Winter Wineland

This weekend is the Winter Wineland on the Wine Road. Two-days of wine tasting, some with food pairings and all with great deals on their wines. For $52.38, you got a wine glass and access to over 100 wineries on the Wine Road. The designated driver got the cutest red mug.

We started at Skewis Wines, located at 57 Front Street in Healdsburg. They had some nice Pinots; my favorite was the Wiley Vineyard for $50/bottle. It had a nice touch of spiciness.

Next stop was Portalupi at 107 North Street in downtown Healdsburg. They had a nice Zin and Barbera and paired them with prosciutto and salames.

thumbprint (yes, it's a small case "t") Cellars at 102 Matheson Street was having a Mac Off. Earth's Bounty, Belly & Bistro 100 each offered a mac & cheese. My favorite was Earth's Bounty.

The Earth's Bounty (on the left) had Applewood bacon, caramelized onion & truffle essence. Belly's (in the middle) had Applewood bacon, Mexican and Spanish chorizo. Bistro 100 had goat gouda and black truffle.

Our next stop was Silver Oak at 24625 Chianti Road in Geyserville. They were pouring their 2011 Alexander Valley Cabernet, paired with Waygu beef & blue cheese pizza. The pizza was excellent but it was hard to justify $70 for their Cabernet. Maybe if it aged a few more years.

Nearby was J. Rikards, 24505 Chianti Road. They paired lobster bisque with a delicious Grenache Blanc.

Zichichi Family Vineyard at 8626 W. Dry Creek Road had barrel tastings of their Zins and a Petite Sirah.

Chateau Diana was our next stop at 6195 Dry Creek Road. I tried their prosecco but the tasting room was too crowded to get any other tasting.

Nearby was Truett Hurst (5610 Dry Creek Road) which was also crowded but had better flow. They offered a 2012 Bradford Mountain Red Field Blend (Zinfandel, Petite Sirah and Syrah) that was very tasty. A case cost $156. They also had an unoaked Chardonnay in a square bottle for $10.

Truett Hurst offered Jimtown Store's Caponata with Bellweather Farms fresh cow's milk ricotta on crostini and Romesco sauce on handout corn tortilla chip. 

Mounts Family Winery was a our next stop. It was quite a distance, located at 3901 Wine Creek Road. I liked their 2012 Carignane Rebottaro Vineyard, Pine Mountain, Mendocino. It was $28.

Mounts paired their wine with polenta with tomato sauce.

Our final stop of the day was De La Montanya, 999 Foreman Lane. They had a nice Pinot Noir for $22/bottle and barrel tasting of their 2014 Malbec and 2015 "1776" Zinfandel. It has over 17% alcohol.



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