Author Archives: Cathy Gartley

Merry Edwards

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Merry Edwards Winery

Merry Edwards Winery

2959 Gravenstein Hwy N, Sebastopol, CA 95472

Website: http://merryedwards.com/

This winery is named after the founding female winemaker Merry Edwards, who is well-known for her Pinot Noir.  Her wines have won lots of awards and accolades in Wine Spectator and Wine Enthusiast magazines and is served in some top restaurants.  As of February 2019 the winery was sold to the Louis Roederer champagne house.

When Merry began her career, it was uncommon to have a woman winemaker in California.  She attended the first class at the University of California Davis that allowed women.  Merry started as a winemaker in 1974 at Mount Eden Vineyards in Santa Cruz.  She then moved on to be the winemaker at Matanzas Creek between 1977 – 1984, helping them start up the winery.  Between 1984-1997 she was a consultant for many wineries in Oregon and California.  Finally, in 1997 she founded Merry Edwards Winery with family and friends.  One of Merry Edwards’ biggest achievements in the wine industry is introducing the importance of clones to California winemakers.  Merry celebrated over 45 years as a winemaker.  She’s been inducted into the Vintners Hall of Fame and is 1 of 4 women awarded the James Beard for Best Wine, Beer, and Spririts Professional in the United States.

The tasting room that exists today opened in 2008 in Sebastopol in the Russian River Valley.  The winery focuses on single-vineyard designate wines, primarily Pinot Noir.  They also produce a Sauvignon Blanc and a Chardonnay.  The tasting room is open to the public daily for casual tastings.  This winery opens at 9:30 a.m. before most other wineries.  Being from the east coast and having to adjust to a three-hour time difference whenever we go to California, 9:30 a.m. isn’t all that early to us.  We took advantage of that and had the tasting room to ourselves.  Visitors who want a more in-depth tasting experience can call the winery to make a reservation.  Our casual tasting included a sample of 4 wines – 3 Pinot Noirs and the Sauvignon Blanc.

Merry Edwards outdoor seating area

Merry Edwards outdoor seating area

This winery is located in a quiet place in Sebastopol.  It’s situated right along a vineyard called Coopersmith, named after Merry’s husband Ken Coopersmith.  As we pulled into the driveway, the vineyard was straight ahead of us and the winery and fermentation tanks were directly to left of the parking lot.  A walkway leads from the parking area to the front of the winery.  We were greeted by a winery cat sitting on a sign pointing us in the direction we needed to go.  Out front of the winery there is a rock wall that separates a peaceful seating area from the vineyard.  There are some wooden park benches shaded by umbrellas with a rock fountain in center, and plants and flowers all around.  It felt like we were walking up to someone’s home.

Inside the tasting room is very moderate.  The walls and tile floors are a tannish color that blends in with the light-colored wood paneling.  We weren’t expecting or looking for anything real fancy since we were there to focus on the wine.

Merry Edwards Tasting Room

Merry Edwards Tasting Room

My husband and I were greeted as we walked in and led to a little tasting area off to the right with a small table for our tasting.  My husband and I stood on one side while our server was on the other.  Our server explained that the Pinot Noirs he was pouring for us were released very recently.  Each one was from a different vineyard or area.  I found each one to have a lot of fruit, but I felt that they might have been too young because they seemed too tannic to me.  Given everything I’ve read about the Pinot Noirs, I assume that the wines would age well over time and the tannin would smooth out, but they weren’t the type of wines I would purchase to drink right away.  However, we absolutely loved the Sauvignon Blanc and took some home with us.  The Sauvignon Blanc is fermented in oak and has lots of fruit flavors.  I found it quite refreshing.

If you are in the Sebastopol area and like Pinot Noir, I’d make it a point to stop into this winery.  The wineries more than forty years of dedication to wine-making and viticulture is apparent in the wines.

