For this trip, we wanted at least half of the wineries to be ones that one or both of us had never visited. We booked tastings at 1 to 2 wineries per day (where appointments were required), and planned drop-ins at any others as the day worked it’s way out. For our first day (and longest day), we were able to plan the trip to start at the northern end of Sonoma and work our way back south to the city of Sonoma.

Ferrari-Carano 

Ferrari-Carano opened the earliest (10am), so we started there. Julie had visited them before, but Walt had not. The grounds were beautiful with the gardens especially so. We did not need an appointment, so this was our first drop-in. We walked into the tasting room and were immediately greeted. It was explained to us that there are two tasting areas: the Villa Fiore tasting room, on the main floor, is $10 for 5 tastes of their standard wines and the Enoteca Reserve tasting room, downstairs in the caves, is $25 for 4 tastes of their reserve wines. We decided to split both tastings. Because we arrived first, we received more individual attention than we’d have probably received had we gotten there later in the day.

Villa Fiore Tasting – In general, these wines were good, but with nothing to write home about except for the Alexander Valley Syrah. It was very good, and still very tight. It could have used some age. We know that we enjoy the Fumé Blanc so we didn’t try it at the winery, but it is a bottle that we buy all the time. We bought a bottle of the Zinfandel and the Syrah.

2016 Dry Sangiovese Rosé ($14)     

2016 Lazy Creek Vineyard Rosé Pinot Noir ($22)     

2014 Una, Alexander Valley ($39)     

2015 Zinfandel, Dry Creek Valley ($28)     

2014 Syrah, Alexander Valley ($26)      (very young, needed more aging)

Enoteca Reserve Tasting – This tasting was much more enjoyable. These wines were very good, and Tony was very knowledgeable. All of the wines we tried were very good to outstanding. The two Chardonnays were very good (though very different) with their flagship Chardonnay (Domonique) being one of the best we’ve tried. We bought three different wines: Trésor and both Chardonnays.

2013 Trésor, Bordeaux-Style Blend ($55)     

2012 Cabernet Reserve, Alexander Valley ($65)     

2013 Prevail West Face, Alexander Valley ($70)     

2013 Prevail Back Forty, Alexander Valley ($90)     

2014 Lazy Creek Vineyards Estate Pinot Noir ($58)     

2014 Chardonnay Reserve, Napa Valley Carneros ($34)     

2015 Domonique, Chardonnay, Russian River Valley ($38)     

Zichichi 

Zichichi is a winery that we had both visited before. Because Aunt Janet (otherwise known as Grandmas or Julie’s Mom) loves Zinfandel, so we always look for great Zinfandel and Zichichi fits the bill. The first time, we stopped on a whim because the sign looked cool. This is a small winery where you get to taste the wine from the barrel since they usually sell out before it is bottled. This is called buying futures. Zichichi does have a small tasting room where we tasted the first two wines. Christina lead us through our tasting with another family. She has been with Zichichi for 8 years and was fun. She will be moving to Westerville, OH, in the fall, so we made a new wine friend, as well as tasted some wonderful wines.

2015 North Block Zinfandel ($40)     

2014 Pyramid Vineyard Cabernet ($50)     

2016 Estate Zinfandel ($30)     

2016 Old Vine Zinfandel ($35)     

2016 Estate Petite Sirah ($45)     

Mazzocco 

As we mentioned above, we are always looking for a good Zinfandel maker. Mazzacco definitely falls into that definition. We were turned onto Mazzacco six years ago by our friend Adam. We stopped by the first time during our first trip to Sonoma. Every year around July 4, Mazzocco and 5-6 other Zinfandel houses get together for what they coin as National Zin Day. Our visit just happened to coincide with this year’s National Zin Day. Even if you don’t do the entire day (by visiting each participating winery), visiting Mazzocco on this day, is great for discounts on their already low-priced wines. We renewed our club membership and received a 30%-40% discount. Club members also get free shipping on 3+ cases of wine. We ordered seven different wines: the Rosé, the Briar Zin, the Seaton Reserve Zin, the West Dry Creek Reserve Zin, the Warm Springs Ranch Reserve Zin, the Smith Orchard Reserve Zin and the Fascination.

