Field Stone Winery & Vineyard

It is one of the prettiest drives in all of the Sonoma County wine country. From the charming town of Healdsburg with its historic town plaza and a growing restaurant, arts and entertainment scene, into the Alexander Valley. Go over the river on the old bridge where below canoes and kayaks are pulled up out the water, past the Jimtown Store, then the long stretch of two lane road that passes more vineyards than you can count. They stretch off onto the flat land to the west that doesn’t end until it meets the river. To the east they climb up the hillsides in the distance.

Just as the road, Highway 128, starts to descend down into a series of turns that will eventually take you to the Napa County line and Calistoga, on your right you’ll see some very old trees – oaks probably – and a sign that says Field Stone Winery. Turn in.

Around the biggest of the trees are well-used wooden picnic tables on an expansive lawn. Next to them, built into the hillside, is a building that looks like it might have been built in the Civil War. There’s a stone front, big wooden door and a window or two. You have arrived at the Field Stone Winery tasting room and barrel storage and more, all built, it might come as a surprise, not in the year 1867 but in 1977. Though it should be noted that on the property there are Petite Sirah vineyards that do go back a hundred years.

On the estate, which was officially founded in 1894, there are also family plantings that go back to 1967. On the 50 acres, 38 in vineyards, the varieties also include Viognier, Merlot, Syrah, Sangiovese and Cabernet Sauvignon. With less than 10,000 cases produced, all of their wines, including a new Gewürztraminer and a rich Port, are produced in small but delicious and much sought-after lots, usually 500 cases each or far less. With the Staten Family Reserve Vintage Port, for instance, only 165 cases were crafted.

So what you do is pick up a picnic lunch before you arrive, then go into the cellar past the oak barrels and make a left into the compact tasting room. The bar is not big but the staff is helpful and friendly. Let them walk you through their list, then wine in hand head out to that big tree and enjoy food and wine and the wonderful feeling of being surrounded on every side by vines. But make time, don’t hurry; the setting and the wines are meant to be savored, not rushed through. You will be amply rewarded for your time.

VARIETALS
Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Viognier, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Petite Sirah and Port