Day Trip – Wineries on Occidental Road near Sebastopol, CA

Just one hour from the San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge are three secluded wineries on Occidental Road just on the outskirts of the town of Sebastopol. This scenic area is one often missed by tourists. If you like peace, quiet, and tranquility, you will find it all here.

Taft Street Winery

We headed up this way on the Presidents' Holiday on Monday to visit the wineries and catch a leg of the Amgen California Tour bicycle race. We headed up north on 101 and took the Highway 116 West turnoff towards Sebastopol. About three miles past Sebastopol is Occidental Road which crosses Highway 116. We turned left on Occidental Road to our first stop, the Taft Street Winery, just off Occidental Road on Barlow Lane. Taft is a great bargain and value winery. They always seem to have a case of one of their wines on sale. Even if there is not a sale, you are likely to find some good bargains. For example, their two Pinot Noir wines sell for $20 and $25. That may sound like a lot but not when you consider the fact that many nearby wineries sell their Pinot Noir wines for much more than that.

Patassy Vineyard

While on Occidental Road near Barlow Lane, we stopped to watch the Amgen Tour. While waiting for the cyclists to come by we happened to take up a conversation with an elderly gentleman on a stroll from his nearby home. The gentleman was Frank Patassy. It turns out that Frank, along with his son Stephan, makes Pinot Noir wine. Their label is Patassy Vineyard. Their home with 10 acres of Pinot Noir vineyards is situated in the Green Valley, a sub AVA of the Russian River Valley AVA. He and his son Stephan are the co-winemakers and for now they custom crush at a nearby winery. However, for the next harvest, Frank and Stephan will have a complete winemaking facility on their property. They will eventually have a web site with an online shopping feature. For now, if you want to try this delicious wine at around $22 to $25 you will have do a Google search to discover wine shops that sell the wine.

Just across the street from the Patassy vineyards are Pinot vineyards owned by Hartford Court Wines. The Hartford Court Pinot from this vineyard sells for $60. You can see these vineyards in the background of the photo of the Cyclists. We had enjoyable conversation with Frank and his son. Frank graciously gave us a bottle of his 2006 Pinot Noir to try. We had the bottle of wine later in the week and we discovered that is a delicious wine and a tremendous value. We are anxious to buy more. Of course, a bottle of wine is always better when there is a personnel story behind the wine.

Balletto Vineyards & Dutton Goldfield

After the cyclists raced by, we headed back on Occidental Road and across Highway 116 at the stoplight and continued on Occidental Road for about 2 miles to the tasting room shared by Balletto Vineyards and Dutton Goldfield. Balletto Vineyards is another one of those wineries that offer wines at reasonable prices. We like the Balletto Pinot Noir very much. Dutton Goldfield is an upscale winery and very famous for their single vineyard wines. The Pinot Noirs are particularly outstanding. Their wines are very well made and balanced. They are more costly but if you can afford the wine, you are in for a treat.

Hanna Winery

Just ahead on Occidental Road is the Hanna Winery. They also have a tasting room on the Alexander Road near Healdsburg further north. Hanna is well known for their Merlot and Cabernet but we think the best bargain is their refreshing and reasonably priced Sauvignon Blanc.

For lunch or dinner, try the K & L Bistro Restaurant in Sebastopol. They received a Michelin recommendation in the 2008 guide. They are open for lunch and dinner, Monday through Saturday.

Map of Occidental Road Wineries