2016 Rosé ($26)    

2014 Briar Zinfandel ($29)     

2014 West Dry Creek Zinfandel ($38)     

2013 West Dry Creek Reserve Zinfandel ($52)    

2013 Warm Springs Ranch Reserve Zinfandel ($52)     

2013 Smith Orchard Reserve Zinfandel ($52)    

2013 Fascination (Red Blend) ($40)     

Davis Family Vineyards 

Davis Family Vineyards was a suggestion from someone that worked with Julie who lives in California, and visits Davis Family whenever they go to Sonoma. When we walked into the tasting room, we were lucky enough to be helped by Cooper Davis, son of the winemaker. Cooper was vary knowledgeable, very helpful, and a delight to talk to. Cooper and his brother help their father in all aspects of the business (as Cooper’s business card says, “Assistant Everything”). As we began to talk, Cooper began opening more and more wines. We ended up tasting 13 wines involving 9+ different varietals. Even though we always tell ourselves we’re not going to join any clubs, we did join their club. Hopefully, when we get our wines, they taste as good as they did at our visit.

2014 Rosé ($25)     

2015 Cuvée Luke, Saralee’s Vineyard, Russian River ($30) 

2009 Riesling, Sonoma Coast ($20)     

2015 Chardonnay, Estate ($38)     

2013 Pinot Noir, Horseshoe Bend ($55)     

2013 Pinot Noir, Dutton Ranch ($55)     

2014 Pinot Noir, Soul Patch ($55)     

2014 Zinfandel, Old Vine ($38)     

2014 Throne ($42)     

2011 Syrah ($42)     

2014 Syrah ($42)     

2013 CAB 5, Rockpile ($65) 

2013 Gratitude, Late Harvest Viognier ($35) 

Zazu Kitchen + Farm (Food Truck) 

While at Davis Family, we also also got some lunch from a food truck that they had in their parking lot. It was from a restaurant in Sonoma (which is now closed) with the same name. We got the pulled pork sandwich at the recommendation of one patron and the BLT at the recommendation of Cooper and the staff at Davis Family. Both sandwiches were very good, but the pulled pork was outstanding.

Iron Horse 

The Iron Horse visit was one we were looking forward to. Our friends Adam and Amy go to Iron Horse every visit to Sonoma and pour the Wedding Cuvée at our Wine Club events. Julie made a reservation, and we rushed over from Davis Family. When we arrived, the hostess told us to “squeeze in at that table over there.” We went over to where she pointed, and had to ask another guest to move down. Even with doing this, Julie had to perch herself on the umbrella stand. We were taken aback by the fact that a reservation was required and then we were treated like a drop-in. We were very disappointed with the whole experience. It was nothing like what we expected.

2013 Ocean Reserve ($50)     

2013 Wedding Cuvée ($44)     

2012 Classic Brut ($44)     

2012 Russian Cuvée ($44)     

2013 Brut X ($52)     

The Girl and the Fig Restaurant /

( Note: This was a difficult restaurant to give an overall rating to. We were really disappointed in the service, but Julie’s fish was so good, we think it should get 4 bottles) This is a favorite restaurant of Julie’s cousin Joe, so we had to try it. It is in the Sonoma main square and we sat on the back patio. It was crowded and the tables are very close together. Our server, Beverley was busy and did not give us the attention we expected. Our evening was extremely enjoyable because of the group at the table on one side of us and the couple celebrating their anniversary on our other side. We were all talking, teasing and recommending food to each other.  Beverly did recommend the flounder which Julie got and it was amazing. It may have been the best fish she ever ate. Walt got the charcuterie and cheese plate and the croque monsieur with a fried egg. He enjoyed it but the croque monsieur was made with Texas toast which he did not like. Overall, it was a great night, thanks to our “neighbors”.

All-in-all, this was a very good start to the trip, and we really enjoyed the whole day.