Jason F.
Yelp
Three Fat Guys, how about three great wines? Located along Broadway, otherwise known as the main artery that leads visitors to the venerable Sonoma Plaza, Three Fat Guys Wines comes from the minds of three retired NFL offensive linemen by the names of Tony Moll, Daryn Colledge, and Jason Spitz. They met almost twenty years ago when they were all drafted by the Green Bay Packers. Their first vintage for their winery arrived a mere year later in 2007 as these three entrepreneurs were smart enough to start thinking about their future careers once their playing days stopped. It was Sonoma native Tony Moll who was able to turn his connections and contract with existing vineyards for their grapes and assemble a team of locals to help with production. Now with a small, yet surprisingly expansive tasting room that opened six years ago next to the Sonoma Roadside Shops, and across the street from vineyards that grow their estate Chardonnay, Three Fat Guys is place to be on game day and any other day, as they are pouring some really nice wines in the heart of Sonoma's wine country.
What brought a friend and I here on an early weekend afternoon was the fact that Three Fat Guys Wines was participating in Sonoma Sips, which was a month-long promotion of participating wineries in the Sonoma area, which offered three pours of their signature wines for only fifteen dollars. This way visitors get a chance to enjoy a few pours of wine at a reasonable price served at a winery in which they may never have visited in the first place. Upon entry in their tasting room, visitors can sit inside their small tasting room or outside on their covered, at least during the colder season, patio where there are outdoor sofas with cushions and pillows and hightop and regular tables for visitors to sit on. Plenty of outdoor games are ready for visitors including children and pets to enjoy. Our first pour was their chilled 2023 Sonoma Valley Rosé of Pinot Noir. Called their poolside wine and sourced from vines grown not too far away from where their tasting room resides. We learned that their grapes for this wine are pulled earlier than they would be usually harvested, which gives this Rosé a stronger acidity and therefore a crisper finish.
For our second wine, we both enjoyed perhaps our favorite wine out of the three we sampled, as their 2021 Sonoma Coast Chardonnay. Grown directly across from here on Broadway in what used to be a pear orchard, now called Palmer Vineyard, this is a great year round Chardonnay, as it is not your typical buttery or oaky Chardonnay that we are all used to. Thanks to bright notes of citrus and green apples they smartly call this bright white wine a "coastal gem". For our third and final pour of our special tasting, we enjoyed their 2021 Sonoma Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, which was the sole wine we enjoyed that was not on their traditional tasting experience menu. We were told that they suggest that wine lovers buy this Cabernet now, and hold onto it as it ages better with time. With strong leathery notes, it was the perfect way to end our brief tasting as we headed inside and they were nice enough to pour us a fourth wine as my friend saw they sold a sparkling wine. Their Champion Sparkling Brut Rosé was a lively pour of bubbles and bursting with a combination of flavors of bright wild strawberries and tart cranberries with every sip. Three Fat Guys Wines is almost like a community watering hole or tavern, as locals and out-of-towners come in and sip and watch their favorite sporting events on their big screen flat panel television. Members of the community come first, as first responders, members of the military, and teachers all get a discount when visiting, as Three Fat Guys Winery strives to have something for everyone, especially really nicely crafted wines that they can be proud to call their own.
