Dry Creek Passport Weekend

Dutcher Crossing Winery was next on our trip with its lovely lawn and beautiful views of the surrounding vineyards and hills.  There is also a inviting picnic are with a vine covered pergola and a large brick barbeque.  Here they were serving two of the nicest whites we had that day, a bright and crisp Sauvignon Blanc and a wonderful Chardonnay that was light on the oak so you could actually taste the fruit.  They served these with barbeque style foods that worked and didn’t overpower the wines at all.  The tasting room has a modern, open and airy design with local views from each of the oversized windows. 

Our last winery of the day was the amazingly landscaped Ferrari-Carano Winery.  This winery is worth just the tour of the gardens if you never have a drink of wine.  We started the tour in the wine cave where they served Italian food to the sounds of Italian Music.  This was a nicely delivered food and wine pairing and done in a way to accommodate the large number of guests they attract.  When you are done tasting the tour of the gardens are a must.  Most people with a love of gardening would come just to stroll through the grounds to enjoy the peace and beauty of the multiple sites and styles done on a grand scale. 

Day two we only had time to make it to three wineries based on the length of our drive home.  We chose Armida, Optima and Alderbrook Wineries.  It was a good choice.  When we drove up to Armida Winery right as it opened the place was already starting to fill up.  This was party central pure and simple.  They had a room in the winery set up like a haunted house complete with bodies in the steel barrels and a heaven (white wines) and hell (red wines) tasting rooms. Rock and Roll music was playing to round out the experience. This was definitely the high spot for most people on the tour.  After our trip through the two tasting rooms we went off to buy our fair share of their incredibly fun Zin – Poizin that comes complete with its own coffin.   From what we understand if you  don't get here early in the morning you won’t get in later in the day – it fills up and they have to close the gates. 

Alderbrook Winery was also packed early in the day and the wait to get in was at least 15 minutes.  I can’t imagine what it was going to be like at 1:00pm.  The tasting room is beautifully done in an Italian interior style with lots of fun household items for sale.  The food was a treat – tri tip and sausage sandwiches served with a nice, fruit forward Zinfandel.  They had a great band playing early 60s Rhythm and Blues music. 

We finished up our trip in downtown Headsburg and Optima Wine Cellars. This was done in a sit down outdoor cafe style complete with menus and waiters who took down your lunch and wine tasting choice. They had music and a nice atmosphere with another great movie set design, but I felt a little sorry for the servers trying to keep up with all the people arriving at lunch time. This was another spot with a really nice Zin and great Chardonnay.

This was a great weekend party! The food was pretty good, the wine wonderful, and most every winery had music. The down side was the crowds, occassional long line and the crowded roadways. This was definately a good value for the $110, but if you go make sure you stay over on Friday through Sunday night so you can enjoy all of it. We only made it to eleven wineries, but that was enough to convince us we need to come back and do a more conventional tour some time soon.