Most Beautiful Wineries In Dry Creek Valley
38° 42′ 0″ N, 122° 58′ 0″ W
While there are beautiful vineyards and wineries in just about every California wine region, Dry Creek Valley AVA, located in Sonoma County, just northwest of the town of Healdsburg is particularly stunning. Dry Creek Valley is not only known for having some of the world’s best Zinfandels, but also some of the most beautiful wineries. Additionally, it’s also one of the best places to enjoy sunny weather and other award-winning wines like Zinfandel’s and Sauvignon Blancs.
The Dry Creek Valley AVA, 40 minutes north of San Francisco, not only produces wines on par with Napa Valley but also offers a more relaxed approach to the tasting experience. Most Dry Creek Valley wineries are laid-back, family-owned properties that place a high emphasis on hospitality and education. The other bonus you get when visiting Dry Creek Valley wineries is that tasting fees don’t break the bank, offering tastes at half the price one would expect to pay in Napa Valley.
If you plan to visit the area, you’ll have a lot of choices related to which wineries you may want to visit. It can become overwhelming figuring out where to visit on a limited time schedule. That’s why Wine Routes created our Winery Trip Planner tool. The handy service will allow you to view details about each winery, including tasting menus, price points, amenities, and varietals of wines produced. Use Wine Routes National Winery Trip Planner to create your own personalized route. Once you have the ideal route created, you can publish and share it with friends . Simply press start and be guided turn by turn to each location. If creating your own routes sounds like too much trouble, simply follow one of the curated routes we’ve built.
Since we have local knowledge of the area, we decided to put some of our favorite wineries on a pre-planned route. The route will guide to locations that have beautiful views, amazing wines, and other extras that will be sure to leave a lasting impression. Load up your friends, turn up the radio and travel North to Sonoma County California, for a visit to the Iconic Dry Creek Valley.
Spotify Wine Tasting Playlist – Dry Creek Valley – Most Beautiful Wineries
Wine Routes – Most Beautiful Wineries In Dry Creek Valley
Travel Tip – Depending on where you’re staying, travel from South to North to end up in Healdsburg
BACA Wines
779 Westside Rd. CA 95448 – (707) 721-8625
Specializing in – Zinfandel and Rosé
Just 5 minutes from downtown Healdsburg along Westside Road sits BACA Wines. When you arrive, you’ll be greeted with a splash of Rosé and panoramic Dry Creek vineyard views. The tasting room features world class artwork a knowledgable hospitality team and luxury Zinfandels. Owned by the Hall Family, BACA Wines is a modern Zinfandel producer that fosters a sense of adventure.
BACA Wines sources fruit from prominent vineyards in Calistoga, Russian River, Rockpile, Howell Mountain, and Paso Robles. Utilizing optical sorting, exacting fermentations, and French oak barrel aging, BACA Wines aims to craft wines that reflect a sense of place and climate. The BACA Wines portfolio includes the following Zinfandels: Double Dutch, Cat’s Cradle, Somersault, Home Base, Bleachers, Marbles, Tug O’ War, and I Spy. Additionally, they produce a canned wine called Ring Around the Rosé, also made from Zinfandel, of course.
Insider Tip – BACA Wines has 5 tasting experiences, including the BACA Sensory Experience, Zinfandel & Chocolate Pairing, Varietal Exploration with Artisanal Cheese Flight, and the Current Release Tasting.
Comstock Wines
1290 Dry Creek Valley Rd. Healdsburg, CA 95448 – (707) 723-3011
Specializing in – Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Grenache, Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc, Syrah, Viognier, Zinfandel, Blend-Sparkling, Merlot.
Comstock Wines was inspired by the fundamental passion to grow and source only the best Sonoma County grapes and transform them into wines that are as delicious as they are memorable.
Located in Dry Creek Valley, just outside of Healdsburg, CA, Comstock Wines prides itself on producing varietals that reflect the diversity of the region and specializes in small-lot handcrafted wines that can only be found here at the winery.
Insider Tip – Comstock Wines has 4 unique tasting experiences – Wine Flight + Mezze Platte, Wine & Wood Fired Pairing, Wine & Assorted [GRILLED] Chees Flight and Classic or Red Flight.
Talty Winery
7127 Dry Creek Rd. Healdsburg, CA 95448 – (707) 433-8438
Specializing in – Petite Sirah, Zinfandel
The Talty winemaking philosophy is simple: wine is made in the vineyard. Our single-vineyard designation and that critical balance between winemaker and vine make our Estate Zinfandel so special. Great care goes into every growing season, and using the natural yeast of our own vineyard to ferment the Zinfandel maintains the uniqueness of our special viticultural area. This is what makes our wines such a wonderful experience.
Although we have been making our wines for more than a decade, this commercial venture is representative of our wine-making dream come true: a handcrafted, velvety-smooth, rich, full-bodied Estate Zinfandel from the fruit of our vines. This Zinfandel has been fermented and aged under our own watchful gaze — truly the winemaker growing with the vine!
Estate wines of the Talty Winery come from dry-farmed grapes grown on our own six-acre vineyard in Sonoma’s Dry Creek Valley. As was my father’s way, each Talty Zinfandel is truly handcrafted, from vine to wine. Our dry-farmed and head-pruned vines purposely produce a very small crop — approximately two tons per acre. This ensures the intensity and concentration of the fruit from the very start. Once picked, our grapes are fermented by their own natural yeast in small, open-top bins. They are punched down five times per day for the best flavor and color extraction.
