Landmark Vineyards

Unlike many of our usual stops, Landmark was not a recommendation from a friend or trusted tasting room manager. We simply drove by—if you’ve driven Westside Road you’ve probably seen their hop kilns. I looked them up online and—upon seeing the accolades for their pinots—immediately made a reservation.

We chose the signature tasting, which allowed us to sniff and sip 3 of their Chardonnays and 3 of their Pinot Noirs. All of their wines are processed in a similar way (~35% new french oak), which allows the terroir to really shine through, and many of the wines didn’t require much to any aging. Our favorite of the Chardonnays was 2016 Rodgers Creek, which is from the Petaluma Gap region of Sonoma County. It tasted of guava and vanilla with a little pepper. I’ll happily be putting it with an arugula salad with grilled peaches and goat cheese.

Of the Pinot Noirs my favorite was the 2016 La Encantada. It was more red in color than I would have expected from a Pinot and tasted of raspberries, figs, cherry cola and leather. There was also something a little acidic as well maybe grapefruit of pomegranate. Joey says it wouldn’t take anything with tomato but I’d love to try it with a burrito or a dish with roasted duck and plums. We bought several.

Our hospitality manager was awesome and let us try two more of the Pinots on the house: the 2016 Grand Detour and the Hop Kiln Estate Reserve. The Reserve was truly a Cab-lover’s Pinot; it was almost yeasty in flavor and could easily take a steak. I suggested steak satay, but Joey’s not seeing the peanut sauce. I’ll let you know who wins that argument.

I totally see us coming back for a picnic by their pond.