Ferrari-Carano

While waiting for our dinner reservation at Scopa and wandering around Healdsburg, we decided to stop by the Ferrari-Carano Seasons of the Vineyard tasting room. As we were staying at the Vintner’s Inn, we had a free tasting and since we loved the complimentary Ferrari-Carano Fumé Blanc in our hotel room, we were happy to taste more of their wines.

We opted for the Lazy Creek Pinot Noir and cheese tasting at the lovely marble tasting bar.

I really enjoyed all three of the Pinots, matched perfectly with the cheeses. One of the cheeses was a semi hard goat’s milk cheese with an incredible tanginess to it. Yum! Philippe at the tasting bar was incredibly helpful, and he invited us to visit the Ferrari-Carano winery the next day.

We woke up to a somewhat foggy Sonoma morning and drove up through the Dry Creek Valley to Ferrari-Carano. It was worth the trip!

The main building is like a Tuscan villa.

The gardens were spectacular! So perfectly laid out and manicured.

From the Ferrari-Carano website:

Ferrari-Carano’s spectacular five acres of gardens surrounding the winery are just as well-known as its wines. What began in 1987 as a labor of love for gardener extraordinaire Rhonda Carano, took 16 months just to plan and complete the initial planting. Today, garden aficionados and wine lovers alike enjoy the beautiful gardens and dazzling displays of color that Rhonda and head gardener Pat Patin have created.

We sat by this serene little pond for awhile before continuing on.

As it was the second day of spring, there were tulips everywhere, and these really neat trees lined the paths down to the vineyards.

We didn’t end up tasting more wine at the winery, but I am so glad that we visited. It is a place that I definitely would love to visit again. The hospitality that we received at the tasting bar in Healdsburg was exceptional, the wines that we tried were delicious, and you can’t beat the views! I could have stayed in the Dry Creek Valley forever, but we had brunch plans in Napa Valley so we were on our way again!

Have a beautiful day everyone! Do you have any fun weekend plans?