North By Northwest

After 4 long months, we finally got away to do some wine tasting, this time up in Healdsburg.  Adam and I used to make monthly trips before we had the boys, but even now that we find ourselves at the edge of two wine regions, we tend to visit the grocery store for wine and craft beer.  This obviously needs to change.  To be honest, I really prefer European style wines, and we were in jam jar zinfandel country, but we found a handful of places that knocked my socks off. We began our day at Quivira, a Demeter certified biodynamic winery, with farm grounds nearly as impressive as their wine. I LOVED their Refuge Savingon Blanc, and Grenache.  They sent us to Preston, a family owned and operated biodynamic vineyard.  On Sundays they bake bread in their hearth and pour Guadagni, a Zin blend table wine, into jugs straight from the barrel.  We picked one up for our pumpkin carving party.  Preston is quirky, and all kinds of awesome; a must visit, with tasting room that looks like it was designed by Jonathan Adler's country cousin.  You must try their Cinsault and  GSM.  We stopped off for a bite at the Dry Creek General Store, and made our way to UNTI.  Adjacent to their small tasting room they were processing

Montepulciano while rocking out to Modest Mouse. We really enjoyed their Benchland Syrah and Petit Frere GSM. To calm our pre-game jitters (Go Giants) we ended our day lounging with a view of the vines at Ridge. They offer outdoor tastings with more of their Rhone varietals, with the option of tasting their signature Monte Bello Cab blend.