The Pour House: New Winery Cooperative in Dry Creek Valley

Within Dry Creek Valley AVA at Timber Crest Farms, visitors have the opportunity to visit The Pour House, a brand new winery cooperative, where Optima Winery & Goldschmidt Vineyards share the same tasting space and are able to collectively showcase their wines. 

The Pour House

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Amenities

Customers can try a wide variety of small production wines under one roof while taking in the beautiful scenery that Dry Creek Valley has to offer. Sweeping views of Dry Creek Valley can be seen from the tasting room and picnic area at The Pour House. Additionally, visitors can play Bocce Ball as well as sip on their wines taking in all that Dry Creek has to offer. 

Cabernet Sauvignon lovers have many choices and styles to choose from within different AVAs and a broad spectrum of price points as The Pour House Winery Cooperative offers over Twenty wines to taste. A unique wine club has been set up that sends you wine from our wineries twice a year. “The best part is it is fully customizable. We offer a default shipment however, members can choose to put together a customized shipment from our entire portfolio. The club runs twice a year 6 or 12 bottle shipments,” said Carol Carone, tasting room manager at The Pour House.

Optima Winery

In 1983, Mike Duffy moved to Sonoma County with the hope of starting a winery. While a Junior at UC Davis, Mike was offered a full-time job at Trefethen in Napa Valley. He stayed in Napa for a few years before making his move to Sonoma County. He landed the opportunity as head winemaker at Fieldstone, allowing Mike to work closely with  California winemaking visionary, Andre’ Tchelistcheff. Utilizing high-quality Alexander Valley fruit, Mike released his first Cabernet Sauvignon under the Optima Winery Label in 1984.

Mike’s approach to winemaking is to make wine that combines art and practicality. He loves the honesty and hard work of agriculture and to him, winemaking is the ultimate fusion of agriculture and art. The brand for many years was strictly Alexander Valley & Knights Valley Cabernet Sauvignon but over the last thirty-plus years, he has added a dry Gewurztraminer, Zinfandel & Petite Sirah from Dry Creek. This year he made his first two blends as a tasting room exclusive.

Optima Winery is a family winery where Mike and Nicol raised four boys, Danny Duffy is the oldest son who graduated from UC Davis in 2018 and is now the assistant winemaker with the hopes of continuing the family legacy into the next generation. Their other three sons and two granddaughters are always jumping in to help where needed. Ultimately, for Optima Winery it’s about an artistic passion- each bottle released signifies hard work, hopes and dreams.

Goldschmidt Vineyards

For the past 40 years, Nick Goldschmidt has been making wine both domestically and internationally across California, Canada, New Zealand, Australia and South America.  In 1998, with his wife, Yolyn, they went out on their own and launched their first vintage of Forefathers Wax Eye Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough, New Zealand.  What started as a side project, turned into an internationally acclaimed winery that now includes private labels and exclusive bottlings for retailers. 

While many businesses were struggling, as the economic downturn hit in 2008, the Goldschmidts had an opportunity to purchase high quality grapes at lower price points and build their portfolio of wines. “It’s with a deep understanding of clones and rootstocks, along with the economic side of making and marketing wine, that I decided to take a leap of faith,” said Nick.

Within California, a key focus area for the Goldschmidts is crafting Cabernet Sauvignons from both Alexander Valley in Sonoma and Oakville within the Napa Valley under the Goldschmidt Vineyard label.  The focus is to create wines that highlight the distinct characteristics, benefits and attributes derived from these specific sites, being richness, quality and balance.  The hallmarks of world-class Cabernet Sauvignons.

As the Goldschmidts look towards the future, they see opportunity. In June of 2020, they launched their tasting room experience at the Pour House in Dry Creek Valley.  “Here you can taste the majority of our wines and sample limited releases,” noted Nick.

With five grown children, they hope to continue the legacy and pass on the “Goldschmidt expertise.”  In fact, they have named several of their wines after their children. When you visit The Pour House and try their wines you get a family-first customer experience.

Dry Creek Winery Cooperative – The Pour House Tasting Room

• Who – The Pour House – Owner Nicol Duffy
• What – Wine tasting collective in Dry Creek Valley, California
• When – 11:00 am – 4:30pm daily
• Where – 4791 Dry Creek Rd. Healdsburg, CA 95448
• Reservations can be made by visiting The Pour House
• If you have any questions, feel free to call 707.433.0100

Wine Recommendations

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About Dry Creek Valley Winery Cooperative

Located northwest of the town of Healdsburg. The area was formed by Dry Creek, a tributary of the Russian River, and is approximately 16 miles long and 2 miles wide. The appellation benefits from the proximity of the Lake Sonoma reservoir for irrigation in this relatively dry area.

160 wineries are currently sourcing grapes from the Dry Creek Valley AVA, and 50 wineries call the area home. Dry Creek Valley AVA is home to the majority of the Sonoma vineyards of E & J Gallo Winery, who established winery facilities in the valley in the early 1990s.