Author Archives: Cathy Gartley

Clif Family Winery – Velo Vino Tasting Room

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Clif Family Winery Velo Vino

Clif Family Winery Velo Vino

709 Main St, St Helena, CA 94574

Website: https://www.cliffamily.com/

Clif Family winery is owned by Gary Erickson and Kit Crawford who are also the owners of the company Clif Bar.  Both grew up with a passion for food.  Gary picked up his love for wine while cycling through Europe.  Kit became interested in wine while working in an artisan pasta, cheese, and wine shop in San Francisco.  They expanded their interest in wine after purchasing a home and farm in Napa Valley.  They are avid cyclists, environmentalists, and foodies.  All of those attributes are reflected in the winery and tasting room.  The tasting room in downtown St. Helena is called Velo Vino, which loosely translates to “bike and wine”.

Velo Vino Wine Tasting and Espresso Bar

Velo Vino Wine Tasting and Espresso Bar

I generally have a preconceived notion of downtown tasting rooms as a small space with people standing around a tasting bar, maybe a few seats here and there, and not a lot to see and do.  That is definitely not the case here.  Velo Vino tasting room is like a café or coffee shop with a bicycling theme.  Throughout the tasting room there is bicycling memorabilia and above the tasting bar there was a TV playing a video describing Gary’s and Kit’s love for bicycling.  There are several tables inside the tasting room as well as some stools around the L-shaped wine and espresso bar.  Outside of the tasting room is a garden patio and a Clif Family food truck that serves Italian-style snacks.  For sale in the tasting room are some Clif Family Kitchen foods like savory nut mixes, Dukkah spice blends, dark chocolates, seasonal preserves, extra virgin olive oil and wine vinegars.  Gary and Kit are very focused on sustainability and source a lot of their food from their own farm.

My husband and I sat at the bar for our wine tasting.  Our very friendly hostess, Candace, explained the tasting options and asked us if we wanted to “Yellow Jersey” it.  Yellow Jersey is a cycling reference to the shirt that is awarded to the leader after each stage of the Tour de France.  With regards to the tasting, this meant adding some small bites to pair with the wines.  We went for it.  The wines here are very reasonably priced.  The Howell Mountain wines are more pricey but on par with other wines from the same area.  I enjoyed the reds more than the whites, in particular The Climber Limited Release and Kit’s Killer Cab.  The price for the wine and small bite pairing was very acceptable.  Besides their traditional tasting, the winery offers an estate tasting experience atop Howell Mountain. For bicycling fans, they also offer bicycle rental packages and will help customize a bike route.

I had a very nice, relaxing time at this tasting room.  The wines are good and the atmosphere pleasant.  For what seems like a small place, they have a lot of options.  I recommend this as a good hang out place for an afternoon snack.

Velo Vino Outdoor Patio

Velo Vino Outdoor Patio

Bremer Family Winery

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Bremer Family Winery

Bremer Family Winery

975 Deer Park Rd, Saint Helene, CA 94574

Website: https://bremerfamilywinery.com/

Bremer Family winery is an old school winery on Howell Mountain overlooking Deer Creek.  The original winery was built in 1891. At the time, the land was purchased by a Swiss couple named Emile and Mary Sutter Leuenberger for $987.  Mary’s brothers built the original stone building and cellar.  The Leuenbergers and Sutters sold the property in 1909 to open a larger facility on Highway 29 now known as Sutter Home Winery.  The property became abandoned during Prohibition and then was bought by an Irish emigrant in 1922 for $10 in gold coin. The farm house that is still there today was built in 1922.  The winery continued to change hands a couple other times until the Bremers purchased it in the 21st century and released their first wine in October 2003.  Today the Bremer family owns 68 acres of vineyards with over 50 of them on Howell Mountain.  

 

An antique truck at Bremer Family Winery

An antique truck at Bremer Family Winery

As we drove down the gravel road to the winery we were surrounded by rows of trees with pretty pink blossoms.  We drove past the historic farm house and a car port with an antique truck loaded with oak barrels.  This winery only offers tastings by appointment which is common for a lot of the mountain wineries.  On nice days they will do tastings outside at picnic tables shaded by oak trees.  It is such a peaceful setting.  Our host was very gracious.  He walked back and forth between the picnic tables pouring wine and talking about the history of the property and wines.  The tasting was very casual.  In addition to the outdoor tasting, there are a couple of indoor tasting rooms.  If you select to sit outside like we did, you might get a visit from the friendly winery dog. 

 

Outdoor tasting at Bremer Family Winery

Outdoor tasting at Bremer Family Winery

The Bremers’ wines are definitely not old fashioned.  They make high-end Bordeaux style wines with a focus on Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Cabernet Franc.  They also produce Zinfandel, Chardonnay, Port and a couple of red blends.  Their Claret is an ode to a French red blend of four varietals.  One of their red blends is named Austintatious after their son.  I thought the Cabernet Sauvignons were lovely.  I also enjoyed the Claret and Zinfandel and took a few bottles home with me.  I really appreciated the wines, atmosphere, and tasting experience.

Hawley Tasting Room

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Hawley Tasting Room and Gallery in downtown Healdsburg

Hawley Tasting Room and Gallery in downtown Healdsburg

 

36 North St, Healdsburg, CA 95448

Website: https://hawleywine.com/

I visited the Hawley tasting room in downtown Healdsburg upon a recommendation from our tour guide at Bella Winery.  I believe in the adage to “always trust the locals”.  Hawley Vineyards and Winery is actually located in Dry Creek Valley.  The property sits 1000 ft. above sea level on Bradford Mountain. Ten acres of the estate are planted to Merlot, Cabernet, Cabernet Franc, Zinfandel, Petite Sirah and Viognier. This winery is owned by John and Dana Hawley who moved onto the property in 1975.  The vineyard at the time was rundown.  John tried to produce wine from the vines with not much success.  He ended up tearing them out and starting over. Between 1990 and 1996 John worked as chief winemaker for Kendall Jackson.  The Merlot from his property was the core of Kendall Jackson’s reserve program.  John produced the first vintage under the Hawley label in 1995.  The winery became certified organic in 2006.

 

Hawley Tasting Room

Hawley Tasting Roomn

The tasting room and gallery is located off a side street in downtown Healdsburg.  The tasting room is modest with artwork by Dana Hawley and wine barrel furniture built by their son Austin. The tasting experience was reasonably priced, offering a taste of 4 wines for $10 or all 9 wines for $20.  The tasting room has a rustic, cozy feel.  The space isn’t incredibly large, but there is enough seating for a few groups of people at a time.  I thought the tasting bar made from barrel staves was pretty cool.  In the center of the space were some stools and a wooden table.  There was also a wooden park bench and a couple of comfy leather chairs. There were also a few wine barrel Adirondack chairs outside the front door of the tasting room for those who prefer to hang outside. Dana’s artwork was displayed on the walls.  Both the artwork and some of the furniture were available for purchase.  The estate is not open to the public, but they do offer vineyard tours and experiences by reservation, such as a blending class or picnic.

I really enjoyed all of the wines. My husband and I sampled their flagship Viogner with lovely citrus flavors, a delightfully light Chardonnay, a fruity Pinot Nori, and a jammy Zinfandel.  We took some home with us and left feeling grateful for the recommendation to visit.