OK, it was not a particularly perilous journey.  In fact, he had a great time and tasted great wines.  His report:
"Perhaps you are considering a wine trip near San Francisco.  You have heard of Napa Valley, but are open to other choices.  Did you know that Sonoma County, just west of Napa, has nearly twice as many acres of vineyard compared to Napa?  Sonoma has more vineyards than Napa (450 compared to 390).  And it has much more diverse climate, as indicated by its 18 different AVA’s (American Viticulture Area).  The largest Sonoma AVA is Russian River, located north of Santa Rosa, and south of Healdsburg.

​Sonoma County, with its cooler climate, specializes in Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Zinfandel.  I only had a long weekend to visit, so I focused my search on a few vineyards that excelled in my red grape favorites.  I tend to like clone specific varietal wines that show complex flavors and that come from small boutique wineries.  I found several treasures.
Pinot Noirs from the Sonoma region are, in general, halfway between the elegant light-bodied wines of Oregon and the full-bodied giants from California’s Central Coast.  I found the Sonoma pinots to be medium bodied, fruit-forward, and with very soft tannins.  They will easily pair well with a wide variety of foods.  New favorites I discovered on this trip came from Bucher Vineyards and Benovia Winery.  Bucher’s single clone Pommard Pinot ($55) was particularly well balanced, with prominent dark fruit flavors and a strong smooth finish.  I was also intrigued by their clone 943 which is very fruit-forward and intense, and is grown by only a few vineyards.  Benovia had a large selection of well-made wines, and they presented them in a beautiful tasting room with a great view of their property.  My favorite was the LaPommeraie ($65), a blend of clones 777 and 828, which was aged for a long 16 months in new French oak.  Wow, the flavors were wonderful!  Benovia Winery also caught my attention with their Zinfandel ($42), a flavorful and complex wine that was a great value.

​Dry Creek Winery was another great discovery.  They served five different Zinfandels (and had several more for sale) in a beautiful outdoor patio setting.  I knew I was in for a treat when they poured the samples, and I could smell the floral nose while the glasses were still on the serving table!  Dry Creek’s zins were medium bodied and filled with complex flavors of blue and black fruit.  My favorites were Somers Ranch ($44) and Farmhouse ($42) which was made from their Heritage clone grapes.
Of course, there are many other great wineries in Sonoma County.   Check the internet to find other treasures, and add them to my list to create your own tasting tour.  You won’t be disappointed!"
Doc Ed

​It is probably not a good idea to go wine tasting on a very windy winter’s day, especially now that all of the wine tasting is done outdoors.  Well, we did just that and it turned out to be a fortunate trip.  Our first stop was to visit one of Ramona’s best wineries, Edwards, to check on the release of their Syrah clones and generally shoot the breeze.  Well, the breeze shot us instead, so we headed off to Ramona Ranch.  Ramona Ranch is located on the same road as Edwards (same side), though much closer to the town center.  Anyway, the winery boasts an award-winning Tannat.  This was my second trip, but like the first the Tannat was not available for tasting.  So, I bought a bottle.  More on this wine below.
The winery does not have much of an indoor wine tasting room, so you sit outside on a very nice patio a listen to music as you sip their very nice wines – see below.  They are building a new facility – foundation has been laid – just behind the parking lot.  Now the wind was still blowing when we arrived at Ramona Ranch, and I can assure you that it was pretty cold on that back porch, yet there were plenty of people there (all of the seats in the sun were taken), so, yes, this is a popular winery which I have been very late to discover.  Sorry guys, but I was waiting to taste the Tannat and the dog ate my homework….

​They make tasting very simple -- $2 per taste (3 minimum), you choose what you want off of their menu (shown below).  They pour the first taste in a glass, then send you out on the porch.  The rest of the wines you selected are brought out in plastic cups so you refill your tasting glass yourself.  I like the method because it allows me to do parallel tasting so I could readily compare their two Sangiovese offerings.  Also tried the Viognier and the Aglianico, both of which are quite nice and have been added to my wine hoard.

​Now on to Tannat.  This French grape has found its way to South America where it is grown in Brazil, Argentina, Chile and especially Uruguay, where it is the most popular wine.  This grape yields a wine with the highest level of antioxidants of all red wines, so it is the healthiest wine you can drink.  On the down side, high antioxidants mean high tannin levels, and this grape makes wines that are right up there near the top.  One of the advantages of growing this grape in Southern California is the long growing season, i.e., the wine makers can let the grapes ripen longer, softening the tannins and making the wine drinkable after only a few years aging.  I can’t say too much about the Ramona Ranch version as this was only the third time I’ve tried Tannat, and one was a sample that has yet to be released.  But it is a very nice wine even without proper aging….
Ramona Ranch has wine club, as noted on the picture of the big board.  Standard 20% discount on 2 or 4 bottles four times a year, with two free five-sample tastings or a glass of wine with your visits to the winery.  Of course, wine club members get access to their best wines, including their Tannat and some wines that are never available to the general public.
Really worth a visit – but not on a cold, windy day….