Task 05 - Cline Cellars

(05) Visit a winery or brewery & take the tour

Winery/Vineyard: Cline Cellars
Location:              24737 Arnold Drive
                              Sonoma, CA 95476
                              (800) 546-2070

Website:               www.clinecellars.com

Rating:                 3.5-Stars

Owned by Fred and Nancy Cline along with Jacuzzi Vineyard across the street Cline Cellars is the meat behind their wine producing efforts. It is on this magnificently landscaped 350 acres of vineyards and lush lawns surrounded by 5, 000 rose bushes that the grapes are processed and the wine is born not just for Cline Cellars but for Jacuzzi as well. 

Cline Cellars while today a successful vineyard is also a historic piece of property that was once the site of a Miwok Village, the first camp of the Sonoma Mission, a natural hot spring bath house of the early 1900s, and a horse ranch. Fred Cline used his inheritance from the Sale of Jacuzzi Bros in 1982 to start a winery in Oakley, California. In 1991 they moved those operations to the 350 acre estate in the Carneros District they call home today. They specialize in Zinfanedl and Rhone varietals including Syrah, Viognier, Marsanne and Roussanne. Their holdings include some of the oldest and rarest vines in California.

While this vineyard is not as picturesque as its newest sibling across the street it offers a better picture of wine production. Our tour started in the driveway where we were met by our guide who took us out back and past all the machines and fermentation tanks they use to produce the wine. At each piece of machinery she explained its purpose and how it works. I wish the machines had been running while we were there. It would have been exciting to actually see the grapes being crushed. After the explanation of the process we found ourselves in a warehouse lines with barrels of various sizes. It was here that you could see that they also process the grapes and barrel the wines for Jacuzzi by the labels on each barrel.

Once the tour was done we moved on to the tasting. Under the big tent in the front we were treated with many options to taste representing the many different kinds of wine they produce. While the tour offered a select set of wines to taste they were more than happy to allow us to sample any of the wines they offered. I discovered that I prefer a sweeter white wine then I do red wines. Once we finished sampling the wines we moved on to the gift shop. While I enjoyed the wines my less then refined taste buds couldn’t appreciate the wines as much as they I am sure should have been. As a result I opted not to make a wine purchase since it was costly to ship it home and instead picked up a few novelty items. We then had the opportunity to briefly explore the grounds. They have a great museum showcasing their Sonoma Mission history and it houses the California Mission Models from the 1939 World’s Fair.

While this is the location where the wine is processed and barreled I rate it slightly lower than its sibling Jacuzzi because I felt rushed through the tour and somewhat more pressured to make a purchase. Additionally the wine tasting tent was far less refined in comparison to Jacuzzi. While I understand that it meant to be more rustic a tent next to the parking lot lacked for me the attention to detail I expected.