gentleman was really paying attention to all of the people surrounding the bar. The other woman was focused on something else and it took a few minutes before anyone noticed that we were waiting to be served. I decided to focus my attention on the ports since the chocolate port is what convinced me to visit in the first place. My husband agreed to share the port tasting with me even though he doesn’t typically like port. In hindsight, I wish I had tried some of the other wines as well. Sampling 4 ports in a row was a little too much for me.
For anyone interested in visiting the winery, this place does have more to offer outside of their tasting room. They host weddings and other events. The outdoor area provides views of the surrounding vineyards, mountains, shaded gardens, redwood trees, and expansive lawns. They also offer gondola tours through the vineyards.