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We had a wonderful day exploring several wineries in Green Valley. For those who may not know, Green Valley is a wine appellation in the Southwest corner of Russian River Valley. Green Valley is a recognized AVA, known for its cooler growing season.

Pure Luxury Transportation made sure we were all safe and comfortable during our travels!

[red_med]The wineries that were generous enough to host us were:[/red_med]
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[blue_med]Iron Horse Vineyards[/blue_med]
www.ironhorsevineyards.com
Iron Horse is best known for their sparkling wines, which have been served at the White House through the last 5 consecutive presidential administrations. The relaxed outdoor tasting room with views of the valley was pure delight. Upon our arrival, we were greeted by Iron Horse Winemaker, David Munksgard, the only non-family member principal at Iron Horse. David led us through a tour of the facility, sharing some interesting history about method champenoise, the method Iron Horse follows for their sparkling wines. We were able to witness the disgorging process and taste sparkling wine just after disgorging & before the dosage was added. This was a very educational tour given by a winemaker who is as passionate as he is knowledgeable. During and after our tour, we tasted Iron Horse’s excellent sparkling and still wines. Iron Horse offers this special winemaker tour every Friday at 10 am. Tours are $20/person (refunded with a bottle purchase). If given enough advance notice, they can arrange a “truck tour” for up to 4 people. This tour is not advertised on their website, and is perfect for your VIPs. On the truck tour, David will take guests out into the vineyard to learn about wine production from the vine to the bottle. This extended tour lasts between 2-3 hours. Book your tour by contacting Tasting Room Manager, Lisa Macek at lisam@ironhorsevineyards.com. Another inside tip that would be great to share with your clients – Iron Horse offers 2 free tastings to visitors who “check in” on Facebook while visiting the winery.
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[blue_med]Dutton-Goldfield Winery[/blue_med]
www.duttongoldfield.com
With 10,000 case production, Dutton- Goldfield is a boutique winery that focuses on outstanding chardonnay and pinot noir. Their largest production wines are the Dutton Ranch Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, but their main focus is single-vineyard wines, producing approximately 200-500 cases of each per year. We tasted their 2008 Dutton Ranch Chardonnay and Pinot Noir as well as their single-vineyard wines: 2008 Sanchietti Vineyard Pinot Noir, 2008 Freestone Hill Pinot Noir, 2008 Devil’s Gulch Pinot Noir, and 2008 Cherry ridge Vineyard Syrah. We were lucky enough to catch winemaker Dan Goldfield as he was coming in for work. He led us through the tasting of these wines and explained how Dutton Goldfield got its start. Dan is a down-to-earth and passionate winemaker. He explained that Dutton Goldfield wines love to age a bit and are great for food pairing.
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Dutton Goldfield’s tasting room is comfortable and homey, with cozy seating next to a fireplace. They also encourage guests to engage in a sensory tasting experience. Jars of spices are offered on tasting room bar to assist your nose in identifying aromatics found in pinot noir and syrah. Tasting fee is $10 (waived with purchase). They offer food pairing options as well as smaller group VIP tastings in their tasting room “living room.” Larger private tastings (up to 20-30 people) can be arranged after hours in the tasting room. In the summer, Dutton Goldfield’s patio is open for tastings. Glasses of wine may also be purchased on patio, and there is often live music there on the weekends. The winery is also dog friendly (as long as food events are not taking place in tasting room) and will be hosting a Dogs Days of Summer event in August (keep checking their website for more info). Tasting room is open daily – no appointment required. Contact Valerie Wathen (Valerie@duttongoldfield.com) or Sarah Kelley (sarah@duttongoldfield.com) to schedule your VIP tastings.
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[blue_med]Marimar Estate[/blue_med]
www.marimarestate.com
Marimar Estate is part of the Torres Family Vineyards from Barcelona. Marimar Torres founded the winery and maintains a home on the property (which is part of the tour). Marimar was not there during our visit, but Alice (Hospitality Manager) and Kyle (Tasting Room Manager) guided us along the tour. Due to the rainy weather, we chose to drive up the hill to Marimar’s home, but this tour is typically given on foot. The tour stops among the grapevines to demonstrate the European style planting (higher density and closer to the ground). Marimar’s wines are certified organic and produced with biodynamic metohds. The tour is offer year-round, Mon-Fri.

Upon the completion of our tour, we returned to the tasting room for a Tapas wine pairing. The tasting room is stunning – a mix of old world tradition with modern California design, and has an outdoor patio. The tapas wine pairing included 4 outstanding wines (La Masia Chardonnay, Dobles Lias Chardonnay, La Masia Pinot Noir, and Cristina Pinor Noir) and 4 tapas bites (recipes came from Marimar’s cookbook). The pairing was enjoyable and delicious. It would be important to let your guests know that this tapas tasting is on the lighter side and would not be a substitute for lunch. The wine and tapas tasting is $35 per person, the pairing and the tour is $45 per person. To schedule a tour or tasting for your guests, contact Alice Hunter at 707-823-4365 x111 or at alice@marimarestate.com.
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[blue_med]Balletto Vineyards[/blue_med]
www.ballettovineyards.com
This family-owned winery is warm and welcoming. John Balletto, President and Founder of the winery, greeted us in the rustic tasting room and talked about the history of Balletto Vineyards. Their story is a unique one. Balletto started as a vegetable farmer at age 17 and eventually became the largest vegetable farmer north of the Golden Gate Bridge. In 1999, the family began to change over the vegetable farm to vineyards. In 2001, they made their first Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. John Balletto explained that the transition from vegetables to grapes was an easy one. The Balletto Family has 500 acres of grapes. They select the top 10% of what they grow for their own wines and sell the rest. They have the infrastructure in place and are able to deliver high quality wines for less money. Don’t judge these wines by their price tag. Everything we tasted was fabulous.

We also met with winemaker, Anthony Beckman, and Direct to Consumer/Wine Club Manager, Nancy Woods. Anthony and Nancy took us through the rest of the tasting in the warehouse, where Anthony explained that even though the building wasn’t made for wine production, it ended up being perfectly suited for it. The entire staff’s warmth and passion for wine was apparent.

Balletto offers a relaxed tasting for your guests. They also offer a mile-long, self-guided vineyard tour. The staff is open to requests if you have someone special visiting the winery. Their goal is to build relationships with their customers. They want customers for life. Any special requests can be directed to Nancy Woods at 707-568-2455 x 111 or nancy@ballettovineyards.com.
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[blue_med]Freestone Vineyards[/blue_med]
www.freestonevineyards.com
The sister winery of Joseph Phelps, Freestone focuses exclusively on Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. The site was planted by Phelps in 2000, and the 2007-2008 vintage was the first to be produced on site at Freestone. The tasting room opened in 2008. The tasting room itself is intimate. A couple of long country tables were set up for our group tasting. Guest Center Manager, Brad Schneider, guided us through the seated tasting of 5 wines (Fogdog Chardonnay, Ovation Chardonnay, Freestone Chardonnay, Fogdog Pinot Noir, and Freestone Pinot Noir). Freestone also offers tastings outside on the patio under the redwood and private tastings upstairs. There is also cozy seating next to a fireplace inside. There are plenty of options to accommodate your guests! Contact Brad Schneider at bschneider@freestonevineyards.com to schedule a private or large group tasting.
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Freestone Vineyards Guest Center features a local purveyor special event on the Second Sunday of each month. A listing of their upcoming Second Sunday events can be found here: http://www.freestonevineyards.com/events/

Noted provided by Tina Delaney, TLCD Concierge