Lahni was planning out a Russian River Valley tour for clients staying at the El Dorado Hotel in downtown Sonoma. Now Lahni loves to plan, she wants a map with instructions and well denoted alternatives. I’m a little looser in my approach, although a good plan never hurts. So I watched her work out her plan while adding in my two cents here and there. It sounds like a great tour for a number of reasons.
Most of the driving is at the beginning and end of the day. It is almost an hour from the Sonoma Plaza to the nearest Russian River wineries, so once she gets the clients to the neighborhood all of the wineries she included were close to each other. Her route goes up Highway 12 through the beautiful Valley of the Moon. Here she can offer the clients ideas of where they might visit on their own over the rest of their stay.
At Santa Rosa she stays on Hwy 12 over Farmer’s Lane continuing all the way to Sebastopol. There she turns right on Hwy 116, also known as Gravenstein (as in the apple) Hwy, up in to the heart of the Russian River Valley. Just past Occidental Road on the right side is the first stop, Merry Edwards. She said that the tasting was fantastic starting with Pinot and ending with Sauvignon Blanc. From there she went to the Inman Family winery and her buddy Kathleen the owner and wine maker was pouring. Her clients had a great time and bought a bunch of wine.
After that they went to DeLoach for a picnic in the beautifully redone gardens next to the fountain. After lunch they went in and thoroughly enjoyed a tasting. They had planned to go to Lynmar but instead headed to Ironhorse. There is just something about that open air tasting bar and those great views of the Green Valley that is hard to resist. It was a great tour.
Call 707-235-2648 for Tours, Books & Seminars Copyright Ralph & Lahni de Amicis 2011 All tasting fees, hours, wine lists, etc are subject to change.