Sonoma County Wineries: DeLoach Vineyards
There are a bunch of small wineries along Olivet Road just west of Santa Rosa which runs between Guerneville Road and River Road (easiest to take the River Road exit off US 101 and turn left on Olivet Road). Sometime over the next week or so, I’ll cover all of the wineries on this road, but I’ll start from the other end with Deloach Vineyards – http://www.deloachvineyards.com/deloach/index.jsp.
Once upon a time, Deloach Vineyards was owned by Cecil Deloach, who had once been a fireman in San Francisco before he moved into the business of making wine. There were financial problems, a bankruptcy, and the Deloach Vineyards were taken over by the French burgundy house, Boisset, who bought the name as well as the winery. It’s not clear if Cecil Deloach has any ownership at all any more in the winery under his name. When we get to Hook and Ladder Winery in a couple of days, we’ll talk about where Cecil Deloach and his family have gone. However, this is about the current Deloach Vineyards.
There have been changes. The wine tasting room has been totally redone. There is a lovely courtyard for picnics and picnic space out front as well. Boisset has made changes to the vineyards, as well, moving toward sustainable approaches to vineyard management starting with 22 acres turned over to what they call biodynamic management. That is a good thing in these days of global warming. So the real question is about the wines.
First, this winery charges for wine tasting unless you buy a bottle of their wine, which is pretty standard. Not too excited about the zinfandels, but any zinfandel has to be a great zin in order to get me excited. The pinot noirs are interesting. I probably like the Green Valley Pinot the best out of the ones available for tasting. Not overly impressed with the OFS (Our Finest Selection) Reserve wines except for the Chardonnay. Surprisingly enough, the lower end Chardonnay – the Russian River Chardonnay – was one of our favorites. They also have a very good Merlot.
Wine tasting staff is knowledgeable and helpful. A pleasant place to visit, good wines, but nothing really outstanding. Sort of – if you’re in the neighborhood, stop by, but don’t go out of you way.
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