Dry Creek Valley, Geyserville & the Russian River Valley
Today was Kim’s birthday, so the whole day was built around celebrating her.
Ferrari-Carano
Our first stop was an 11:00 tasting at Ferrari-Carano. I’d gone back and forth about booking this one, because it was the Fontana Pergola tasting, set outside, and I wasn’t sure how hot it would be sitting out in the sun. Once we got to California and felt how low the humidity was and how reasonable the temperatures were, I went ahead and reserved it. Good call. Everyone was blown away by the gardens.
Ferrari-Carano was founded in 1981 by Don and Rhonda Carano, who named it after Don’s grandmother, Amelia Ferrari. The gardens here are almost as famous as the wine. Rhonda started planting them in the late 1980s, five acres of them, and the Fontana Pergolas sit behind the Villa Fiore among hundred-year-old olive trees next to a fountain. The estate has been owned by Bill and Carol Foley since 2019.
We’d been here three years ago, and things have changed. There used to be outdoor seating where we tasted last time, and that’s gone now, but they’ve rearranged everything and it’s still beautiful.
Our host was named Victor, and we really, really liked him.
He made it personal and taught us a lot, and we loved every single wine he poured.
This is where we started keeping our own ratings, on a scale of five. The Prevail Looking Glass was the one nobody argued about, straight fives across all six of us, and the Back 40 was right behind it. Here’s how the flight scored, on a scale of five:
- Sauvignon Blanc: Carrie 4, Tim 4, Kim 4, Jay 4, Bob 4, Barb 4
- Viognier: Carrie 4, Tim 4, Kim 4, Jay 4, Bob 4, Barb 4
- Sangiovese: Carrie 4, Tim 4, Kim 4, Jay 4, Bob 5, Barb 4
- Prevail West Face: Carrie 5, Tim 4, Kim 4, Jay 5, Bob 4, Barb 5
- Prevail Looking Glass: Carrie 5, Tim 5, Kim 5, Jay 5, Bob 5, Barb 5
- Prevail Back 40: Carrie 5, Tim 5, Kim 5, Jay 5, Bob 4, Barb 5
Order again: the three Prevail reds, hands down. Looking Glass first, since all six of us gave it a 5, then the Back 40 and the West Face. The Sangiovese, Sauvignon Blanc, and Viognier are dependable 4s worth keeping around too. Barb likes a lighter pour, so the whites and the more polished Prevails suit her better than anything heavy.
Jay was so excited about the wines that he joined the wine club right there, and the moment he did, Vincent slipped the Back 40 in at the very end. That’s one of the perks of joining. They always sneak in something extra to try that you can only get at the winery.
On the way out to the parking lot, we walked through their formal gardens. There’s a cork tree, the kind cork is actually harvested from, and a little footbridge over the stream. I don’t know the official name for any of it, but you can tell it’s been there for years.
Experiences like this are lovely, and a real investment of both time and money. What you get back is the education, the unhurried pace, and some genuinely delicious wines, and you can ask for a charcuterie board or add other things to round it out. We highly recommend them. We tried to keep it to no more than two tastings a day, and honestly one as lovely as this is plenty.
One I’d totally recommend is their pasta and wine pairing, the Pranzo Della Casa. It was capped at four people, so they couldn’t fit our group of six this time, but they’re looking to open those up to six, so we can do it when we come back. And we will, because this is the place we keep returning to. Two thumbs up.
Catelli’s
From Ferrari-Carano we drove over to Catelli’s in Geyserville for lunch, which gave us a nice break before the second winery. Catelli’s is a family-run Italian place, and I mean really family-run. It was opened back in 1936 by Santi and Virginia Catelli, and today it’s run by their grandchildren, Domenica, who is the chef, and her brother Nicholas. It was exactly the European-style, take-your-time lunch we wanted. I had the lasagna and a fresh salad, and split a dessert with Kim. After our trip to Italy, it tasted authentic, and it was so good. Two thumbs up!
J Vineyards
Our second tasting was at J Vineyards, back down in the Russian River Valley. It was fun to drive past our hotel to get there. J was founded in 1986 by Judy Jordan, daughter of the Jordan Winery family, and she built it into one of California’s best-known sparkling houses in the cool, foggy Russian River Valley. The grounds were beautiful walking in and walking out, the big J initial out front, a nice vibe to the place. It had so much potential.
We’d been told to try their Bubble Room, which is their signature five-course food and wine pairing. Word on the street is that it’s very popular and worth scheduling well ahead, and the catch for us was that they could only seat up to four, so getting a group of six in is a challenge. It was sold out anyway, and honestly I don’t think that style would have been what we were looking for, so we did the tasting room instead.
Here’s the thing. We’d loved the complex reds at Ferrari-Carano so much, so intensely, that when we sat down to Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs we realized those just aren’t the wines we go for. J’s whole reputation is cool-climate Chardonnay and Pinot, so it wasn’t them, it was us. One of the Chardonnays tasted like banana bread, and the Pinots felt thin after the reds we’d had that morning.
Even the most complex red they poured was a Pinot Noir, and it was just too light. Our guide was named Brendan, like Brendan Fraser, and he was genuinely nice, so none of this was his fault. We just did not care for that style of grape. Our energy was low, and you can see it right in the numbers. Nothing reached a five, Jay gave the Cuvée XB bubbles a one, and Tim did the same to the Chardonnay. Foggy Bend came out the best of the bunch, and that was about as far as our enthusiasm went.
- Cuvée XB (sparkling): Carrie 3, Tim 3, Kim 3, Jay 1, Bob 3, Barb 3
- Pinot Gris: Carrie 2, Tim 3, Kim 3, Jay 2, Bob 3, Barb 3
- Chardonnay: Carrie 3, Tim 1, Kim 3, Jay 2, Bob 2, Barb 2
- Canfield Pinot (Russian River): Carrie 3, Tim 2, Kim 4, Jay 3, Bob 4, Barb 3
- Annapolis Ridge (Sonoma): Carrie 4, Tim 3, Kim 3, Jay 3, Bob 4, Barb 3
- Foggy Bend: Carrie 4, Tim 4, Kim 4, Jay 3, Bob 3, Barb 4
Order again: nothing, if we’re honest. Nothing here reached a 5, and the Chardonnay and the Cuvée XB bubbles were our low points. Just not our style.
We politely finished up and headed back to the hotel.
Back at The Lodge, Tim and I ducked into the lobby to grab a bottle of water, and shazam, there was another wine tasting set up. We got to taste Idlewild, a Healdsburg label that specializes in Italian varietals, and their Barbera was really good. Then we rested until dinner.
The Matheson
Kim’s birthday dinner was at The Matheson, right off the Healdsburg Plaza, and it was a great choice for the occasion. It’s Chef Dustin Valette’s restaurant, and he’s a Healdsburg native. The building was his great-grandfather’s French bakery back in the 1920s, and he turned it into a beautiful multi-level space with an open kitchen and a wine wall of 88 wines by the glass. It’s Michelin-recognized, and exactly the kind of place you want for a birthday.
Because lunch had been so filling, I ordered their soup and a salad. Where I went wrong was also ordering a hamburger, when I’d clearly already had plenty of food. Out of control, but it was so worth it. A great night, and a great day celebrating Kim. Restaurant is a two thumbs up!
Happiness is Possible 