Dear friends recommended we visit Three Sticks Wines on our latest Sonoma visit and it was one of the best tasting experiences we’ve ever had.
About Three Sticks Wines
Three Sticks Living Room
Three Sticks Wines is a boutique, family-owned winery whose philosophy is to produce wines of world class quality from exceptional vineyards in Sonoma County, including our estate properties Durell, Walala and Gap’s Crown Vineyards.
“Three Sticks” refers to the three Roman numerals that follow Founder Bill Price’s written name. He was known as “Billy Three Sticks” growing up surfing in Hawaii, where the young Price attended high school. Price, an attorney by trade, expanded his passion for wine when his former private equity firm bought Beringer in 1995. Other wine industry investments have been made in Chateau St Jean, Kistler Vineyards, Gary Farrell Winery, Lutum and Head High. Price also owns Durell Vineyard from which Three Sticks sources some of its grapes.
About The Adobe
The historic Vallejo-Casteñada Adobe is one of Sonoma’s few remaining buildings from California’s Mexican period and the longest occupied residence in town. The history of the property is as follows:
1842 – Constructed by Captain Salvador Vallejo, infamous brother of beloved General Mariano Vallejo.
1947 – Gregory and Harriet Jones purchased the property, which they called “La Casita”, and launched into a major restoration.
1997 – Mrs. Jones’ estate sold The Adobe to her dear friends Robert & Leslie Demler who meticulously cared for the building for the next 15 years.
2012 – Bill and Eva Price purchased The Adobe from the Demlers for Three Sticks in November 2012, 170 years after its original construction.
Welcome Tasting
Bill and Eva Price bought Three Sticks Wines’s property to create a company headquarters with multiple functions. Famed San Francisco designer, Ken Fulk, was hired to design the three buildings (see the winery featured in Architectural Digest here) – the original adobe which houses the tasting lounge and kitchen; a newly-built cottage used as an office; and a new wine storehouse where a second tasting area is housed and where we enjoyed our tasting.
About the Gardens
Artwork in Garden
We fell in love with the garden design created by Landscape Architect, Penney Magrane. The challenge was to reimagine the original Helen Van Pelt garden design to compliment Ken Fulk’s building design. The fire pit, sitting areas and outdoor dining area are reflections of the authentic restoration of the property. Several inviting spaces were created in the garden to allow several groups to share common spaces but in a private way. We went home with several design ideas for our own home.
About the Wines
Veteran Director of Winemaking, Bob Cabral (former winemaker and general manager for Williams Selyem Winery) and Winemaker Ryan Prichard, make exceptional wines and it’s difficult to say which was my favorite, however, the Chardonnay sourced from Durell Vineyards is very special. Here are the wines we sampled:
2016 Casteñada White Blend ($45) – this is the third Rhone varietal in the trio of limited Casteñada label. We were greeted with this wine upon arriving at the property and loved it so much we purchased a case to have at home for the summer. This wine is only available, in very small quantities, at the Adobe. This wine is a blend of 30% Grenache Blanc, 30% Roussanne, 17% Marsanne and 13% Viognier – grapes I adore. Lovely floral and citrus notes on the nose are followed by great fruit flavors with amazing minerality (concrete egg fermented) and a crisp finish.
2016 Durell Vineyard Origin Chardonnay ($50) – The unoaked Origin Chardonnay from Durell Vineyard is fermented in concrete and offers light tropical fruit flavors. Rich-yet-light wine showing beautiful fruit without any masking from oak.
2015 Gap’s Crown Vineyard Chardonnay ($55) – 100% Dijon clones which are perfectly suited to match the cool, foggy climate. This wine is bright with great minerality and a rich palate. This wine is aged 15 months in 100% French oak (40% new).
2016 Russian River Valley Pinot Noir ($65) – This vintage is a blend of William James Vineyard, Alana Vineyard and Earl Stephens Vineyard creating the perfect Russian River blend. Lovely fruity nose with typical cherry cola flavors and oaky notes on the medium finish.
2016 Sta. Rita Hills Pinot Noir, “The James” ($65) – Made with fruit from the famed Sanford & Benedict and La Rinconada Vineyards in Santa Barbara county, The James (named after Bill Price III’s son) is so different from Three Sticks’ Sonoma Pinot Noir and fun to drink side by side. Big red berry aromas and spiced ripe red berries on the palate on this wine in its last vintage.
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- Storehouse Tasting Room
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- Wine Tasting
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- Main Tasting Room
The wines are sold through an allocation list so sign up if you’d like a chance at tasting these wonderful wines.
Tastings are available by appointment and range about 60 minutes for tastings and 90-120 minutes for a private luncheon. A current release tasting is $40 and $80 for the addition of library wines to the current release tasting. There are two food and wine experiences, the $85 Food & Wine Pairing – five wines paired with food from The Girl and the Fig and the $200 Private Luncheon – three-course meal with wine pairings, prepared by El Dorado Kitchen.
Three Sticks features some of the best wines in Sonoma and a visit to its historic tasting room right off the town square is a must when in wine country.
Three Sticks Wines – www.threestickswines.com 143 West Spain Street, Sonoma, CA.
Cheers,
Veronique
Mumm Napa Brut Reserve NV.
This young wine was inky purple/red in the glass with dark berry aromas and hints of pepper and wet soil. It was medium to full-bodied with more dark fruit on the palate along with great acidity and firm tannins that will soften with some age in the bottle. We had this with a variety of grilled meats and it was a solid pairing.
Another beauty from the team at Jonata proving once again that Matt Dees is one of the most talented winemakers in the central coast. This is a blend of the 11 varieties grown at the property. Mental note to add to my limited allocation next year.
Seems Ravines can do no wrong and Ayre is no exception. It’s an enjoyable semi-dry wine made from Valvin Muscat. This varietal is a French-American hybrid grape developed by Cornell University.
I hosted a dinner party where I needed to pour some top Canadian wines and since the Norman Hardie Pinots come so highly-rated, I decided to order a few bottles of the 2015, a great year in the Niagara Peninsula.
Brought this lovely Pinot Noir to my favorite gourmet pizzeria in anticipation of having forest mushroom pizza and it was a stellar pairing.
Those of us living in a cold climate are eager to get the rosé uncorked, marking the unofficial start of the Spring-Summer season. I enjoy rosé wines year-around – heavier in the winter and lighter in the summer and below are examples of nice, accessible rosé wines for under $15.
Pale ruby in the glass but with an earthy, deep ripe cherry nose. The palate of this medium-bodied wine is of cherry/juicy berry flavors and some mineral notes. Smooth, silky texture and an earthy/mushroomy finish.
Fruity, spiced nose, bright red in the glass. The palate of this medium-bodied wine is rich with cherry/tart berry flavors and some peppery notes. Smooth, silky texture and a slightly-peppery finish.
Summer’s finally here and warm days are among us. While sipping rosé wines during the summer isn’t anything new, what I’m really enjoying is how food-friendly rosés have become. Rosé, French for ‘pink’, describes a genre of refreshing wines, in various hue of pink and that are made using red grapes.
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