Author Archives: Cathy Gartley

VJB Vineyards and Cellars

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VJB Cellars

VJB Cellars

60 Shaw Ave, Kenwood, CA 95452

Website: http://vjbcellars.com/

I always enjoy visiting the lesser known wineries because I often find pleasant surprises. It is tempting to be drawn in by the more popular wineries, but I encourage anyone planning a trip to wine country to try to fit in some stops to places you haven’t heard of before and I bet you’ll encounter something you enjoy. VJB Cellars is one of those places I hadn’t heard a lot about before visiting but I am very happy to have discovered it. It is located in the Kenwood area along Sonoma Highway. The parking area is located in the back of the winery. To the left of the parking lot is a white stone building where the VJB Cellars Barrel Room is located. The winery itself looks like an Italian villa. There is a wooden fence off the parking lot that leads into a courtyard with an outdoor pizza oven and dining tables. Across the courtyard is the entrance to La Cucina (the Italian marketplace) and tasting room.

VJB's piazza

VJB’s piazza

This winery has a lot more to offer than I was expecting. I anticipated that it would be a small tasting room like some of the others down the street, but it was a lot more than that. I would liken this winery to V. Sattui in Napa Valley because of its Italian heritage and marketplace, but on a much smaller scale. I felt that there was more of a family atmosphere here.  Also, the staff was incredibly friendly.  We were greeted by the wine club director as soon as we walked through the gate and he gave us a brief description of the set-up of the winery. He offered to take a group picture of me, my husband, and my sister and guided us to the tasting room.

The idea for the winery was started in the 1990s by two brothers, Henry and Victor Belmonte. At the time their father Vittorio owned a successful restaurant in Santa Rose called Caffe Portofino.  They grew up in an Italian family and experienced winemaking with their father and uncles at a young age. They wanted to make their own wines for the restaurant and had their first harvest in 1999.  Sadly Victor passed away unexpectedly before the wine was bottled, but Henry and his parents wanted to carry on with the winery in his memory and named the winery after him.  The winery opened its tasting room in 2003 and Maria Belmonte, their mother, is the winery’s Executive Chef who creates the homemade food in La Cucina.

VJB's cucina

VJB’s cucina

This winery is more like a deli or bistro than a tasting room. Guests can choose to stop at the indoor marketplace for a panini, pizza, or other Italian snack. They can take it with them or eat at the outdoor patio. There is also an option to skip the food altogether and head straight to the tasting bar, but I wouldn’t recommend that because the food is delicious! There are also homemade sauces and olive oil for sale. It is a good idea to plan a visit here around lunch time or for an afternoon snack.

VJB's tasting bar

VJB’s tasting bar

The tasting room is located on the other side of the marketplace and has a cozy feel to it. There is a long wooden tasting bar with marble counter top on the right side of the room and large leather armchairs set in front of a fireplace on the opposite side. There are many Italian style wines to choose from on the tasting menu, including a Prosecco that is made in Italy specifically for the winery. We ate our paninis while sampling the wine and were pleasantly surprised by the wine. My personal favorites were the Prosecco, Rosso Family Blend, and Sonoma Valley Primitivo. My husband and I so thoroughly enjoyed this winery that we plan to become frequent visitors when we make our return trips to Sonoma.

 

Quintessa

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Entrance to Quintessa

Entrance to Quintessa

1601 Silverado Trail S, St Helena, CA 94574

Website: https://www.quintessa.com/

I first heard about Quintessa while on another winery tour.  My husband who is very social was having a conversation with three other people on the tour and the conversation turned to “what is your favorite winery?”  They raved about Quintessa.  I went back home and did some research online before setting up a visit.  This winery is only open to visitors by prior reservation.  As I was looking up information on Quintessa I learned that there’s an interesting history to the property.

A view of Rutherford from Quintessa vineyards

A view of Rutherford from Quintessa vineyards

The entire Quintessa property is 280 acres located in the famed Rutherford viticultural area.  The estate encompasses a valley, a lake, a river, five hills, and five microclimates.  The property was originally purchased in the 1940s by a man named George Markidian, a high profile restaurateur.  He declared that the destiny of the property was to become a premium wine estate, but unfortunately he died in the 1980s before he saw it come to fruition.  After Markidian passed away there were a number of prestigious vintners who tried purchasing the property from his family, but none of them were successful until 1990 when Valeria Huneeus recognized the same potential for the estate as George and shared her vision with the family.  The winery is now owned by Agustin Huneeus and his wife Valeria.  As indicated on their website, they named the winery Quintessa as a representation “of the five dramatic hills and five distinct microclimates included in the property’s diverse geography unique in the Napa Valley and the belief they held that this property was destined to be the quintessential wine estate”.

Agustin Huneeus originates from Chile where he used to be the CEO of Concho y Toro.  He helped Concho y Toro to become Chile’s largest winery.  Agustin left his home country in 1971 due to political strife.  Once in the United States he became responsible for wineries in 7 countries as head of Seagram’s worldwide operations.  He then went on to found Noble Vineyards in1977, which later acquired Concannon in Livermore Valley, CA.  Agustin next became partner and acting president of Franciscan Estate in 1985 and built it into a successful group of premium wine estates.  He sold his share in 1999 and started Quintessa with his wife Valeria.

