Marimar Estate
11400 Graton Road, Sebastopol, CA 95472
Website: http://marimarestate.com/
This winery is named after owner and winemaker Marimar Torres. She grew up in Barcelona Spain and has decades of experience with wine. As a member of the Torres family in Spain, she started her wine career traveling all over Spain promoting Torres wine, then expanded to North America. She moved to CA in 1975. She then became a well-known ambassador for Spanish wine in the US, despite the adversity she faced for being a woman. In 1986, Marimar started planning her first estate vineyard, Don Miguel (named after her father), in the Russian River Valley focusing on Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. The first Chardonnay was released in 1991 and the winery opened in 1992. On top of being an acclaimed wine ambassador, Marimar has written a couple of Spanish cookbooks – The Spanish Cookbook: The Cuisines and Wines of Spain and The Catalan Country Kitchen.
Dog sculptures at Marimar Estate
Marimar Estate is located in a quiet area of the Russian River Valley. The winery sits at the top of a steep hill. We drove past vineyards on the way up and a couple of huge sculptures of English Springer Spaniels representing her dogs. I found the sculptures very odd in comparison to the rest of the winery. It is a very peaceful setting. A paved walkway leads to the entrance along the side of the winery. There’s a fountain out front and a set of stairs with a gorgeous view of vineyard from the top of the steps. The winery is modeled after a Spanish farm house.
All of the wines come directly from the estate. The wines are certified organic, and Marimar is even taking it one step further in becoming biodynamic. This winery offers some unique tasting experiences. There’s a typical tasting at the bar, and other options include a seated tasting in dining room or patio, tapas and wine pairing, or vineyard tours. The tasting bar is rather small. It is truly like a tall coffee table with a granite top that accommodates 4 people standing side-by-side. There’s not much space for more. In contrast, to the left of the tasting room is a spacious dining room with windows from ceiling to floor, tiled floors, rustic chandeliers, and wooden tables and chairs. It felt like being in a Spanish home. On the side of the winery opposite the entrance there’s a cute patio with a couple of tables shaded by umbrellas that looks down on the vineyard in the front of the property.
Marimar Estate Dining Room
When we visited we were the only people there. They were cleaning up from a wine club paella dinner the night before. The tasting included a mix of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. I found the wines to have a lot of character. Several of them were unfiltered. They have an interesting wine club with a few different options to choose from. One of the best benefits of the wine club in my opinion is getting invitations to special events almost every month, like Flamenco Dinners and blending workshops that are hosted and catered by Marimar herself. One of our favorite wines was the 2010 Bonita’s Hill Chardonnay Don Miguel Vineyard. It is an unfiltered wine that I found to be creamy and smooth with some crispness. This is typically not on the normal tasting menu but there was an open bottle from the night before so our server gave us a special taste. I loved it and wanted to purchase it, but I was disappointed to find out that it was only available if we joined the wine club. Our host then tried pretty hard to sell us on the club, giving us a little tour. Don’t get me wrong, the wines and benefits of the club are really worth it if you can participate in the events. Unfortunately, since we live so far away it wasn’t likely that we could take advantage of it very often. We ended up leaving without any wine, but I would consider returning if I’m in the area again.