What do bocce ball, “Bubbles for Boobies,” fabulous wines, food, cigars, friends and an historic building all have in common? Why,
J. Keverson Winery, of course!

It all started way back in 1999. A group of about fifteen friends started a weekly Friday night bocce ball/BBQ gathering at “Starkey’s Court” (Starkey was the guy who owned the bocce ball court). It was a guys-only kind of thing, where once a week, the guys would meet, BBQ some meat, play some bocce, smoke a few cigars and drink some wine. It started out as a casual, burgers-and-hot-dogs kind of thing, then morphed into the guys bringing better foods to pair with better wines. It ultimately became a downright gourmet gathering.

After about a year of these testosterone-laden, gustatory delights, one of the guys came up with the bright idea of “Hey! We should start making our own wine!” And they did. In 2001, they produced their first barrel of wine, and it turned out really well.

In 2005, they decided to go commercial with their wine and they needed a name for their brand. After much head scratching (and wine drinking and cigar smoking, too, I’m sure), they came up with J. Keverson, which is sort of an anagram of the names of John, Kevin, Eric and Scott, who were the mainstays of the bocce-playing, cigar-smoking, gourmet-food-and-wine-pairing group. In this manner, J. Keverson Winery was born.

Fast-forward a few years to 2011. Recently, I met with John Hazlewood, winemaker and one of the founding partners of J. Keverson Winery in their lovely tasting room in Healdsburg. I thoroughly enjoyed my visit with John and really liked every wine I tasted (more on that later).

John is a lovely man. He’s soft-spoken and friendly, with a wickedly dry sense of humor. Chances are if you visit the tasting room, you’ll meet John, one of the other partners or a member of one of the partner’s families. Any way you slice it, you’re in for a treat.

The tasting room is located in Old Roma Station (built circa 1905), an historic group of brick buildings on Front Street, located just south of the bucolic plaza in the wine-drenched town plaza of Healdsburg.

You can almost taste the history in this tasting room. The ceilings are tall, with exposed pipes, the bar that spans the back of the room is wooden, with comfortable stools and tasteful photographs and artwork decorate the walls. There are a couple of picnic tables outside as well as inside, encouraging you to relax and stay a while. There is a variety of “Bubbles for Boobies” merchandise available for sale.

Train tracks run alongside the building. This collective of buildings was originally a winery, where the local farmers would bring their grapes in via horses and wagons, then later, via trucks. The grapes would be processed into wine, then the barrels of wine would be loaded onto train cars bound for San Francisco and points beyond.

OK, enough with the history lesson – back to J. Keverson Winery. I tasted a goodly handful of wines during my visit with John and they were all great! Unfortunately, I only have room enough to write about a few of them. Here we go:

2007 Transitions Blanc de Noir, $25 (Bubbles for Boobies – more on that in a minute): mouthwatering aromas of strawberry, cherry, green apple with a touch of toast lure the taster into a vibrant, zesty mouthful of consistent flavors. Delicious!

2008 Pinot Noir, Haas Family Vineyard, Sonoma Mountain, $32: what a fabulous Pinot! Rose petal, potpourri spice, cherry, orange peel and a pinch of savory green herb aromas continue as flavors in the seductively silky mouth. Long, delicious finish.

2008 Zinfandel, Sonoma County, $26: this is Zinfandel with a capital “Z”! Scents of ripe raspberry, blackberry, baking spices and a whiff of flowers delight the nose. These aromas continue as flavors with good intensity in the perfectly balanced mouth. You are going to want another sip. And another…

OK, let’s talk about “Bubbles for Boobies.” J. Keverson Winery produces a fabulous sparkling wine. It’s the Transitions Blanc de Noir that I just reviewed. They initially decided to call the wine “Transition,” because people usually drink sparkling wines or Champagnes to celebrate some sort of transition in their lives, such as weddings, anniversaries, New Years Eve, etc.

The group of friends involved with J. Keverson Winery recently lost a loved one to breast cancer and wanted to do something to help, so they decided to donate a portion of the profit from their Transition Blanc de Noir to breast cancer research and education. The Transition Blanc de Noir is presented in snazzy pink packaging and comes complete with a pink wristband. The next bottling of Blanc de Noir will simply be called Bubbles for Boobies. I think they’ll sell a bunch of it, because the wine is excellent, it’s reasonably priced and it’s for a good cause.

These are good people, producing great wines, located in an interesting historic building. You simply gotta go there! Tell ’em the Wine Wench sent you.

J. Keverson Winery is located at 53 Front Street, Healdsburg. They are open 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday through Monday. For more information, call (707) 433-3097 or visit their website at www.jkeverson.com.