As I wrote in last week’s blog, we made sure to visit some of our tried-and-true favorites when we returned to Sonoma County, California, after several years’ absence. We also left time, however, to try out some new-to-us wineries, and they proved to be great finds. In fact, at the start of our trip we’d agreed we would not be joining any new wine clubs because of our very full home cellar, but our resolve was quickly overcome at one those new finds.

Portalupi Wines was a happy, coincidental find. One of several wineries which offered a reduced tasting fee to guests at our condo, it made it onto our list of stops partly because of that and partly because it was located near some of the other places we visited . . . right in downtown Healdsburg adjoining the square. It offered an interior tasting space featuring an industrial-minimalist style, but because it was a beautiful, sunny, late-fall afternoon, we grabbed a table outside on the sidewalk.   Our server started us off with a lovely glass of a sparkling Arrossire di Barbera – Methode Champenoise. It matched the mood and the colors of the day perfectly and tasted as light and pleasing as it looked. This family-owned and -operated winery honors its Italian heritage and offers light bites alongside three-wine flights for $15 or six wines for $30 (fee waived for club members) — very reasonable for this region! We sampled from their assortment of red varietals and blends including Barberas, Zinfandels and Petite Sirahs. Bottle prices were, again, very reasonable and the wines pleasant and very drinkable with lots of fruit and good balance.

Our final winery visit of the trip was to Meeker Vineyard, also located in Healdsburg but a little off the beaten path. Tucked behind the large, traditional-looking tasting room of Longboard Vineyards, the Meeker production facility also houses the tasting room . . . really more of a dressed-up corner (but nicely so) of the warehouse with access to an outside patio area.   We were a little unsure we were approaching the correct entrance, but a cheery, t-shirted young man who was taking a break outside welcomed us and urged us to come right on in. It turned out this was Lucas Meeker, second-generation winemaker who seemed to have his hand in (literally, as you’ll see) on every aspect of the operation. His father, Charlie, bought his first vineyard in Sonoma in 1977 and has been making wine for nearly 40 years (while also having a very successful career as a movie studio executive in Los Angeles). Harry had received a bottle of their Handprint Merlot about 20 years ago (and we enjoyed it with a memorable steak dinner a few years later), and when he realized recently that Meeker was there in Healdsburg, he was eager to check it out.

We took a seat at the bar and started off with a refreshing pour of a 2020 100 percent Pinot Noir Pét-Nat (Pétillant-Naturel, a natural sparkling wine bottled before primary fermentation is finished, meant to be enjoyed young) dubbed “Pop Punk.”   From there we sampled a generous range of Meeker wines, from a Grenache-Viognier rosé blend and a Viognier to rich, lovely reds: Grenache, Malbec, Merlot and an outstanding 100 percent Cabernet Sauvignon from 2015. Throughout, Lucas chatted with us about his education at Colgate University, his winemaking philosophy (and philosophy in general), his work with his dad and the winery. It was one of the most enlightening and delightful conversations I’ve ever had in a tasting room, but Lucas’ team finally prevailed upon him to “finish” his bottles of Handprint Merlot. This signature bottling (like the one Harry had been gifted) contains Merlot from two different but complementary vineyards and carries the actual handprint of the winemaker (originally, Lucas’ dad and, now, his).

We were invited behind the scenes to continue our conversation while Lucas dipped his gloved hands in shiny, multi-hued paint and then wrapped his hands around each bottle.   Every bottle of Merlot receives this treatment, and the team has the process down to a “T,” soon having a long row of bottles ready to be sent off to club members.

We left Lucas to his bottles and returned to the tasting bar for a few more sips of his wonderful wines. We marked up our tasting notes, selecting the bottles we wanted to buy: definitely a couple of those Handprint Merlots and one of that luscious Cab. And of course, that’s when all restraint flew out the window and we joined the Meeker wine club, Tribe. After such a wonderful afternoon, it is a decision I do not at all regret.

Cheers!

— Patty Vanikiotis, associate editor/copy editor