Rodney Strong Vineyards

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Rodney Strong Visitors Center

Rodney Strong Visitors Center

11455 Old Redwood Hwy, Healdsburg, CA 95448

Website: http://www.rodneystrong.com/

There is an interesting history to Rodney Strong Vineyards.  The winery is named for founder Rodney Strong who was a professional dancer before becoming a winemaker.  He retired from dance in 1959 at the age of 32 and began experimenting with blending bulk wine in his own home.  In 1962 he went on to purchase an old vineyard and winery building and took classes where he learned how to make his first wines.  In 1970, Rodney Strong built a new winery near a vineyard that was planted by Sonoma settlers in 1904.  Rodney Strong was a pioneer in Sonoma Valley introducing the first single vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon in 1974.  He also was instrumental in establishing Alexander Valley, Russian River Valley, and Chalk Hill as individual American Viticultural Areas (AVAs).  The winery that Rodney Strong built houses the current tasting room and lower cellar.  The winery was sold to the Klein family in 1989 and they continue to run the winery today.  

 

Vineyards at Rodney Strong in the Russian River Valley

Vineyards at Rodney Strong in the Russian River Valley

Rodney Strong is located in the Russian River Valley approximately three miles south of Healdsburg on Old Redwood Highway.  I would describe the winery as old world meets new world.  The winery itself is very modern, but looking around at the surrounding vineyards I got a sense of the agricultural history of the area.  The neatly manicured bushes, fountains, and stone steps leading to the entrance of the winery look contemporary without seeming too pretentious. 

Visitors enter the stone winery building on the second floor where the tasting room is located.  All along the outside walls of the tasting room is a walkway and down below is an open cellar with fermentation tanks.  Visitors are encouraged to take a self-guided tour by following the walkway and reading about the history of the winery from the placards on the walls.  There are more structured tours available twice a day.  The tasting room is rather large and spacious with a wide U-shaped bar in the center.  The rest of the tasting room resembles a library with wooden shelves lining the walls and small tables scattered about filled with various books, food products, and wine accessories.  It has a cozy feel to it. 

I have visited the Rodney Strong tasting room on two separate occasions.  The first time I visited was a little busy but there was plenty of room to step right up to the bar when I arrived.  It was busier the second time I visited and there were no open spaces at the bar.  The annoying part was that my friend Denise and I had to stand around for 15 minutes or longer waiting for a group of four to leave who were spending more time chatting with each other than actually sampling the wine.  They didn’t even acknowledge the fact that there were people waiting to get a spot at the bar.  Both times that I visited I found the staff to be friendly and they did a good job with providing descriptions of each of the wines.  However, they weren’t too sociable outside of that unless they were trying to convince us to join the wine club. 

Overall, I enjoyed the winery and self-guided tour.  They have some high quality wines that are definitely worth the stop.  Their specialty is Cabernet Sauvignon and they make several different ones.  They also have good Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.  There are a lot of wines to choose from that vary in intensity.  The price of the non-Reserve wines were very reasonable ranging from $10 to $25 at the time I visited.  The Reserve wines are a bit pricey, some costing over $100 a bottle.  This is a place where it is worth spending a little more money on a Reserve tasting to sample some of the pricier wines.  My personal favorites were the 2008 Estate Chardonnay Chalk Hill and the very smooth 2006 Brothers Ridge Vineyard Single Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon.  A True Gentleman’s Port is also worth a try for those who like sweet wine.

Hall Winery St. Helena

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Hall Tasting Room St. Helena

Hall Tasting Room St. Helena

401 St. Helena Hwy, St. Helena, CA

Website: http://www.hallwines.com/

In relation to many of the other wineries in Napa Valley, Hall is one of the newcomers.  Craig and Kathryn Hall opened the state-of-the art facility in 2005.  Although, the property itself has a history that dates back to 1885 and was formerly the site of the Napa Valley Co-op, one of the primary winemaking facilities in Napa in the last century.  The St. Helena winery is located right off of Highway 29 and is open for drop-in tastings.  There is a second Hall winery in Rutherford that offers a more elegant tasting experience by reservation only.  The Rutherford winery includes 14,000 feet of caves built by hand and showcases select works from the Halls’ art collections.

