Dry Creek Valley
NORTHERN SONOMA COUNTY
Dry Creek Valley is small — 16 by 2 mile — valley, characterized by steep hills (check out the view above) with 100-year old Zinfandel vineyards rolling up and over the lower valley hills… everywhere you look. The vegetation is the craziest combination of cactus, palms, old oak trees covered in lichen (the result of ocean fog blanketing the area on the regular), and then vineyard after vineyard of craggy, knuckled, old, Zinfandel vines. The summer is hot (regularly 100 degrees) and dry with months of little to no rain, but the nights regularly cool to 50, so the region benefits from a large diurnal temperature range which is great for growing grapes and allowing them to have a longer march to ripeness, developing complexity and balance along the way.
The Dry Creek Valley AVA has 150 winegrowers and 70 wineries, one after the next along the curvy parallel north-south roads aptly named Dry Creek Road and West Dry Creek Road. We visited several wineries along the roads. The wines were delicious across the board (albeit expensive). These wineries are small and lesser-known in the national wine market. But that’s not a bad thing. Hidden gems! Here are some highlights:
Stunning property on the northwest side of the valley (see map). Their focus is Zinfandel (as seen with the old-vine Zinfandel vineyards above the entrance to the caves), but they have quite a selection of wines. 70% of their grapes are estate grapes. 30% are purchased from other Dry Creek Valley growers. No Seattle distribution. If you go, don’t miss their tasting bar at the back of the wine cave. Super cool set up. Lovely experience. Staff was great.
Founded in the early 1900’s by Italian immigrants Alberto & Letizia Rafanelli, their son, Americo, moved the winery to its current location in the early 1950’s. His son, David, took over as generation 3, and now his oldest daughter, Patty, is the head winemaker, running the estate with her sister, Stacy. They produce 4 wines: Zinfandel, Cab, Merlot, and an estate blend. They sell out every year. When you visit this place, it feels like a small, operating, family farm. Great energy. Interested? You can be a club member or buy directly during a visit. Their wines aren’t distributed in Seattle.
Fun fact: Jens was invited to a private home in Seattle (maybe 20 years ago?) to feature a Washington producer, and he was seated next to David Rafanelli. Great guy.
with our excellent tasting guide, Aaron
Ridge is the only winery we visited that is distributed in Seattle. We’ve carried their wines for more than 20 years, and they are outstanding vintage after vintage. They have several estates.
Lytton Springs is their Dry Creek Valley location. It was a stunning location, with the winery & the tasting room surrounded by 115-year old Zinfandel vines as well as other grapes planted as a “field blend” a century ago. Our guide gave us an impromptu vineyard & winery tour (the benefits to showing up on a rainy day in the first week of January!!), explaining that with a field blend, you have all of the grapes influencing each other in the vineyard. When to harvest? Take your best guess. Some grapes will be a little more ripe, others not so much. They all get harvested & fermented together… and then you see what you end up with every vintage. Check out the vineyard map he showed us, with each color representing a different grape varietal!
Their prices were noticeably more reasonable ($30-$60+) than most of the smaller operations in the area (most starting around $60 per bottle). You can check out what we carry in the shop or buy from them directly.
A COUPLE MORE TIDBITS:
The food was excellent across the board and low-key cool. Our two favorite restaurants were in Geyserville (which is a worthy drive through as well):
Don’t miss: Catelli’s (local restaurant famous for their lasagna) and Diavola Pizzaria. The pizza was great, but the fried frutti di mare appetizer platter was out of this world. Everything served up to tables around us looked amazing. Would go back in a snap. Both serve local Dry Creek Valley wines exclusively.
AND LAST:
The Pacific Ocean is less than an hour from Healdsburg. Our route was through the Russian River Valley, along the (flooding!) Russian River until it hit the Pacific Ocean near Jenner. You can see the sweet water hitting the salt water above. Stunning!
Absolutely great trip! Only to be recommended. Hit us up with any questions if you decide to go for a visit.
Cheers,
Julie & Jens, co-owners
Portalis Wine Shop