Siduri (Santa Rosa)
Siduri (Santa Rosa)
Warehouse Winery in Santa Rosa, CA
981 Airway Court, Suite E
Santa Rosa, CA. 95403
707-578-3882
Tasting Lounge in Healdsburg, CA
241 Healdsburg Avenue
Healdsburg, CA 95448
707-433-6000
Adam and Dianna (Novy) Lee met while both were employed by the colossus of finery and delight that is Neiman Marcus, in Dallas, Texas. He managed fine wines, she managed epicurean delights. In disputably, a match made in (retail) heaven. The pair bonded over their shared love of food and wine, and made the move to Sonoma County in the early 1990’s. They arrived with $24,000 in their pockets with a dream of making high quality Pinot Noir from select, cool weather vineyards, and believed from the beginning the wine is made less in the winery, more in the vineyard. The Lees paid to use custom crush services at a local winery, but opted for the “hands on” approach, often bunking down with their fermenting fruit to ensure that every step of the process was managed to their exacting standards. In 1994, they produced their first vintage of Siduri, to critical acclaim. Four years later, in partnership with Dianna’s family and mutual friends, the Lees introduced a second label, Novy (meaning “new” in Dianna’s Czech heritage language), to highlight their fondness for other varietals, including Syrah and Zinfandel. For the last twenty years, Siduri and Novy have continued to receive outstanding ratings from consumers and critics, alike, and in 2014, their wines were chosen to be served at the White House during holiday parties and festivities.
Days and Hours:
Santa Rosa: Thursday through Monday, 10:00 am to 4:30 pm (by appointment only)
Healdsburg: Sunday and Monday, 11:00am to 4:30 pm. Thursday through Saturday, 11:00 am to 6:30 pm (hours change seasonally)
Cost: $10 (fee waive with purchase or wine club sign-up).
Red or White: Red (mostly). Expect to taste Pinot Noir from California to Oregon, with a few others (Syrah or Zinfandel) mixed in for good measure. Only one or two white wines available to taste.
If you don’t love Pinot Noir, Siduri isn’t your winery. In any given year, they make up to thirty different Pinots, the majority of which are single vineyard selections spanning more than 800 miles of varying topography from the Willamette Valley (the heart of Oregon’s Pinot Noir production) to Santa Barbara County.
Pricing: $24 to $65
Food:
Santa Rosa: No
Healdsburg: Yes. Inquire as to what might be available. Currently, the Healdsburg location can accommodate small, plated snack food. They intend to re-establish a wine and food pairing program in coming months.
Good for Groups: In both locations, advanced arrangements are required for groups larger than six. Neither space is particularly large, but of the two, the Healdsburg location would be most comfortable for a large group.
Proximity to other wineries:
Santa Rosa: Poor
Healdsburg: Excellent
Family Friendly:
Santa Rosa: No
Healdsburg: Yes*
*I would not recommend bringing children to either location. Siduri’s Santa Rosa tasting room is housed within the winery’s production facility, in an industrial park. Their Healdsburg location is a distinctly adult environment, but that being said it is a larger space designed to host guests comfortably and privately. Just clarify your needs when making your reservation, and they are sure to accommodate you in the best possible way.
Pet Friendly:
Santa Rosa: No
Healdsburg: No
Tasting Experiences: Private only. Visits to the warehouse winery in Santa Rosa require an appointment. Visits to the tasting lounge in Healdsburg do no require a reservation, but reservations are preferred and recommended.
Winery Events: The last Friday of February, April, June, August and October, the Siduri winemaking team hosts a chef-prepared dinner, paired with Siduri wines. Tickets are $70/person and are available for sale on their website.
Wine Club: Yes. There are two wine club membership levels, one that offers one case of wine (six bottles, twice per year), and a second option that offers two cases of wine (one case, twice per year). As a Siduri wine club member, you have access to exclusive events, and “first dibs” on newly released wines.
Other interesting features: Siduri’s warehouse winery is the epitome of an industrial winemaking facility. The tasting bar is, literally, just inside the working winery. The Healdsburg location is perfectly placed in downtown Healdsburg, making a visit to the town square, shops and award winning restaurants an absolute must.
Deja vu was what I felt, walking up to the door of Siduri’s warehouse winery, on a brisk Thursday morning in February. You see, when I completed the wine immersion program at the Culinary Institute of America, Siduri hired me for my first gig in the industry. Thus, I hold a special place in my heart for Siduri, their family and their wines and I was anxious to get in and re-explore my old stomping grounds.
Keep in mind, the warehouse winery is, in fact, in a warehouse. It is an industrial, working facility. While the majority of press is given to Sonoma County’s sprawling vista vineyard wine estates, at the end of the day, wine is made in essentially the same way most places. What makes a producer like Siduri unique is that in the very facility I am tasting in today, upwards of thirty different single vineyard and blended Pinot Noir wines are produced, each vintage. The location is inconspicuous, but the enological magic performed there is near perfection.
