The Traveling Grape

In the heart of historic Dry Creek Valley you will find nestled away off Lambert Bridge Road, the beautiful grounds of Passalacqua Winery & Vineyards. When we arrived we knew this place would be special. Although it was a little sleepy upon are arrival, we were inspired by the views and entrance into the tasting room. I do want to tell you, we were visiting during the week and prior to lunch. I was hoping to meet Jason & Noelle Passalacqua. They live on the property and are very involved in the entire process from the winemaking to making sure the guests feel at home.What a great place for their two kids to grow up!

With four generations of family winemaking and grape growing; they produce limited production wines; specializing in Zin’s and Cab’s. All their varietals are offered only through the tasting room, online, wine club and restaurants. Their wine club members get involved during the tours that Jason will often conduct, complete with a barrel tasting. During Harvest you may see the members helping out in the vineyard. Here they will understand what it means to “drop the fruit” and participate by clipping off excess clusters (or wings) leaving the remaining clusters of fruit more open to the sun giving them the ability to produce more intense flavors. The reward for helping, an exquisite lunch and wine pairing on the beautiful deck overlooking the sweeping view of Dry Creek Valley.

The tradition at Passalacqua began in the early 1900’s when Jason’s great-grandfather, an Italian immigrant, started Fitch Mountain winery in Healdsburg. When the winery was lost in a fire and he passed away, his widow purchased another winery up the road. In 1940, their daughter, Edith, reopened this winery and thus began Passalacqua Winery. Passalacqua winery is also the first winery to have a woman winemaker after Prohibition. Today’s winemaker, Margaret Davenport, is well respected and has earned several winemaking awards.

If you haven’t already, I encourage you to try their wines and make time to visit. My favorite was the 2006 Dry Creek Valley Primitivo. This medium body wine didn’t leave me with any heavy tannic taste but a nice pleasant long finish a little heavier than many Zin’s, which I found quite pleasing. This varietal is the same as the Zinfandel grape, originated in Greece but best known in Italy. Best described as deeply colored and rich with cherry, clove, raspberry and spice flavors.

Their wines start at $18 with the limited release and library wines all priced under $90; so they have something for everyone.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009 at 6:41 am and is filed under Sonoma Wineries. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.