Paradise Ridge Winery

When you talk with Santa Rosa locals there are two camps: they either know and love Paradise Ridge Winery, or are surprised to know that there is a gem of a winery with roots to 19th century Japan tucked in the Fountaingrove foothills. The winery, along with 100,000 bottles of wine, was sadly lost in the 2017 fires, but lucky for everyone, they have restored the property to its original glory and then some! Our fantastic host, Johnny, took us through an impressive flight that included both still and sparkling wines.

The fresh, vibrant Nagasawa Vineyard Chardonnay left a particularly good impression on our group, so we parted with a few bottles. It has great acid and subtle notes of green apple without the tartness, like a chardonnay for sauvignon blanc lovers. The Nagasawa Vineyard has an interesting history to boot! The winery used to have an entire historical exhibit devoted to the enigmatic samurai Kanaye Nagasawa, but the fires claimed everything except for his samurai sword, which was recovered from the ashes and now hangs proudly on the wall. And make sure to visit their impressive sculpture garden on your way in or out!