Push your way through the 7-11 swinging glass door, and you’ll find yourself in a warm, welcoming space that is just large enough to host groups of up to ten or twelve comfortably, but intimate enough to feel cozy, despite its adjacency to the more expansive space of Siduri’s winery facility and barrel room. There is a discreet display of Siduri merchandise for sale as you enter, but the focal point quickly becomes the rustic wood planked tasting room bar, and the impressive series of geographical maps, framed and hanging behind it. You wanted an introduction into the minute idiosyncrasies of the coveted Pinot Noir varietal? You’ve got it, rest assured. And they’ve got the maps of each represented appellation to prove it. Opposite the bar is a painted mural, depicting the select vineyards Siduri sources fruit from and paying homage to their winery’s namesake, Siduri, the Babylonian goddess of fermentation and merriment (aka: wine). There is a smaller room off to the side that was designed to host groups, private parties or wine club members. It is comfortable and well appointed, and would undoubtedly be a comfortable, casual gathering spot for an after work social or intimate event. As coastal influences are so important to the propagation of worthy Pinot Noir, design elements representing water are plentiful, the prime example being the site’s clever use of barrel staves in a wave-like pattern, along the insides of windows and separating the tasting room space from the working winery warehouse.
More than likely, your tasting host will be Tim. He’s the guy on scene at Siduri’s warehouse winery, and will astutely take you through Siduri’s history, the expansiveness of their production and details of each wine produced from each appellation. He’s also, by the way, a professional symphonic musician, a trombone player, in fact. And is his wife? A violinist, of course! But I digress, Tim is pleasant, knowledgable, engaging and interesting…another fine example of how the world of wine attracts those from all walks of life.
Tastings at the warehouse winery consist of five tastes, offered from a menu of seven or so wines. You can visit Siduri’s warehouse winery Thursday to Monday, 10:00 am to 4:30 pm, by appointment. The cost to taste is $10/person, but that fee is waived with the purchase of a bottle, or a wine club sign up. A short, guided tour of the winery facility is included. You can expect to spend about an hour, tasting wines and walking around inside. It’s a great way to spend a casual morning, gearing up for a day of tasting in Russian River Valley, or as a conclusion to a day spent outdoors.
For more information about Siduri’s warehouse winery, it’s current offerings and to schedule appointments, visit their website: http://www.siduri.com/visit/warehouse
Suggestions:
- Make this your morning tasting appointment. Siduri’s warehouse winery location makes it a good choice for those staying in the Santa Rosa area, and there are a number of popular, local breakfast diners in proximity, namely Sam’s For Play Cafe on Cleveland Avenue and Piner Cafe on Piner Avenue. Both are great for fueling up before a day of tasting.
- Visit Santa Rosa’s local bottle shop, Bottle Barn. Just around the corner and up the block is a locally owned and operated haven for wine, beer and spirits, with Sonoma County producers proudly taking center stage.
Wines tasted:
I tasted the following wines during my visit to Siduri’s warehouse winery (bold indicates purchased):
2014 SIDURI Sonatera Vineyard Pinot Noir ($50): Located near the southern border of the Sonoma Coast appellation, Pinot Noir from this vineyard tends to produce complex wines displaying more distinctly stewed red fruit characteristics and well refined, herbaceous, dusty tannin (ie: lavender, rosemary). This is example does not disappoint. Last vintage produced.
2015 SIDURI Sara Lee’s Vineyard Pinot Noir ($50): Siduri gained access to the famed Sara Lee’s Vineyard for the first time in 2015, and this inaugural vintage is as true to Russian River Pinot Noir as it gets. Bright, tart cherries, subtle, silky viscosity, ripe and rosey. Pretty as a picture.
2015 SIDURI Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir ($35): A little further south, a little warmer climate, a little richer fruit. This wine is unctuous. It rolls its intensity around your mouth with baked red and black berries, stewed tomatoes and paste, and a gently warming spice.
2015 SIDURI Clos Pepe Vineyard Pinot Noir ($60): Again, a little further south. This time to Santa Rita Hills (think Lompoc). Of all the Pinot Noir I tasted at Siduri’s warehouse winery, this was the stand out. Aromatically rustic and earth, transforming itself to ripe red raspberry and macerated cherry mid-palette to a lingering, distinct black pepper finish.
2015 NOVY Family Papera Zinfandel ($40): Old vine, Russian River Zinfandel. Beautiful and timeless in its own right. This example is light and bright, blackberries and plums, potpourri and subtle spice.
2015 NOVY Family Garys’ Vineyard Syrah ($35): The famed Garys’ Vineyard of Santa Lucia Highlands. Not Gary’s, but Garys’. Yep, you guessed it…two Garys. Adjacent to yet another famed Santa Lucia vineyard, Pisoni, Garys’ Vineyard Syrah in the glass shows a bright pink rim, deepening to an inky, blood red, opaque core. The wine tastes as it looks, red fruit up front, moving to rich, concentrated tastes flicked with coffee and licorice and a typical, dusty tannic finish, a peek at warm, breezy summers outside by the grill.
2015 NOVY Family Sara Lee’s Vineyard Viognier ($35): Russian River Valley Viognier? I can’t remember the last time I tasted an example of it, but I’m sure glad that I was able to, today. Bright with lemon zest and curd, clean clear lines of acidity culminating in a lovely, light finish of kafir lime leaves, vanilla and sweet spice. Pure delight.
