Taste of the Town

A family affair

The Wineyard and Heritage Public House, sister businesses owned by Dino and Maria D’Argenzio of Santa Rosa, are part of a larger property known as Santa Rosa Vintners’ Square. Located at 1305 Cleveland Avenue, just off Highway 101 (and north of Railroad Square), it’s emerging as a one-stop shop for food, wine and craft beer enthusiasts. Housed in a collection of unassuming, commercial buildings owned by various members of the D’Argenzio family, including parents Alfonso and Rose and brothers Ray, Richard, Enrico and Dino, Vintners Square was once home to the family’s cabinetmaking business, but the property has recently evolved into a showcase for the family’s food and drink ventures.

Those ventures include Dino’s projects, The Wineyard and Heritage Public House, and D’Argenzio Winery, owned by Ray and Richard, which offers tastings, a bocce court and its own roster of events (www.dargenziowine.com/events). Ray will be adding a restaurant, Cibo Rustico, by the end of the year. The development also rents space to production and tasting facilities for Krutz Family Cellars and Sheldon Wines, and several private businesses, such as Squire Cigar, Squire Wine Storage and The Barbery, an old-fashioned barbershop.

Coming full circle

Dino D’Argenzio is well-known in North Bay commercial real estate circles, as he’s been an active senior partner with Keegan & Coppin Company for more than 27 years. He’s had great success forging connections between emerging small businesses and local property owners, often dispensing hard-won advice and friendly support along the way. In addition to being a leader in the business community, D’Argenzio is an active community volunteer, proud father and owner of a boutique Zinfandel vineyard.

His interest in working the land isn’t just a weekend hobby or Wine Country status symbol, though, but rather a central theme of his life. D’Argenzio remembers time spent in his Italian grandparents’ gardens in upstate New York and outside his hometown of Burbank, learning to grow and pick vegetables at their ripest and making a feast of the harvest. In 1967, Dino and his father built a hydroponic tomato experiment in their backyard, which led Dino to explore biodynamic farming methods in 1969.

Following a stint in the Navy, those early memories are what led him to Montana State University, where he received a degree in agricultural business/agronomy and land use management with a minor in soil sciences. After moving to Santa Rosa in 1975, it was the development of the Safeway shopping center on Marlow Road and his enrollment in the second class of the Leadership Santa Rosa program that inspired his interest in small business development. Now, with The Wineyard and the adjoining Heritage Public House, D’Argenzio is able to be fully engaged in guiding the success of a wide range of local talents, from wine and beer purveyors to food producers to up-and-coming entertainers.

The Wineyard

The Wineyard is part of a new breed of cooperative tasting rooms: Visitors don’t arrive to take pictures or scout wedding sites, they come to taste good wine from a diverse range of producers. The large room is industrial but light, thanks to walls of floor-to-ceiling windows and high, exposed industrial ceilings. A gleaming, stainless steel bar fills the center of the room, and slate blue walls are softened by sophisticated touches, like a fireplace ringed with leather club chairs and a wall dominated by a rich mahogany bar, salvaged from the former Silver Dollar Saloon (now the site of Jackson’s Bar and Oven) in Santa Rosa’s Railroad Square. Most of the interior’s custom woodworking was inspired, D’Argenzio says, by his father’s cabinetmaking profession, “We all worked in the shop as children,” he remembers, “helping our father in various aspects of the woodworking trade.”

D’Argenzio credits his wife, Maria, and daughter, Rosie, with helping guide the room’s function and design, and son Roman for creating the business names and logos. “We wanted the space to be very classy, edgy and chic, but still comfortable, since we’re in an urban setting” says D’Argenzio.

The Wineyard acts as the dedicated tasting room for its winery partners—generally small, family wineries with no tasting rooms of their own. As of June, five partners were represented, with spots available for five more. “We’ve turned down some wineries if their production is too small or the quality just isn’t there,” says D’Argenzio. “There are so many great local winemakers that we have to select the very best to please the customers and provide good prices as well.”

Chris O’Connell of Sonoma, formerly of Matanzas Creek Winery in Santa Rosa, has taken on the role of general manager for The Wineyard and Heritage Public House. “One of our goals is to showcase all 15 AVAs (American Viticultural Areas) of Sonoma County, so locals and tourists alike can find out what wines from different parts of Sonoma County taste like,” says O’Connell. “We want to be the only place in the county where people can do that, and we’re already about half way there.”

The Wineyard currently keeps fairly traditional tasting room hours, open Thursday through Monday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Tuesdays and Wednesdays by appointment. You can purchase wines by the glass or in tasting flights, with local cheese and charcuterie plates available for purchase. Wine and food pairing events and winemaker dinners are planned throughout the year. Every other weekend, a winemaker or winery owner will also be on hand to greet visitors, share stories and answer questions. O’Connell says these “Winery Partner Weekends” give guests a first-hand glimpse into the wine production experience and will let the smaller winemakers build relationships with customers.

The winery partners are an eclectic group so far, each with its own unique story. Flocchini Wines grows its Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Syrah grapes on the family’s former dairy farm in Petaluma. Jazz Cellars, with production facilities in San Francisco, sources its grapes from up and down the California coast and is known for its Rhone-style wines, Pinot Noir and Zinfandel. Atascadero Creek Winery, Shone Farm Winery and the latest addition, Albertina Wine Cellars from Mendocino County, round out the list.

The Wineyard has set up its own wine club, dubbed the “City Club,” but with a welcome twist: members can customize their quarterly shipments by choosing which of the 20 to 25 represented wines they want included, as available. Members also receive happy hour prices at all times on craft beers at Heritage Public House and discounts on event admission, among other benefits.

Atascadero Creek Winery

Like the D’Argenzios, Bob Appleby of Graton took his first stabs at winemaking in the corner of his woodshop, where he made a living in custom woodworking and furniture building for more than 25 years. Pleasantly surprised by the quality of his first batch in 1989, Appleby kept at it, and soon he was earning Sonoma County Harvest Fair medals and raves from family and friends. Atascadero Creek Winery, located at Appleby’s home in the Green Valley appellation, has been turning out exceptional small-batch wines for the public since 2000.

The winery is housed in a building no larger than a two-car garage, with less than an acre of Pinot Noir grapes grown onsite and the rest brought in from other small, family vineyards in Sonoma, Lake and Mendocino counties. Appleby only produces single vineyard designates, meaning each wine is made from the grapes of one specific vineyard and he’s able to experiment with more unusual varietals, such as Carignane and Primativo.

Atascadero Creek was part of another joint tasting room several years ago, but Appleby had recently gone back to how he started: selling and marketing his wines one restaurant or shop at a time. It was Tobe Sheldon, of Sheldon Wines in Vintners’ Square, who first encouraged him to check out The Wineyard. Once Appleby found out what the space and staff had to offer, he decided to give the tasting room experience another go. “Atascadero Creek is so small that I make the wine, bottle it, label it, market it and sell it myself,” says Appleby. “For me, this is another opportunity to sell wine.”

He’s also pleased to meet visitors at the Winery Partner Weekends, especially after seeing first-hand how important those personal encounters can be. “It’s different than just picking a wine off a shelf, where you have no idea of the story behind it,” says Appleby. “When I start telling people about the scale of my business and what goes into it, they’re amazed. They ask questions, want me to sign bottles and feel a real connection to the wines.”

Shone Farm Winery

Another of The Wineyard’s more unconventional winery partners is Shone Farm Winery, a project of the Santa Rosa Junior College (SRJC) Wine Studies and Viticulture programs. Shone Farm is a 365-acre working farm and hands-on classroom, with 12 acres of crop production and a 70-acre vineyard, along with horses, sheep, cattle, orchards and forest land.

Mack Schwing, the former director of the Wine Business program in the School of Business and Economics at Sonoma State University, is chairman of the Shone Farm Foundation and Winery. Originally, the foundation was set up to obtain the necessary state and federal licenses for the winery (SRJC wasn’t able to get them directly because it’s an educational institution). Its mission has since evolved to include marketing and publicity for the winery and the farm as a whole.

“I look at the wine industry as a three-legged stool,” says Schwing. “You have to have great grapes, great wine and the right channels to sell it. We had the great grapes and wines, we just didn’t have the place to sell it.” D’Argenzio, a supporter of the foundation who’d been through the Wine Business program himself, was eager to step in and help. The D’Argenzios have donated all the winery’s tasting room costs back to the Shone Farm Foundation, essentially providing a free place to promote and sell its products. “Maria and I believe it’s important to support the future of farming, education, local farmers and their families here in Sonoma County,” says D’Argenzio. The tasting room sells Shone Farm’s olive oils and beef jerky, as well, and is a designated pick-up spot for the farm’s CSA (community supported agriculture) produce boxes.

The Wineyard has also welcomed students from the wine studies and viticulture programs to intern behind the bar and at special events. Schwing is hopeful that The Wineyard will become the major outlet for Shone Farm’s wine and an important resource for its wine programs.

According to D’Argenzio, demand for Shone Farm wines has been high, due in large part to the high standards of the winery and its advisory panel. The rotating panel, which is chaired by wine columnist Dan Berger and has included Greg La Follette of La Follette Wines and Heidi von der Mehden of Arrowood Vineyards  & Winery, along with Shone’s head winemaker Chris Wills (formerly of Korbel and Lake Sonoma Winery), works with students to ensure the wines being produced are top-notch.

