Sonoma-Cutrer Vineyards

I could not have been more disappointed by my visit to Sonoma-Cutrer.

Sonoma-Cutrer is located in the Russian River Valley of Sonoma County. I can’t image tasting here during the rainy season would be much fun, but on our bright summer day we got to sit out on the patio overlooking the croquet pitches under their signature yellow umbrellas. It’s also dog and child-friendly.

We booked the Heritage Tasting, which is a flight of four wines for $35. We actually got to sample 7! We didn’t buy any.

The Chardonnay is what they are known for. I thought the 2021 Les Pierres had a nose of dill and wet stone while the taste was a spicy nutty (probably from all that French Oak they use) citrus. The 2021 Cutrer had more butter for sure and more oak than its friend, but not a bomb like some of those crafted over the mountains in Napa, and it tasted of pear and peach.

They started making Pinot Noir in 1999 and it is only 10% of their production. both the 2021 Owsley and the 2021 Vine Hill were spicy with red fruit though the Vine Hill skimmed the surface of watermelon jolly rancher territory. Definitely not my style.

Sonoma-Cutrer also makes two sparkling wines: the Grand Cuvée and the Grand Rosé Brut. The Cuvée is a 57/43 chard mix with notes of brioche and green apple while the Rosé was a 60/40 Pinot split. Supposedly, it touches the skins for a few hours but there was almost NO color. The other major disappointment: we think they might have been flat! I know the bubbles can be glass dependent so someone else in my party poured their glass into mine. Nothing. Happened.

The worst part of the whole experience was definitely the service. First they lost our reservation. Sonoma-Cutrer was purchased by Duckhorn at the end of last year; supposedly there was a mishap when they merged their appointment systems. Next our pourer knew NOTHING. She admitted to having bee there only six months but she could give us no information on the history of the winery, the vineyards, or the winemaking process. We found ourselves eavesdropping on other parties and looking up the information on their site. Lastly, when the pourer brought out our final two glasses I mentioned that we had a lunch reservation to get to and gave her my card. She disappeared for no less than 30minutes. I finally went into the tasting room to track her down.