Dry Creek Vineyards

This article is one in a series of articles about our recent tour of California Wine Country. You can read about Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, the Summary, the Winery Dogs and the Restaurants as well.

Dry Creek Vineyard
Almost directly across the road from Passalacqua is the winery and tasting room of the Dry Creek Vineyard. The winery has been producing wines since 1972. Initially they produced a Chenin Blanc, later adding Zinfandel and Bordeaux varieties to their portfolio. The founder of the winery, Dave Stare was instrumental in the effort to get the Dry Creek Valley recognized as an American Viticultural Area. The winery was also the first to coin the term “Old Vines” for use on a Zinfandel.

The tasting room is part of the original winery complex, an impressive, vine covered building surrounded by shaded grounds. Fittingly we started off the tasting with a Chenin Blanc as this was the founder’s initial passion. We followed this with the Heritage and Old Vine Zinfandels, before moving on to several Bordeaux style wines. The last of these, the Mariner, we had had before at one of our favorite restaurants named aptly “Mariner’s”. Unlike many of the wineries we visited, Dry Creek Vineyards are widely available and well worth searching out.

Before we left, the person conducting the tasting suggested that we make a visit to J. Rickards, where one of the former winemakers was working, saying it would well be worth the effort.

Wines sampled:
2007 Clarksburg Dry Chenin blanc
2006 Sonoma County Heritage Zinfandel
2006 Dry Creek Valley Old Vine Zinfandel
2006 Dry Creek Valley Meritage – 36% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Franc, 23% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Malbec, 8% Petit Verdot
2006 Dry Creek Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
2005 Dry Creek Valley, The Mariner – 45% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot, 6% Petit Verdot, 5% Malbec, 3% Cabernet Franc