Dehlinger was founded in 1975 when Tom Dehlinger and his architect brother, