A Trip To Wine Country – Visiting the Russian River Valley

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Last Updated on June 8, 2023 by Leah Hall

More of our trip to California Wine Country – Russian River Valley wineries, Alexander Valley and Dry Creek, along with Napa and Sonoma Valleys! Cheers!

We got to northern California and headed up towards our vacation rental near Guerneville, which is a small town to the northwest of Santa Rosa along the Russian River. Guerneville is west of the Sonoma Valley. It’s tucked away in the Russian River valley among huge California Redwoods. Guerneville is a quiet town that feels like a cross between a small mountain town and an artistic enclave.

 

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Guerneville, California

Guerneville is a little off the beaten path when it comes to Napa Valley or Sonoma Valley wine tasting, but it is just minutes away from some fantastic vineyards in the Dry Creek, Alexander Valley and Russian River Valley. These valleys are a little less famous than their more well known cousins in the Napa Valley and Sonoma Valley, but no less accomplished when it comes to great tasting wines.

 

Guerneville is among a few small towns on the Russian River valley, and has some great Guerneville, California tourism. The small towns along the river are Cazadero, Forestville, Duncans Mills, Guerneville, Jenner by the Sea, Monte Rio and Rio Nido. There are many things to do on the Russian River that may not involve wine. Tubing and kayaking the river, biking, hiking, even driving to the coast where it meets the Pacific Ocean. There are local farmer’s markets, mini golf and state parks, too!

 

Great places to stay in all these small towns, vacation rentals, boutique hotels and even chic spa hotels and airstream trailers!

 

Wineries Near Guerneville

We will talk of some below that we went to – but here are some others that are nearby:

• Rio Crest
• Equality Vines
• Porter-Bass
• Hartford Family Winery
• Sophie’s Cellars – Duncans Mills
• Sonoma Coast Winery

 

How Many Wineries are there in the Russian River Valley?

These are only a small amount. There are 70+ wineries in the valley, so we haven’t even started to get to them all!

We had planned our trip to explore a couple of the different valleys, all of which are known as American Viticultural Areas (more commonly known as appellations or wine growing regions). These ares are where different styles of grapes and wines are made. If you have hung around any wine folks, one thing you will hear them talk about is the terroir. Terroir is the way the surrounding land and environment impart characteristics to the grapes, and those factors also wind up designating some AVAs!

 

Russian River Valley Wineries

With the chance to experience a couple of days in wine country and a couple of different AVA’s, we tackled the Russian River Valley wine region first! Day one was a limo tour through the Russian River Valley and the Dry Creek AVAs, while day two would be a trip through over the mountain and down into Napa to visit a couple of Napa vineyards.

 

Korbel Winery

On our first day of wine tasting, we started out with tour of a vineyard you may have heard of, Korbel. Korbel has been around since 1882, and while rightly famous for their California Champagne, the tasting room offers a whole lot more!  Korbel’s tasting room lets you try a whole array of wines that are only offered for sale at the winery, from some of their great bubbles (including a red champagne!) delicious reds, plus you can try a sherry and a port wine! We brought home some brandy and some bubbles!

 

As a bonus, right next to the tasting room is a great little market and delicatessen where you can grab a snack or a full picnic lunch! Oh, and to top this whole experience off, there is no tasting fee!

Thomas George Estates

Our next stop was at Thomas George Estates, where we had the chance to experience some of the amazing wines made from single block vineyards of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay grapes. The wines at Thomas George were absolutely sublime, with well crafted reds (check out their Pinot Noir!) and some amazing whites.

 

Thomas George is one hidden gem in the Russian River Valley that should be on your list to visit. Not only is the main tasting room beautiful, but the grounds are immaculately kept, with beautiful gardens next to the entrance of their wine cave where you can have a picnic!

 

Speaking of the wine cave, we had the chance to take a tour of the awesome wine caves, used to store their barrels at the perfect temperature for aging, but they also feature an exclusive wine club member tasting room and a large dining area where they hold winery dinners. If you schedule a tour and tasting, you get to check out the crush pad and production facilities and end up your tour with a tasting in that wine cave!

 

The entire property feels luxurious and should be a definite visit (we have already made plans to return next year!) And we did! We stayed on property and did their wine safari in the vineyards. It’s definitely a must do experience.

 

 

Dry Creek Valley Wineries

For our third stop, we headed over a ridge and down into the Dry Creek Valley, home of the wineries of the Dry Creek AVA and their coveted Zinfandel vines that have been around since before Prohibition! The Deer Creek AVA straddles Deer Creek, a tributary of the Russian River, which carried a rough gravely soil to the valley floor. This soil is perfect for growing Zinfandel grapes that produce award winning wines.

Armida Winery

At the heart of this valley is Armida Winery, who are known for their famous Zinfandel PoiZin aka “The Wine to Die For”. They are also known for their expansive view of the Dry Creek Valley. Before we drank more wine, we ate our picnic lunch on their beautiful deck that overlooks their bocce court and Dry Creek Valley. We then headed inside for some great wines like the delicious PoiZin and Antidote (Pinot Gris)! Oh, and be sure to try their delicious wine filled chocolates, which are definitely a treat not to be missed!

 

 

Longboard Vineyards

Our last winery of the day was a complete change of pace from the estates as we ended up catching a little bit of the beach life by rolling into Healdsburg. We ended up in the tasting room of Longboard Vineyards. Longboard is a cool place, decorated with surf boards, some of which are the the collection of Longboard owner Oded Shakked. Oded is an Israeli by birth, but a Californian in heart, with his love of winemaking and surfing!

 

Oded stopped in to chat with us before heading back out to the crush pad to finish processing some wine. He regaled us with some surf stories, a bit about wine making, plus a whole bunch of laughter!

Located in the heart of Healdsburg, Longboard’s tasting room has a relaxed feeling of a surf hangout (they call their tasting room the Surflounge!) But, it has a backdrop of wine aging in oak barrels. In those wine barrels? How about some really great nuanced whites and some eye opening reds, like their unique cool region Merlot, a wonderful Cabernet Sauvignon and a really delicious Malbec which are grown on Oded’s small vineyard!

Of course a whole day of drinking wine should be handled responsibly, so be sure to find yourself a driver! With a big group like we had, getting a limo for the day is a great (and safe!) way to go try lots of great wineries. Try to get a driver that knows lots of small boutique wineries and can help customize a tour to fit your tastes.

 

Wine Tour Driver

We were lucky and had a great driver named Hector from Mr. Napa Limo for both of our wine tasting days who has been driving in Wine Country for over 10 years! We also went back in 2018 and spent a day wine tasting at some Sonoma County Wineries!

Best Alexander Valley Wineries to Visit

We didn’t cover much about Alexander Valley Wineries in this post, but we will remedy that this winter with a visit we will be taking! But, some on our list and ones that we will be looking into are:

• DeLorimier Winery
• Hanna Winery
• Hawkes Wine
• Medlock Ames Winery
• Robert Young Estate
• Silver Oak Cellars (we went there, read about it in this Sonoma Winery Post!)
• Alexander Valley Vineyards
• Jordan Winery
• Virginia Dare Winery

 

Head on out to wine country as soon as you can!

 

Cheers!

 

If you are going to wine country, we recommend renting a VRBO Rental Location to stay at, or some great Healdsburg, California Hotel options (Hotels, here!) ! Plus, The Matheson Healdsburg has some great farm to table options for a great dinner experience, too! Or, if you are headed to Northern California, stop in at Humboldt Bay Social Club or Humboldt Distillery.

 

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Like this post? Check these out below, too!

Sonoma Valley Wineries

 

The Matheson Restaurant – Healdsburg, California

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