Pedroncelli is the kind of Sonoma winery that doesn't get the attention it deserves: a family operation since 1927, farming estate vineyards in Dry Creek Valley and producing honest, well-priced Zinfandel, Cabernet, and Merlot that consistently over-deliver at their price points. The Mother Clone Zinfandel, sourced from old vines on the home ranch, is a standout. Four generations of family ownership, no outside capital, no pretension. A reliable anchor of the Dry Creek Valley wine community.
Mother Clone Zinfandel, Dry Creek Valley: the signature bottling, propagated from the estate's original 1927 plantings; bright, spicy berry fruit in an approachable, food-friendly style.
Three Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon, Dry Creek Valley: an estate Bordeaux blend (Cabernet with Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Malbec) showing red currant, ripe berry and a gently spicy edge.
Family Vineyards Petite Sirah, Dry Creek Valley: dark, structured and peppery, drawing on the valley's tradition of robust old-vine reds.
East Side Sauvignon Blanc, Dry Creek Valley: crisp and citrus-driven from the family's East Side vineyard, where they have grown the variety for nearly three decades.
Chardonnay, Dry Creek Valley: a balanced, value-minded white, the lone survivor of the family's early-1970s white program.
Farmed by the Pedroncelli family since 1927 and now in its third and fourth generations, the winery was the first to plant Cabernet Sauvignon in Dry Creek Valley and remains known for quality at honest prices.
Giovanni and Julia Pedroncelli bought this hillside property west of Geyserville in 1927, along with 25 acres of Zinfandel vines and a former winery building that had spent Prohibition as a barn. Four generations later the family still sustainably farms about 100 acres and operates a tasting room that remains refreshingly unpretentious: indoor counter, an outdoor patio open weather permitting, and a bocce court. Seated tasting flights run $25 to $35 per person, and wine club members taste free with two guests. The Pedroncellis were instrumental in the original formation of the Dry Creek Valley AVA, and the business side is run today by CEO Julie Pedroncelli St. John with chief operations officer Lance Blakeley and chief finance officer Cathy Pedroncelli. Leashed pets welcome on the lower deck.
