Why the interest in exploring California’s Wine Country: For those of you who may not be familiar with California’s Anderson Valley, no worries. That was me about a year ago until I took a California Appellation Specialist Class with the San Francisco Wine School where I learned about all the amazing Winemaking regions in California and now I can call myself an expert! Sort of funny, right? However 30 class room hours plus a lengthy tough test says that I’m an expert so there it is!

After working my way through various California wine regions checking off Napa and Sonoma quite early due to their proximity to San Francisco I was anxious to explore Anderson Valley.  Learn more about my Napa Top 10 Wineries here and Sonoma Top 10 Wineries here.

Why Anderson Valley, specifically why Golden Eye Winery: As a Wine lover who has visited 50+ wineries I like to think that I have a broad range of experiences and a diverse assortment of wine knowledge to share with you.  So what are my thoughts on Anderson Valley? Anderson Valley is like no other California Wine region I have yet to experience. It’s north of San Francisco by about two hours, one and a half hours on the 101 and forty minutes on CA Highway 128. Expect a very peaceful desolate drive with with lots of vineyards, farms and animals grazing. You really feel like you’re in farm country with very few people surrounding you.  Aside from the peaceful setting it has incredible wines plus very accessible winemakers and hospitable winery staff. I loved the laid back casual vibe of this Northern California Wine region.

How is Golden Eye: Golden Eye is one of the larger, more well known Wineries in the region. You may know them because of their popular Napa sister brands Duckhorn (read more here) or Paraduxx or because of the incredible Goldeneye Pinot Noir wine. Regardless, they are very good at what they do and have an incredibly beautiful serene winery I recommend you visit when exploring Anderson Valley.

What are their wines like: Like most of Anderson Valley, Golden Eye makes Pinot Noirs as well as Chardonnays (music to my Chardonnay loving ears!).  During my visit I experienced the Elevated Tasting Experience ($45) which I recommend.  With the tasting is a flight of various Wines from GoldenEye, Decoy and  Paraduxx plus delicious Cheese pairings (shown below). If you prefer something a bit less formal a regular tasting is $15 but if you like Wine & Food I’d highly recommend the Elevated Tasting Experience.