Camelia N.
Yelp
The D&G tasting room is fun for the whole family, plus a great cheap date option as well. This can't always be said of popular wine country destinations in California like Napa, Paso, Santa Barbara, or Healdsburg. Most bottles vary in price from around $25 to the low $40s, but you can also order by the glass for less, and a $15 tasting fee is waived with $40 purchase.
The main reason why the tasting room is so versatile is that, when not the height of the harvest season, the entire back of the facility is open for guests to explore. Wooden tables and bench seating, plus complimentary use books, blankets, and board games (including a huge connect four set) ensure a few hours of escape from the urban environment that surrounds you. Musical performances take place most Sundays, with special First Friday evenings featuring local food vendors and artists. No, it's not an ultimate weekend getaway in Saint Helena, Anderson Valley, or Los Olivos, but it's exciting and rewarding nonetheless.
D&G is a Bay Area natural wine specialist with a particular fondness for Rhône varietals and idiosyncratic blends, sourced primarily from organic vineyards in El Dorado County, Anderson Valley, and various other sites in Mendocino, Sonoma, and Napa. They ferment in wooden vats, concrete eggs, and terra cotta vessels, avoiding stainless steel and plastic in favor of older methods inspired by artisan producers in Europe. This means they don't use modern techniques like pumpovers, extended maceration with heat, cold temperature stabilization, and pH adjustments to balance their finished wines. Their house style is to make lower alcohol, brighter, leaner wines with little to no oak influence and that are suitable for early release, similar to a Beaujolais Nouveau or easy drinking (but well made) Friulian wine. Skin contact for whites and no filtration or fining can produce cloudy or orange hued wines, not unlike a hazy IPA or unpasteurized cider.
The exceptions to the rule can be outstanding, however, like the delicious 2014 Fenaughty Vineyard Sierra Foothills Syrah and the elegant 2014 Vare Vineyard Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, both of which are aged for several years in barrel and bottle for release. These ended up being my favorites, and both are worthy of cellaring at home to develop additional nuances, as is the case with the Chardonnays made from Napa Valley and Mendocino Ridge vineyards.
I think the D&G style would work well with Loire varietals like Chenin Blanc and Cab Franc, with Gamay, and Austrian grapes like Gruener Veltliner, Zweigelt, and Blaufraenkisch, or lighter Italian reds like Dolcetto, Frappato, Schiava, Schioppettino, or Barbera. These grapes can hard to come by, as they are prized by other trend-setting California winemakers. And the European versions made in comparable styles can be had at Kermit Lynch or a local natural wine bar for less.
My sense, based on what I learned from an initial visit, is that D&G isn't out to make a fortune or take the wine world by storm. They want to make soulful, healthy wines and have family fun doing it. More power to them for making the many sacrifices and efforts needed to pursue this mission so successfully!