´Recently I had the pleasure of spending an afternoon getting to know Winemaker Adam Lee of Siduri Winery and Kristina Werner of Arrowood Winery. The two brands are quite different as Siduri focuses on Burgundian varietals specifically Pinot Noir where Arrowood focuses more of Bordeaux varietals with a strong emphasis on Sonoma County Cabernet Sauvignon sourced from Sonoma, Knights and Alexander Valley AVA’s in addition to offering Merlot, Malbec, Rose, and whites including Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Viognier & Riesling.

The barrel and tank room at Siduri’s Santa Rosa Winery. It’s not every day you get to tour a winery with the winemaker so it was a lot of fun hearing Adam’s insights on the history of Siduri Wines, including their establishment of one of Santa Rosa’s original “urban wineries”, their expansion to larger space in 2011, and the ways in which they are slowly growing into their new space, as the winery grows. If you want to learn more about Siduri Wines read about them in my Top 10 Healdsburg Tasting room post where I share more about their incredible Healdsburg Tasting Lounge.

Siduri Winemaker Adam Lee during my afternoon tasting with him and Kristina Werner the Winemaker of Arrowood Winery

The line up of Pinot Noir’s we tasted. We literally covered Pinot from all regions including Oregon’s Willamette Valley, and Califorinia’s  Russian River, Santa Lucia Highlands and Sta. Rita Hills. Being a bit of  nerd when it comes to tasting, I truly enjoy doing side by sides and tasting the different profiles each region offers. The Russian River was the lightest and the Oregon Pinot was a bit atypical compared to Oregon Pinots I’ve had, as this has dark red fruit and a lovely nose to it. Typically Oregon Pinot Noir’s have a very earthy smell and taste to them, but  this was more elegant and feminine.  No surprise the Sta. Rita Hills and Santa Lucia Highlands were my favorite’s as they had the heaviest fruit as well as some intense spice (which I adore) and the lovely nose you find from that region of California.

Winemaker Kristina Werner of Arrowood Winery and her adorable dog who joined us for the wine tasting

The line up of Arrowood Wines we tasted together. The Rose was super interesting as it was 100% Grenache with a lovely light pink color, a spectacular nose, and a subtle acidic smell to it. The Carneros Chardonnay had a nice balance with acid evident and just a touch of oak flavors from the neutral oak used in the barrels. The Sonoma Valley Cabernet was lovely with a nose of Annis spice, green and black peppers. I appreciated the rocky terroir taste to it reflective of the Sonoma Mountain region it was grown in. Lastly, was the Malbec also with nice body and balance and nice tannins on the finish. Read more about Arrowood and their amazing Sonoma Winery here.

A thank you to Winemakers Adam Lee & Kristina Werner for sharing your afternoon with me tasting together and sharing more about your backgrounds, your wineries and what excites you and keeps the wines growing and evolving.