Heritage Public House

While The Wineyard may be going for a cool vibe, its neighbor, Heritage Public House, is primed to be a hot spot. Its mission is to foster an appreciation of California’s long history of craft beer, one pint at a time, and to be an education venue for craft beer enthusiasts from all over California. Originally opened as “The Hopyard” in February, the name was changed in April “to more accurately represent our heritage and commitment to our family and California. We felt ‘Heritage Public House’ is more suitable and represented what we’re truly about,” D’Argenzio explains. This is the place where you’ll find the doors open later, a live band setting up in the corner and friends meeting up by the bar. The warm red walls and comfortable, high-backed bar stools encourage you to stay a while. Proving that recycling can be beautiful, D’Argenzio used thousands of flavor sticks (the wood sometimes hung into wine barrels to impart oak flavor) to create the space’s one-of-a-kind ceiling.

D’Argenzio’s son, Roman, is “Tap Master,” in charge of seeking out California breweries to fill the weekly rotation of craft brews that will flow from the bar’s taps. All of The Wineyard’s wines will also be available by the glass and bottle. Some “very nice bar food” is available now, but the menu will expand when brother Ray opens Cibo Rustico later this year.

Until then, there’s certainly no shortage of events planned to draw a crowd. Local bands such as Midori & Ezra Boy will take the stage every other Saturday night, and a musician’s open-mic program developed by a local musician, Gary “Violin” Khron, began in July and takes place the second Friday of each month. The first and third Thursdays of each month will host comedy open mic nights, with the third Friday of each month reserved for comedy headliners. Comedian Ricky Del Rosario, who’s headlined shows around the country and now lives in Santa Rosa, will emcee both events.

Every Wednesday night, beer writer and blogger Mario Rubio will host a beer education gathering called “Brewed for Thought," where customers can meet the brewers and Mario to learn about the nuances of the craft beer world. With no grade book in sight, participants will learn some of the finer points of beer appreciation, with plenty of tasting encouraged.

Hours are currently Wednesday through Saturday from noon to 10 p.m., and Sunday from noon to 6 p.m. Both The Wineyard and Heritage Public House are also available for private parties, meetings or as a home base for small wineries or microbrewers without club facilities of their own.

TasteLive’s Café 140

Heritage Public House is also now the official home to TasteLive’s Café 140, a cutting-edge promotional and educational event that exposes beverage producers to a wider audience through social media. Produced by Joel Quigley and Cailyn McCauley of the integrated marketing and communications firm Creative Furnace, the show invites a beverage producer, chef and a musical guest to taste and discuss the sponsored beverages, usually the products of a specific winery or microbrewer.

Held on the third Wednesday of every month in front of a live audience, TasteLive takes advantage of what Quigley calls “the multiplier effect” to bring focused attention to products that may otherwise get lost in the noise of social media. Each month, the featured beverages are sent out ahead of time to a group of well-known bloggers, mainly wine shop owners and other industry insiders. Recipes or food pairing suggestions by the featured chef are also included. On the day of the event, Quigley and his guests connect live to the bloggers via TasteLive’s Café 140 Channel, with bloggers tasting the wines in real time, asking questions and giving feedback, which then pushes to Twitter and Facebook.

“What’s great about this concept is that usually wines are tasted and reviewed along with 150 other wines,” explains Quigley. “With TasteLive, we’re tasting four to six wines at most, and with foods specifically designed to be paired with them.” The bloggers not only share their experiences with their own followers and customers, but often invite friends over for the events, who also help spread the word.

“This kind of exposure can also help level the playing field for the small guys,” says Quigley, adding that many small wineries don’t have the bandwidth or space to accommodate a broadcast like this, so Heritage Public House, with its state-of-the-art lighting system and digital Bose sound system, is a perfect fit.

Creative Furnace also works with Vintners’ Square to produce the Rootstock Festival, billed as an annual wine, street food and music event that benefits the Shone Farm Foundation. D’Argenzio describes the event, held every July, as a family-friendly Wine Country experience in an urban setting. Vintners’ Square becomes the backdrop for street food vendors, beer and wine tasting and live music, while local chefs compete for food writer Heather Irwin’s coveted “Best Bites” awards.

A bountiful harvest

With the opening of The Wineyard and Heritage Public House, D’Argenzio is hoping to bring the best of the North Bay’s hidden treasures to the public. “When my wife and I chose the name for our company that owns The Wineyard and Heritage Public House, we picked ‘Abbondanza,’ an Italian word that means ‘a bountiful harvest,’ or ‘collection of the best,’” explains D’Argenzio. “This is the place to discover the bountiful harvest of all things good in Sonoma County.”