I promised to blog on our trip through the Sonoma County wine region and what a trip it has been so far! We are always searching for the perfect chardonnay, but on this trip we are also gathering material for an article on exceptional wineries and wine tasting experiences.
We started our day with a return to Chalk Hill Winery, just outside of Windsor, in a beautiful hilltop setting. The lovely Hannah provided us with two tastings on the patio overlooking the pond and grape fields below, then drove us around the property for a tour of the pavilion, horse stables, owner’s house, and of course, many of the grape fields.
We returned to the bucolic and shaded patio for our final two tastings. Hannah invited us to join them for their “White Party” up at the pavilion on Saturday. I love a party and I love this winery so it was pretty tempting to say “yes” but we have a pretty busy schedule already that day. I do love the Chalk Hill Estate chardonnay, so we couldn’t leave without purchasing at least one bottle.
For a picnic, we hopped across Chalk Hill Road to Chalk Hill Winery’s sister winery, Roth. This is a new facility, only about two years old, with lots of comfortable seating on their patio in the front of the winery. Amanda served us from their tasting menu while we dined on our lunch. Roth also has food for sale if you prefer. It is a “deconstructed sandwich” in a picnic basket. You choose the meat and cheese, and they include the veggies and bread for you to put together your lunch.
We didn’t have time to visit their wine cave, but will make sure to stop by again when we return to Chalk Hill. One more note about Roth: their wine prices were half the cost of what we normally see in Sonoma, so they get extra points for that!