Ledson Winery and Vineyards
7335 Hwy 12, Kenwood, CA 95409
Website: http://www.ledson.com/
Ledson is located just up the road from Kenwood, Chateau St. Jean, and St. Francis. I was drawn in by the castle that stands out from the surrounding wineries. A castle like Ledson is an anomaly in Sonoma Valley. Owner Steve Ledson started building the castle in 1989 with the fortune he had accumulated from his own Ledson Construction business. The castle was meant to be a family residence. However, the 16,000 square foot Gothic, French Normandy style structure with turrets, balconies, and fountains drew in so much attention from people passing by that Steve decided to transform the house into a winery and tasting room.
The property is certainly beautiful and it is obvious that no expense was spared on the fine details. The winery hosts weddings on the property which I’m certain would be an extraordinary event. I almost felt out of place walking inside to the tasting room in my casual clothes. Yet, the staff was welcoming when we first arrived. Our tasting experience started out well. We had a younger guy serving us who was probably in his late 20s or early 30s (not that I think his age matters). My husband and I were the first guests of the day and our server was more than happy to give us a detailed explanation of each of the wines and make small talk while we sampled them. All of the wines are sold exclusively through the winery. I found the wines to be good, but I wasn’t blown away by them. Most of the white wines ranged from $25 – $40 in price, while the reds were a bit more expensive. Toward the end of our tasting, our server started trying to sell us on the wine club. I wasn’t taken aback by this at first because almost all wineries will offer their wine club. However, after my husband said we weren’t interested our server continued to push the wine club and tried to convince us to purchase some wine to the point that he made us feel uncomfortable. We paid our tasting fee and left feeling awkward.
Unfortunately the showy castle turned out to be the best part of our tasting experience and we left with a negative impression. Hopefully other people who visit this place will have a less pushy server. Still I think this winery is just too prestigious for my taste.