Estate at Saralee’s Vineyard:3575 Slusser Rd, Windsor, CA 95492

Website: https://www.lacrema.com/russian-river-estate-2/

La Crema has two locations in the Russian River Valley.  Their Estate at Saralee’s Vineyard provides a full wine country experience with private seated tastings, tours of the property, and picnic tables.  The second location is a tasting room in downtown Healdsburg with a much more casual, lounge type of vibe.  I’ve always considered La Crema to be a household name.  It’s one of the first wines I was introduced to, and I became a fan of their Pinot Noir and Chardonnay right away.  That’s what drew me into visiting.

It’s been a few years since my husband and I first visited the tasting room.  I was excited for it because I always liked their wines, and the in-person experience tends to make it even better!  The tasting room is right off the square in downtown Healdsburg.  It looks very modern inside with stark white walls and wide open space.  There’s a tasting bar near the front entrance and a second reserve tasting room in the back.  Since I was already familiar with the standard La Crema wines, I opted to do a reserve tasting.

The reserve room is set up like a lounge with a big L-shaped comfy couch in one corner.  There was a group of people there when we arrived, which is to be expected for a popular winery toward the end of the day.  My husband and I stood around for a bit trying to be patient.  Unfortunately no one acknowledged us for a while, and once we worked our way in to let the host know we wanted to do a tasting, we got minimal explanations of what was being poured.  Unfortunately I left feeling bummed about our mediocre experience.

I insisted on waiting to write about La Crema because I felt they needed a second chance.  This time I wanted to visit the estate.  It took a few years to arrange that, but now I feel like I’ve had the true experience.  My husband and I set up a private tasting at the Estate at Saralee’s Vineyard.  The estate is tucked away down some back roads.  The main tasting room looks like a lodge centered in the middle of a vineyard.  Out front were some people enjoying a beautiful day at some picnic tables.  A hostess greeted us as we approached the front entrance.  We were set up for a seated tasting on the back patio looking out over the vineyard.

To get to the patio, we walked through the sleek looking tasting room.  The front half had tiled floors and colorful paintings on the walls.  The ceilings were paneled in wood to give that lodge feel.  The space was expansive.  In one corner there were comfy chairs for individuals to lounge around.  Across the room was a counter for purchases.  Toward the back of the room where the patio was located, there was another stand-up tasting bar with people gathered around it, as well as additional high-top tables for indoor tastings.  There were lots of people there, but it didn’t feel crowded at all because it was so spacious.  The outside patio was covered to provide shade and there were several tables set up for groups of 2-4.  It was so serene.  We had a hostess who came directly to our table to pour 6 wines and educate us on the vineyards they came from.  We started off with a sparkling rosé and then tried two chardonnays and three pinot noirs.  These were single vineyard wines that are not mass produced and they were all lovely.  I was so much happier with this experience than the tasting room.  I’m glad I visited the estate.

I certainly don’t want to give a bad impression of the tasting room.  We happened to be there when they were busy and didn’t get the service we were looking for.  However, it’s still a nice place to check out when in downtown Healdsburg. If you are like me and really want the full winery experience, I would definitely recommend making the extra effort to make a reservation at the estate.