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November 14, 2008
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2008-05-02
SIMI WINERY
by Michelle J. Baker
Hard to tell just from driving by, but Simi Winery in Healdsburg is sporting a brand-new, state-of-the-art space to throw a party. Better still, it’s set under the stars.
Simi has just completed the construction of a new outdoor event center, complete with a full outdoor kitchen featuring a Viking stove and wood-burning Italian oven. The new space blends neatly into its setting beneath a redwood grove, with ecofriendly touches like remilled redwood from the winery’s original fermenters used for fencing to enclose the space, and stone walls formed with rocks from Simi’s Landslide Vineyard in Alexander Valley.
Now with full outdoor and indoor entertainment areas, Simi is able to host a wide range of events including weddings (and discounted mid-week “elopements”), rehearsal dinners, corporate meetings and retreats, anniversary and birthday parties, and any other kind of event you can dream up. Inside, the winery has a spacious room for more intimate gatherings, and a full commercial kitchen. Outside, there’s even a built-in bandstand set above the patio, with room for a full ensemble plus backup singers. The winery can now accommodate up to 130 guests for events.
Simi was one of the first Sonoma County wineries to have a full-time, in-house chef. The winery’s current chef, Eric Lee, has headed the culinary program at Simi since 2001. Chef Lee has an in-depth understanding of the Simi wines and has developed a long list of food pairings from the wide array of fresh ingredients available in Wine Country. Chef Lee travels frequently as a Simi ambassador, but is often available for events at the winery.
In the Visitor Center (which is paneled with redwood from a 25,000 gallon barrel that once held wine in Simi’s cellar), Simi offers a wide range of tasting choices. The regular tasting list has not only all of the Simi favorites that are distributed throughout the country, but also some very limited production wines only available only at the winery. The current list of limited production wines on the regular tasting list includes Zinfandel, Petite Sirah, and a couple of dessert wines, a Late Harvest Chardonnay and a Late Harvest Riesling.
On the reserve list, Simi offers other limited availability wines, including an Alexander Valley Sauvignon Blanc, and Alexander Valley and Los Carneros Chardonnays. On the red side of the reserve list are the wines Simi is perhaps best known for: Cabernet Sauvignon from Landslide Vineyard in Alexander Valley and reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, also from Alexander Valley.
The winery offers a “Chardonnay Seminar” available throughout the day right at the bar, where you can taste side-by-side Simi’s Sonoma County Chardonnay along with its component Chardonnays, the Los Carneros, Alexander Valley and Russian River Valley Chardonnays.
Winemaker Steve Reeder, a California native, has been making the wine at Simi since 2003. Reeder spent ten years working in the growing East Coast wine industry before finding his way back to California in 1992. After a turn at Kendall Jackson, Reeder was the winemaker at Chateau St. Jean from 1997 until he landed at Simi in 2003.
For all that’s new at Simi, it’s easy to forget that Simi is one of the oldest wineries in California. Brothers Giuseppe and Pietro Simi traveled from Tuscany to California for the Gold Rush, and afterwards settled in San Francisco. They started making wine in 1876, and in 1881 they moved the winery to Sonoma County, where the rolling hills reminded them of their Tuscan home. The brothers completed construction of the winery’s stone cellar in 1890, and eventually doubled its size in 1904.
Simi presents an informative, in-depth tour twice daily, at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. The tour offers visitors a glimpse of Simi’s rich history as they explore the winery’s production facility, including a walk through the old stone wine cellar. The tour ends back at the Visitor Center, where guests can sample some of Simi’s wines or do some shopping. The Visitor Center offers a fine selection of Wine Country collectibles, including books, food products and glassware. For wine collectors interested in big bottles, Simi has many of its current release and library Cabernet Sauvignons available
in large formats, including magnums and three- and six-liter bottles.
Simi also has some unique wine club offerings. Club members can choose to receive selections just from Simi, or can join the “Terroir Club” to receive a mix from Simi and sibling wineries like Robert Mondavi, Mount Veeder, Franciscan Oakville Estate, Estancia, Ravenswood, Tintara, Drylands, Columbia and Veramonte/Chile. Simi club members also have an opportunity to sign up for the winery’s annual club cruise, which this year heads to Alaska on a Silverseas ship. Even if you don’t join Simi’s wine club, Simi still offers a generous 15% discount on a case of wine.
Visit Simi Winery at 16275 Healdsburg Avenue in Healdsburg. The Visitor Center is open 10 a.m. till 5 p.m. daily. For more information, call (707) 473-3232 or go to simiwinery.com.
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