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

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.