Everything about Hall Winery from the owners, to the facilities, to the wine screams out “high society”.    Owners Craig and Kathryn have very impressive business backgrounds.  Some of the most notable achievements in Craig’s career were being part owner of the Dallas Cowboys; forming one of the first stock savings and loans in Michigan; founding one of the first for-profit HMOs in the country; and participating, along with Time, Inc., in growing the nation’s largest chain of health and sports clubs. He has also written 5 books.  Kathryn and her family (the Walt family) have been grape growers in Mendocino County since 1972.  However, probably the most highly acclaimed period of her career was serving as the United States Ambassador to Austria from 1997 to July 2001.  The Halls carried over their prestige and passion for wine to their 2 ultra-premium winemaking facilities.  This winery is dedicated to making single vineyard and limited production wines.  In 2008, the St. Helena facility became the first winery in California to become LEED Gold Certified by The U.S. Green Building Council.  LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, which means that the winery has taken various measures to be environmentally friendly.  Their website provides details into how they have achieved this certification.  The Halls own more than 500 acres of estate vineyards that produce Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Sauvignon Blanc.  All of these factors combined make Hall a “high end” winery which is also reflected in the price of their wines.

 

Artwork outside Hall Winery St. Helena

Artwork outside Hall Winery St. Helena

What I found most alluring about Hall Winery in St. Helena is its art collection.  From the moment my husband and I pulled off of highway 29 into the winery we were greeted by artwork.  On each side of the entryway are large butterflies atop poles.  As we drove toward the end of the driveway and turned into the parking lot, there were a couple more unique, large red metal sculptures.  There is additional artwork strewn throughout the outdoor seating areas, and even the topiaries at the front entrance look like art.  There is a red theme to all of the art.  Inside, the tasting room looks rather modest at first glance, as the walls, ceiling and floor are all wood.  Across from the entryway is an L-shaped tasting bar, also made of wood. 

Glass bulbs hanging from the ceiling of the tasting room at Hall St. Helena

Glass bulbs hanging from the ceiling of the tasting room at Hall St. Helena

 

The most eye-catching part of the room is all of the tear-dropped shaped glass bulbs hanging from the ceiling.  Visitors have the option of stepping up to the bar for a tasting, moseying around the tasting room, or going to the outdoor seating area.  The place was rather crowded when we visited but we were able to get a spot at the tasting bar.  Our server was courteous and took the time to explain each wine as he was pouring for us, even though he was busy keeping up with everyone else there as well.  Unfortunately the other server next to us wasn’t as courteous.  As I was sipping my wine and listening to all of the chatter around me I overheard a customer ask for a recommendation for other wineries in the area to visit and the server told her to avoid the winery across the street.  I found that to be rather unprofessional. 

Prior to coming to the winery, I was aware that their wines have been given high scores by Wine Enthusiast.  Of the four Napa Valley Collection wines that I tried, I enjoyed the 2007 Hall “Darwin” Proprietary Red the most because it was smooth and had a rich berry flavor.  The one issue I had with the winery is the price of their wines.  The red wines range from $55 to over $200 a bottle.  Although I liked the wines, I wasn’t won over enough to pay that much for a bottle. 

Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad I took the time to visit this winery.  I would recommend it for anyone who has a fondness for art.  The outdoor seating areas are really nice for taking a break and socializing on a sunny day.  It is also a great opportunity to sample a few premium wines that you may not want to take the risk of buying on your own.  For guests who are interested in learning more about the LEED Gold certified state of the art facility, Hall St. Helena offers tours and other private experiences.  Check their website for details. 

Outside seated tastings at Hall Winery St. Helena

Outside seated tastings at Hall Winery St. Helena