Preston of Dry Creek
9282 West Dry Creek Road
Healdsburg, CA 95448
(707) 433-3372
www.prestonvineyards.com
Hours: 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily
Fees: $10 (refundable with purchase)
Varietals produced: Sauvignon Blanc, Roussanne, Viognier, Grenache Blanc, Marsanne, Zinfandel, Barbera, Syrah, Petite Sirah, Grenache Noir, Carignane, Mourvedre and Cinsault
Picnics: Yes
Appointment necessary: No
Did You Know?
Lou Preston was the first person to plant Syrah in Sonoma County.
When you visit Preston, plan on having a picnic, because it isn’t just a winery, it’s also a working farm and bakery that also grows and produces its own olive oil. It’s simply too easy to taste something absolutely delicious and memorable during your visit.
A little background: In the early 1970s, Lou and Susan Preston purchased a prune and fruit orchard (The Hartstock Ranch) in Dry Creek Valley and set out to start a winery. They raised their family in the 1895 home on the property, originally owned by Giuseppe and Marina Cavallo. The fruit trees were replaced with Sauvignon Blanc, which, along with the old Zinfandel vines already there, became the first wines produced (in the property’s former prune dehydrator building). A new winery was built in 1981, and the tasting room and bakery were added in the 1990s.
Over time, Lou expanded his vineyards to include Rhone varietals. Today, the 125-acre property has 80 acres of vineyards and grows Sauvignon Blanc, Roussanne, Viognier, Grenache Blanc, Marsanne, Zinfandel, Barbera, Syrah, Petite Sirah, Grenache Noir, Carignane, Mourvedre and Cinsault. Some of the Zinfandel vines are more than 100 years old, some were planted in the 1930s and others are on new rootstock with grafts from the old vine fruit.
The winery began with a few hundred cases and grew exponentially and at one point produced 30,000 cases. “We didn’t have a big tasting room at that time,” says current winemaker Matt Norelli, who’s been there more than 20 years (and was named winemaker in 2000). “We were one of the few open tasting rooms in Dry Creek Valley in the mid-1980s. The concept was just being realized.” Things have changed quite a bit since then.
In 2000, the winery cut production to 9,000 cases and refocused the property to be more of a farm. In doing so, it began selling some of its grapes to other wineries. Today, the bulk of its own wines are sold through the tasting room or to the 900-member wine club.
The working farm has 1,500 olive trees as well as vegetables, berries, fruit trees, pigs, sheep and chickens. In July 2011, it opened a farm store adjacent to the tasting room, where you can choose from what’s fresh and then “weigh and pay” for them yourself. If you visit on a summertime weekend, you can also pick strawberries to enjoy. The farm store is next to the bakery, where Lou bakes bread in a wood-fired oven twice each week.
“When we downsized, we diversified the land,” says Norelli. They planted pear, plum, apple and fig trees (like it was before), included pastureland for sheep, chickens and pigs, and cultivated produce gardens (the vegetables are also sold at the Healdsburg farmers market). The entire property is certified organic (as of 2005, although they’d been farming that way long before that).
A long, gravel, olive tree-lined driveway winds through the property to the winery and tasting room. Nearby, you’ll spy the picnic grounds—but they don’t stop there. Beyond what you can immediately see are all different kinds and sizes of tables and chairs set up beneath shade trees. Keep circling back and you’ll find more tables, a bocce ball court that’s open during the week (not weekends), the vegetable gardens and a chicken coop. You’ll also likely spy at least a few of the eight friendly cats that live on the property.
The tasting room itself has a large, covered porch and, although it was built in 1989, the feeling of an old farmhouse. The friendly hospitality staff provides a fun, personal and knowledgeable wine tasting experience, while a chalkboard behind the marble tasting bar lists available wines. There’s Sauvignon Blanc and Zinfandel on a regular basis, and everything else is seasonal. On most Sundays, you can purchase a jug of Guadagni (its ingredients change regularly; when I visited, it was a Zinfandel/Syrah blend) poured straight from a barrel. It’s named for Jim Guadagni, the Prestons’ neighbor when they moved in. But get there early, because it’s limited to one jug per person, and often sells out before the end of the day.
The tasting room also offers local cheeses, custom-cured salami from the farm’s pigs, bread and olive oil samples, and a variety of unusual items like farming books, cookbooks, and (when I visited) even panties with chickens on the back.
“Most people like that it’s different here,” says Robert Waugman, tasting room manager. “There’s a different level of comfort. We don’t do set tours, but we do give visitors a property map and encourage them to check out the animals and gardens.” Perhaps because of this, groups of more than eight are discouraged—the place has more of a mellow, family feel to it.
“Visitors will often ask what we’re known for, and I’ll tell them it’s that we offer unique varietals, flavors and styles,” Waugman continues. “A lot of people haven’t heard of some of the varietals we make, so it’s fun to help them discover what they are.”
Let’s get into the wine. “My inputs are minimal as far as fermentation goes,” says Norelli. “The grapes are fermented naturally, there’s no added yeast, only a small percentage of new oak is used, and all the wines are low in alcohol, so they’re always good with food.”
The wine club gets four shipments of six bottles per year—a sample pack of what’s released each quarter. Once or twice a year, the winery has a “farm day” with the members where members can make their own blends, learn about farming (the winery is just beginning practicing biodynamics) and enjoy food from the property that’s prepared by a local chef.
When I visited, I tried the 2010 Sauvignon Blanc (citrus/grapefruit nose, cut grass, crisp with a rounded mouthfeel); the Madame Preston (creamy/vanilla, fruity nose, with rich flavors like honey and apricot—sexy and lush); the 2010 Vin Gris (which means “gray wine” but is a misnomer because it’s a very dry rosé—a perfect picnic wine); the 2009 Zinfandel (blueberries on the nose with classic flavors of raspberries, pepper and dark fruit); the 2009 L. Preston (smoky/meaty nose and bright fruit flavors); the 2008 Syrah (also an earthy/meaty nose, very dark and rich); and the 2009 Mourvedre (which will be released in October and has a spicy nose with a hint of anise—dark, meaty, spicy and fun with a hint of cocoa on the finish).
What you find when you arrive will depend on what’s available at the time. But be assured, it’ll be something unique and memorable.
