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Montemaggiore
2355 West Dry Creek Road
Healdsburg, CA 95448
(707) 433-9499
Healdsburg, CA 95448
(707) 433-9499
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
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"I always knew their wine was good, but I usually avoided them because I assumed that they were one of those sellout mass production…" read more »
2 reviews for Montemaggiore
Vince and Lise are the coolest! (Ok, full disclosure: I worked with them years ago in their previous lives in the tech world.) And their wine is great too! I'm a purist and am partial to the Paolo's Vineyard Syrah, and my tasting partner prefers the Superiore. [Oh, and B&E, if you read this, I have *still* not quite forgiven you for opening my last bottle of Superiore and failing to drink it ... dragging us out instead to swill cheap dive-bar beer. SHAME.]
I've been to the Montemaggiore winery a few times now for private events. Public tasting and tour by appointment only - and I do recommend it.
You can go drink the wine at restaurants in town, but hiking up the hill from the house to the winery, maybe picking some olives along the way, watching Zeppli chase imaginary (or real?) rodents through the rows of vines, entering through the huge copper doors glowing in the sun, then climbing up the metal staircase and looking into a huge vat of grapes-on-their-way-to-becoming wine, and having Lise and Vince there to answer just about ANY technical question you might have ... now that's the real experience.
I went with some friends to the Orchid and Wine event at Fort Masson last month - an event I'd also give five star if I were more prolific. The orchids were amazing but many of the wine producers decided to only bring their mass produced stuff. Bummer!
It all comes down to trying lots of wine (what a burden) and you will eventually find some real gems. So, that's what I did... I kept trying the wines from producers I had never tasted before and found one, Montemaggiore, that was truely outstanding. I contacted Vince and made an appointment to visit. I ended up going on Barrel Tasting weekend - see John G's review - and found limos and crowds everywhere, until I get to Brack road and headed up the into the hills above dry creek valley.
Montemaggiore sits on a steep hill side (in the vicinity of McCray Ridge, but miles away by road) so I began to understand why I liked the '03 Syrah so much at the Orchid event. Additionally, Montemaggiore
is striving for a Biodynamic winery; like using sheep to keep the weeds down, and using compost and other natural methods. To paraphrase their web site: The wine is grown in Schist, a very hard metamorphic rock that many experts believe underlies the greatest vineyards in the world: much of the Duoro in Portugal, the Cote Rotie in France, and the best Chianti vineyards in Italy. Schist produces great wines because it retains little water and contains few nutrients---stressing the vines just enough to produce small, intensely-flavored grapes. These are soils only a grape could love!
In my opinion all of this produces wines of the highest quality, enough so I joind the wine club. Currently they make three wines: a syrah, a hilltop syrah and a cab/syrah blend.
Due to their secluded spot and small size, they do not have a public tasting room, but offer vineyard tours and wine sales by appointment. If you like mountain fruit, syrah and Cab/Syrah blends this is truely an outstanding winery.
Specialties
Montemaggiore produces estate-grown wines and olive oils that are organic and biodynamically grown in Dry Creek Valley of Sonoma County. This small boutique winery owned and operated by Vince and Lise Ciolino specializes in mountain-grown Syrahs and Cabernet Sauvignon blends.
History
Established in 2001
Captivated by the genuine quality of life in small Italian hill towns, the Ciolino family moved to Sonoma County in 2001 to follow their dream: grow and produce exceptional red wines and olive oils from our own land. Today, on a small, secluded country estate in western Dry Creek Valley, they grow ten acres of grapes on a mountainside, tending eight hundred olive trees, and raising their family. They use the most natural, sustainable methods, reflecting the traditions of their ancestral home in southern Italy, a small hillside village called Montemaggiore.
Lise is the winemaker while Vincent is the organic and biodynamic grower in charge of the grapevines and olive trees. Together, they are creating wines and olive oils that reflect the terroir of Dry Creek Valley and the vitality of Montemaggiore, Italy. They limit total production to 2000 cases of wine, in order to do everything themselves--by hand, with pride and personal care.
