Kunde Estate Winery & Vineyards - Kenwood, CA

Kunde Estate Winery & Vineyards
9825 Sonoma Hwy
Kenwood, CA 95452
(707) 833-5501
kunde.com

The Kunde Family Estate Winery has been around since 1989, although the property has been in the Kunde family since 1904. German-born Louis Kunde purchased 1,000 acres (which encompass approximately 2 1/2 miles along the Sonoma Highway) from Wildwood Vineyards. They have a beautiful facility and well-kept grounds including an outdoor patio overlooking a man-made pond, a demonstration vineyard and even a very cool aging wine cave with free tours on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.









We started day two of the Sonoma Valley Crush Harvest Celebration event at Kunde Family Estate. Their tasting room reminded me of a Napa-style lodge with soaring wood-panel ceilings. The tasting for Crush participants was in a separate room from the regular tasting and they had crackers and dip laid out, as well as four varieties of grapes from their vineyards to taste.



The wines available for tasting today were their Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Zinfandel, Barbera and Cuvee. Everything we tasted was good, although none were memorable enough for us to want to take home. Our wine pourer was very friendly and knowledgeable about the winery and told us that the estate had been the setting for scenes in the movie "Bottle Shock". We wouldn't mind coming back here for a wine cave tour and perhaps they might even be pouring something different that may catch our attention!

Imagery Estate Winery - Glen Ellen, CA

Imagery Estate Winery
14335 Hwy 12
Glen Ellen, CA 95442
(707) 935-4515
imagerywinery.com

Imagery Estate Winery was our last stop of day one during the Sonoma Valley Crush event. They are a sister winery to the Benziger Family Winery, also located in Glen Ellen. An interesting factoid about Imagery Wine: they have an artist who creates all of their wine labels and the common denominator among them all is the ever-present Parthenon symbol! Here's a short video clip of their vineyards by the entrance:



They have quite a large facility with a large tasting room and a wine bar island, art gallery, retail sales section and outdoor patio that accommodates a live band...and even a bocce ball court!



Here's a quick panoramic video of their tasting room:



We sampled a variety of wines at Imagery this afternoon, including a variety we had never tasted...a 2005 Lagrein...interesting, but not something we liked enough to bring home. On the other hand, their amazing 2007 Petite Sirah Port did come home with us!

Audelssa Estate Winery - Glen Ellen, CA

Audelssa Estate Winery
13647 Arnold Dr.
Glen Ellen, CA
(707) 933-8514
audelssa.com

Audelssa Estate Winery's owners came up with their unique winery name by combining parts of their three daughters' names...what a sweet personal touch!



Their tasting room is very tastefully decorated with unique, faux-finished walls, coved ceilings and a cozy feel.



We tasted 7 different magnificent wines today and although we really, really loved their 2007 Summit Estate Reserve wine...we bought our second favorite Audelssa wine, their 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon. Perhaps we'll splurge on the Summit wine during our next visit, but we decided to be a little frugal today, considering it's $125/bottle and we knew we would probably be buying a lot of wine this weekend from the different wineries! Oh, well...at least now we have a good reason to come back. :)



Andy was our fabulous and friendly wine pourer...and he also let us sample their heavenly chocolate cabernet sauce...mmm!!! We couldn't leave without a bottle of that, as well. :)