Quintessa makes one red Meritage wine.  It’s a Bordeaux blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, and Carmenère.   Like a classic Bordeaux, these wines can age at least 15-20 years.  The winery also has a limited production Sauvignon Blanc called Illumination.

The lobby at Quintessa Winery

The lobby at Quintessa Winery

The only way to get to sample Quintessa wines is to set up a reservation for the winery tour.  It is recommended that reservations are made well in advance.  For $75 per person, the 90 minute tour includes a vertical of three Quintessa vintages.  It is totally worth it in my opinion to try three of their world class wines for less than the cost of a bottle.  It’s a great experience even without the wine.

The winery itself is a sight to see.   The exterior is a large stone structure built into a hill.  At the start of the tour, Marcelo our tour guide took us outside to what looked like a large cement slab where the crush occurs during harvest.  He explained that this is a gravity flow winery and we were actually standing on top of the fermentation cellar.  Once grapes are harvested and sorted they are gravity fed to fermentation tanks, eliminating the need to mechanically handle the grapes via pumping or some other means.

Fermentation area at Quintessa

Fermentation area at Quintessa

After talking about how the grapes are harvested, we explored the fermentation area, lab, and caves.  After getting a tour of the inside of the winery, Marcelo told us to jump into his SUV and drove us up to the top of the hill looking out at spectacular views of Rutherford.  There is a picnic area atop the hill.  Marcelo talked about the estate and different soil types.  We learned how the different cover crops are selected to supplement any lack of nutrients in the soil.  After snapping some gorgeous pictures, we got back into his SUV and drove around the property, by the pond, and back to the tasting room.  To wrap up our visit we were led to a closed off tasting salon to sample the wine.  Marcelo did a great job of making us feel like special guests.  We sampled the excellent wines with some cheeses that were provided and did not feel rushed during any point of our tour.  This was truly one of the best tours I have been on.

The rock wall at Quintessa

The rock wall at Quintessa

Preston Vineyards

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Preston Vineyards

Preston Vineyards

9282 W Dry Creek Rd, Healdsburg, CA 95448

Website: https://www.prestonvineyards.com/

Welcome sign to Preston Vineyards

Welcome sign to Preston Vineyards

Preston Vineyards is a hidden gem in Dry Creek Valley. While visiting Ferrari-Carano, my friend Denise asked our server for a recommendation of other wineries in the area to visit and she recommended Bella Vineyards and Preston Vineyards. We drove by the sign to Preston on the way to Bella Vineyards and weren’t sure about the place because all we saw was a small yellow building next to the sign that looked like someone’s house and we questioned where the tasting room would be. Then the staff at Bella Vineyards also recommended Preston to us, so we decided to stop in on the way back through. As we pulled up closer to the sign, we noticed the arrow pointing to the path to the winery ½ mile down the road. We drove along the road past the vineyard until we came upon the winery and tasting room. I didn’t expect there to be a lot of people at the winery but the parking lot was almost full.

Picnic area at Preston Vineyards

Picnic area at Preston Vineyards

The winery building is modeled after the historic Trefethen Winery in Napa Valley. It is immediately obvious that the Prestons are environmentalists from the solar panels on the roof. Outside the front of the winery is a large open picnic area and bocce ball courts. The very friendly family cats roam around greeting visitors. Although the side of the winery building facing the parking lot does resemble Trefethen Winery, the front of the building and tasting room are much more like a family residence. There is a large farmer’s porch out front and inside the tasting room is simple with a small white tasting bar and a chalk board with the day’s tasting menu.

Preston Vineyards tasting room

Preston Vineyards tasting room

Preston is not only a winery. It is a full-fledged organic farm. Their farm fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts, and eggs are available at the onsite farmer’s market right outside the front doors to the tasting room. Inside the tasting room, visitors can also purchase homemade sourdough bread, estate grown and pressed olive oil, and cured olives. The bread and olive oil is available for sampling. According to the locals, people flock to the winery for Lou’s fresh sourdough bread. Another reason why locals come to this winery is for the jug wine. The jug wine is a red table wine made up mostly of Zinfandel, and also some Cinsault, Carignane, and Mourvѐdre. On Sundays, individuals can bring in their jugs for a refill. It just so happened that I visited on a Sunday and was able to sample some of the jug wine. It certainly wasn’t a premium wine, but it was a totally unique experience for me. Aside from the farmer’s market and jug wine, Preston is also one of a kind because of the types of wines it produces. Their wine selection includes less common varietals like Rousanne, Barbera, and a red blend of Syrah, Cinsault, Mourvѐdre, Carignane, and Grenache. They were also the first local growers of Syrah and Petite Sirah. The only downside for me was at the time I visited the said that they don’t ship their wines to New Hampshire.

I am very happy that the winery was recommended to us and that we chose to stop in. I’m also happy that we were lucky enough to visit on a Sunday and had the opportunity to try the jug wine. This winery has a lot to offer that guests won’t find anywhere else.