A Visit to Hawley Winery and Vineyards

We try to visit the Russian River wine country region and the town of Healdsburg at least once a month. It is our favorite wine country. Each time we explore this area we make a new wine discovery. On this recent trip we discovered Hawley Winery and Vineyards located on Bradford Mountain on West Dry Creek Road.

Winemaker John Hawley

John Hawley is the owner along with his wife Dana. John is the winemaker and has 25 years of experience as a winemaker. His most notable stints as winemaker were at Clos du Blos and at Kendall Jackson. In the early 1990's John decided it was time to break from the cooperate wine scene and establish his own small winery. In 1995 John released the first vintage of Hawley wines.

Today, John is making about 5000 cases annually of nine different varietals of wine. Hawley wines are produced from estate grown vineyards and from grapes sourced from various vineyards. John Hawley has established many friendships in the wine industry over the years and those connections have given him the opportunity to obtain contracts from standout growers.

What is fun about visiting small and hidden wineries like Hawley is the chance to meet and talk to the owner and or winemaker. In this case it was John Hawley and his two sons, Paul and Austin, who are both assistant winemakers. There is no formal tasting room at Hawley, just a table set up inside the barrel room. It is very casual and you feel like you are at home.

Hawley Wines

Our favorite wines were the Viognier, the Merlot, and the Zinfandel. The Viognier is quite different from most because it is barrel fermented. The grapes come from two sources, the estate vineyard and from a vineyard in the Sierra Foothills. The Merlot is from Hawley's estate vineyard and the grapes are 100 percent organically certified. The Zinfandel is delicious and comes a vineyard in the Russian River Valley AVA near Limerick Lane.

Winemaker John Hawley

There are several wineries along West Dry Creek Road and the the Dry Creek area. One can spend several days exploring all the wineries in Dry Creek, but don't miss Hawley, the wines are quite good and also value priced.

To get to Hawley, take the Dry Creek Road Exit from Highway 101 and drive west on Dry Creek Road to Lambert Bridge Road. Turn right and drive over Lambert Bridge and then a right turn on West Dry Creek Road. Watch carefully for the sign to Hawley, it is very easy to miss. Drive up the hill to the entrance road to Hawley at 6387. Don't get fooled by the addressing system, the numbers are not totally in order.

One more interesting note regarding Hawley Winery: Austin along with three other partners have produced a full-length feature movie about the wine scene called "Corked." The movie recently played in the Sonoma Film Festival. You can see the trailer for the movie at the Hawley Web site.