Kamal and Parichehr Azari discovered a Petaluma Gap parcel on a 1988 drive, planted vineyards, and founded the winery in 2000. Their Tuscan-villa estate is now a Gap hospitality landmark, where winemaker Joel Akin crafts a Pinot Noir, Syrah, and Shiraz program named for the family's roots in Shiraz, Iran.
It was 1988 when Kamal and Parichehr Azari, on a drive through the Sonoma countryside to show their children the region, came upon a small untilled parcel that stirred them enough to buy it. The land would, decades later, be formally recognized as part of the Petaluma Gap AVA — then still understood only as a fold in the Coast Range channeling cold Pacific air. The Azaris began transforming the land into vineyards, founded the winery in 2000, and slowly built up the hillside estate into something resembling a Tuscan villa: terracotta tile, olive trees, and views across the Gap. The hospitality — baked pizzas, family dogs underfoot, sweeping pours — is steeped in the Azari family's Persian roots.
Estate Pinot Noir, Petaluma Gap — The flagship; all estate-grown from the fog-swept hillside vineyard.
Shiraz, Petaluma Gap — Cool-climate Syrah, labeled “Shiraz” in homage to founder Kamal Azari's roots in Shiraz, Iran.
Chardonnay — A bright, estate-grown white from the maritime Petaluma Gap climate.
Calistoga Cabernet Sauvignon — A richer, warm-climate red sourced from a family estate in Napa.
Azari is a family-owned boutique estate in the Petaluma Gap, founded by Kamal and Parichehr Azari, blending Persian hospitality with cool-climate Sonoma fruit.
The estate is small, family-run, and known for the kind of personal welcome rarely found elsewhere — son Cyrus Azari typically hosts in the sampling room, and visits unfold over wood-fired pizza, vineyard dogs, and views of rolling Petaluma Gap hills. The wines reflect the appellation's wind-driven character: thick-skinned, flavor-concentrated Pinot Noir and Syrah from the estate, alongside a Shiraz named in honor of the family's hometown in Iran. A guesthouse on the property accommodates overnight visitors. Tastings are by appointment, weekends preferred.
Joel Akin crafts the small-lot, estate-grown wines at Azari Vineyards, the Azari family's boutique hillside winery in the Petaluma Gap. Working with Pinot Noir and cool-climate Syrah grown on the family's wind-swept estate just outside Petaluma, Akin favors restraint and site expression — bottlings that translate the Gap's marine fog and afternoon winds into wines of concentration and freshness. His winemaking carries forward founders Kamal and Parichehr Azari's vision of quality and Persian hospitality, vintage by vintage.
Kamal and Parichehr Azari, both born in Iran, founded Azari Vineyards. In 1988, while Kamal was a visiting scholar of Iranian Studies at UC Berkeley, the couple took a drive from their Marin home into the Sonoma countryside and chanced upon a humble, untilled parcel in what is now the Petaluma Gap; they made it their home. Over the following decades the family planted the vineyards and built the Tuscan-style facilities themselves — from dirt to mortar — specializing in small-lot Pinot Noir and a cool-climate Shiraz that honors Kamal’s roots in Shiraz, Iran, all steeped in a Persian heritage of hospitality.
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Estate Pinot Noir, Petaluma Gap — The flagship; all estate-grown from the fog-swept hillside vineyard.
Shiraz, Petaluma Gap — Cool-climate Syrah, labeled “Shiraz” in homage to founder Kamal Azari's roots in Shiraz, Iran.
Chardonnay — A bright, estate-grown white from the maritime Petaluma Gap climate.
Calistoga Cabernet Sauvignon — A richer, warm-climate red sourced from a family estate in Napa.
Azari is a family-owned boutique estate in the Petaluma Gap, founded by Kamal and Parichehr Azari, blending Persian hospitality with cool-climate Sonoma fruit.
It was 1988 when Kamal and Parichehr Azari, on a drive through the Sonoma countryside to show their children the region, came upon a small untilled parcel that stirred them enough to buy it. The land would, decades later, be formally recognized as part of the Petaluma Gap AVA — then still understood only as a fold in the Coast Range channeling cold Pacific air. The Azaris began transforming the land into vineyards, founded the winery in 2000, and slowly built up the hillside estate into something resembling a Tuscan villa: terracotta tile, olive trees, and views across the Gap. The hospitality — baked pizzas, family dogs underfoot, sweeping pours — is steeped in the Azari family's Persian roots.
The estate is small, family-run, and known for the kind of personal welcome rarely found elsewhere — son Cyrus Azari typically hosts in the sampling room, and visits unfold over wood-fired pizza, vineyard dogs, and views of rolling Petaluma Gap hills. The wines reflect the appellation's wind-driven character: thick-skinned, flavor-concentrated Pinot Noir and Syrah from the estate, alongside a Shiraz named in honor of the family's hometown in Iran. A guesthouse on the property accommodates overnight visitors. Tastings are by appointment, weekends preferred.
Joel Akin crafts the small-lot, estate-grown wines at Azari Vineyards, the Azari family's boutique hillside winery in the Petaluma Gap. Working with Pinot Noir and cool-climate Syrah grown on the family's wind-swept estate just outside Petaluma, Akin favors restraint and site expression — bottlings that translate the Gap's marine fog and afternoon winds into wines of concentration and freshness. His winemaking carries forward founders Kamal and Parichehr Azari's vision of quality and Persian hospitality, vintage by vintage.
Kamal and Parichehr Azari, both born in Iran, founded Azari Vineyards. In 1988, while Kamal was a visiting scholar of Iranian Studies at UC Berkeley, the couple took a drive from their Marin home into the Sonoma countryside and chanced upon a humble, untilled parcel in what is now the Petaluma Gap; they made it their home. Over the following decades the family planted the vineyards and built the Tuscan-style facilities themselves — from dirt to mortar — specializing in small-lot Pinot Noir and a cool-climate Shiraz that honors Kamal’s roots in Shiraz, Iran, all steeped in a Persian heritage of hospitality.
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