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Family of Friends Newsletter

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Best Wine with Duck Confit: Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir

By Eric Schwartzman | November 7, 2022

The best wine with duck confit and other duck dishes, according to wine aficionado Jennifer LaRue, is a little-known small-production Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir from Halleck Vineyard, which is not available in stores.

When LaRue hosted an intimate wine dinner at her Colorado Springs home earlier this year, she set out to find the best duck wine pairing to serve with  Duck Confit, Pear, and Fennel Bites, a recipe from Food52 that incorporates confit duck breast baked in crispy phyllo dough. …

Sonoma Wineries Help Sebastopol Charity Nourish Community

By Scott Butterfield | November 4, 2022

Donors, Sonoma wineries, local businesses, and community members rallied to help Sebastopol charity Ceres Community Project raise over $300,000 at this year’s Harvest of the Heart fundraiser on Sept. 18, 2022, at Gambonini Family Ranch in Petaluma. The money will be used to nourish community members and empower its youth.

Nearly 300 people attended what is the Ceres Community Project’s biggest fundraising event of the year. Partnering with celebrated chefs and local wineries,…

Guests enjoy the annual Wine Harvest Party at Halleck Vineyard's estate winery in Sebastopol, featuring live music, delicious food and wine pairings, and a chance to mingle with local winemakers. The event also included a silent auction of rare and collectible wines, as well as artisanal cheeses and fresh seafood from the nearby bay. Attendees were able to experience the earthy aromas of the vineyard and the stunning views of the surrounding valley, while sipping on the winery's award-winning wines, including their sparkling and white wine selections.

Inner Circle Gathers at Sebastopol Winery Harvest Party

By Eric Schwartzman | October 22, 2022

On Saturday Oct. 15th, over 100 Inner Circle Wine Club Members and their guests from across the US gathered at the Halleck Vineyard Sebastopol Winery Estate for their annual wine harvest party.

The Sebastopol estate winery – surrounded by a single-acre Pinot Noir vineyard whose maiden vintage in 2001 earned Best of Class at the Pinot Noir Summit – drew wine club members and their guests for a library tasting with local cheeses,…

The Barlowe in downtown Sebastopol offers an eclectic mix on wine tasting rooms, restaurants and shops.

Top 12 Sebastopol Wine Tasting Spots (with Map)

By Scott Butterfield | October 5, 2022

Located west of eight miles west of Santa Rosa at the intersection of CA-12 and the Gravenstein Highway (CA-116), Sebastopol is a farming and agricultural town in Northern California with a concentration of very small wineries.

Downtown Sebastopol is in the south-central portion of the Russian River Valley, which is usually enveloped in a thick layer of coastal fog that rolls in from Bodega Bay. Russian River Valley wineries are acclaimed for Pinot Noir,…

Executive Chef Victoriano Lopez and GM Thomas Medl at La Mar in San Francisco.

Best Wine for Peruvian Food at La Mar SF

By Katy Haute | October 4, 2022

If you’re looking for the best wine for Peruvian food, this post is for you. Executive chef Victoriano Lopez hosted a wine pairing dinner at La Mar SF, which included food and wine pairing with his delectable Peruvian recipes, showcasing some of the best wine for seafood with a Peruvian twist.

We usually imagine a Sonoma County Wine Tasting paired with a charcuterie board of hard and soft cheese, cured meats, pickles and olives.…

Average Sonoma County Wine Tasting Prices in 2022

Sonoma Wine Tasting Prices Surge Post Lockdown

By Eric Schwartzman | August 25, 2022

Since the California stay-at-home lockdown order was lifted, the average price of Sonoma wine tasting County rose 44% over average prices before the lockdown, according to the 2022 Sonoma Wine Tasting Report.

The average price of an entry-level Sonoma wine tasting was $25.75 before the lockdown on March 19, 2020. But since the lockdown was lifted on June 15, 2021, the average price of an entry-level wine tasting in Sonoma County has risen to $37. …

Best Time to Visit Wine Country

By Eric Schwartzman | August 15, 2022

“The odds are against every farmer. All the time,” says Samantha Dorsey, president of McEvoy Ranch on the Point Reyes Petaluma Highway. And finding a way to overcome those odds in the age of climate change and create a top-tier, artisanal product has become increasingly challenging. 

Over the last three years, two of the top ten costliest fires in the US – The Glass Fire and CZU Lightning Complex Fire were in Northern California,…

Wine Dinner at La Mar

By Eric Schwartzman | August 15, 2022

This Thursday, August 18, 2022 at 6pm La Mar on The Embarcadero in San Francisco will be hosting a special wine dinner with Halleck Vineyard.

Executive Chef Victoriano Lopez, Sous Chef Ricardo Younis and Vintner Ross Halleck will pair cool climate Sonoma wines paired with La Mar’s award-winning Peruvian cuisine for an intimate sit-down dinner in a private dining room, which was once the ticket office to the Piers with oversized windows overlooking the Financial District.…

Red Wine, Pinot Noir, wine writing, wine review, Russian River Valley

DeLoach Pinot Noir vs Three Sons Cuvee (Wine Review)

By Scott Butterfield | August 9, 2022

Although they are based in west Santa Rosa, DeLoach has every right to call themselves a Russian River Valley winery. Sure, they also source fruit from the Sonoma Coast, North Coast and Northern Sonoma AVAs. But it is the Russian River Valley AVA they chose to use on their label. The part of Santa Rosa they’re in is incredibly diverse in terms of soil types. In fact, there’s more variation here than in all of France.…

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