Pedroncelli Winery
1220 Canyon Rd. Geyserville, CA 95441 – (707) 857-3531
Specializing in – Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc, Zinfandel
The winery and vineyards are located in Dry Creek Valley, an American Viticultural Area that Pedroncelli Winery helped form. The Dry Creek Valley region is renowned as prime land for grape-growing and producing high-quality wines. The climate, where the development in ripening grapes is protected from the heat by the marine fog intrusion in the evenings, is singular and unparalleled. Pedroncelli wines are regionally focused and site-specific and we’ve learned to pair the right varietal with the best site creating a great character.
Did you know? Half of all Zinfandel planted in Sonoma County is in Dry Creek Valley; it’s been growing here since the 1860s and on our ranch since the early 1900s. Today there are 2500 acres planted valley-wide in the smallest of the four major appellations.
Kokomo Winery
4791 Dry Creek Rd. Healdsburg, CA 95448 – (707) 433-0200
Specializing in – Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc, Zinfandel, Malbec, Grenache, Merlot, Rose
Kokomo winery is perched on the east side of Dry Creek Valley amidst the 120 acres of prime benchland vineyards of Timber Crest Farms. Owner and Winemaker Erik Miller started the winery in 2004 naming it after his hometown of Kokomo, IN, and decided on a Coastal Cypress Tree as a logo to signify his move out west. Kokomo currently produces over a dozen different varietals and several single-vineyard designates which are farmed by his partner in the winery, grower Randy Peters. Kokomo Winery focuses its terroir-driven wines on the three distinctive appellations of Sonoma County – Russian River, Dry Creek, and Alexander Valleys. This dynamic partnership of a grower and a winemaker ensures the winery’s ongoing commitment to quality and consistency for future vintages. Kokomo Winery has been making its mark in Sonoma County, unfailingly earning 90+ ratings, Best of Class, and Gold Medals across all of their varietals since the beginning.
Unti Vineyards
4202 Dry Creek Rd. Healdsburg, CA 95448 – (707) 433-5590
Specializing in – Barbera, Grenache, Sangiovese, Syrah, Zinfandel
Unti Vineyards is a small, family-owned and operated winery specializing in Mediterranean style wines with a vineyard personality. The Dry Creek Valley winery, established in 1997, produces small lots of estate-grown Barbera, Grenache, Montepulciano, Sangiovese, Syrah, and Zinfandel. They also produce a dry Rose from Grenache and Mourvedre and a handful of white wines: Vermentino, Fiano, and Grenache Blanc.
Lambert Bridge Winery
4085 Dry Creek Rd. Healdsburg, CA 95448 – (707) 431-9600
Specializing in – Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Merlot, Sauvignon Blanc, Zinfandel
At Lambert Bridge, they strive for greater satisfaction than simply producing award-winning wines. Their true gratification comes from the pleasure of our guests in experiencing the lifestyle to which we ourselves aspire: great wine served with great food shared by great friends. As a small family-owned operation, our abiding passion is to craft small lots of artisanal Bordeaux blends and varietals, each reflecting an identity that is individual, distinguished, and consistent, vintage to vintage.
Rued Winery
3850 Dry Creek Rd. Healdsburg, CA 95448 – (707) 433-3261
Specializing in – Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc, Zinfandel
In 1876, Henry Rued left his home in Switzerland and traveled to Northern California where he would take up employment planting grapes for the Beringer Brothers in Napa Valley.
Though a new country for Henry, it was not a new line of work. The Rueds were a grape-growing family in Switzerland. And it wasn’t too long before Henry Rued planted his own grapes. In 1882 he put down his family’s roots, as well as grapevines, in Sonoma County.
Six generations and more than 125 years later, the Rued family continues to farmland throughout Sonoma county, cultivating wine grapes at their Home Estate in Dry Creek Valley as well as farming substantial tracks of land in Russian River Valley and Alexander Valley. And of course, they now produce handcrafted, small-batch wines under their own label—they are the wines that define a family whose roots extend deep into Sonoma County history.
Quivira Vineyards & Winery
4900 Dry Creek Rd Healdsburg, CA 95448 – (707) 431-8333
Specializing in – Grenache, Mourvèdre, Rhone Red Blend, Rose, Sauvignon Blanc, Syrah, Zinfandel
Quivira Vineyards is a leading producer of Zinfandel, Sauvignon Blanc, and Rhone varietals, built upon intentional winegrowing and a thoughtful commitment to sustainable and organic farming. Quivira’s philosophy is driven by the seamless vision of quality shared between winemaker Hugh Chappelle and vineyard manager Ned Horton. Together, they have integrated the vineyard and winery where farming practices are optimally aligned with the desired characteristics of the finished wine.
The winemaking style at Quivira emphasizes the balance and transparency of terroir utilizing thoughtful low-input winemaking to produce wines that proudly showcase their varietals and origins. In crafting these wines, Hugh uses a light touch when working with the raw materials. This is not a hands-off approach, it simply means that manipulation is intentionally and thoughtfully minimized to only those operations the wine truly needs. In fact, it requires even more engagement via more frequent observation and tasting to best know when and when not to intervene. Hugh likes to develop complexity by judiciously using a few techniques: blending, co-fermentation, phased harvesting, and barrel aging – both oak and acacia wood.
Frick Winery
23072 Walling Rd. Geyserville, CA 95441 – (707) 857-1980
Specializing in – Carignan, Grenache, Syrah, Viognier, Cinsault, Counoise, Mourvèdre
Come visit and experience Frick wines at their source. Hidden at the end of the road you will discover a small cottage surrounded by the vines that make the wines. Inside samples are poured over a bar made from an old redwood wine tank. Current releases and rare library wines are available for purchase
If you’d like to be added to this list, please let us know!
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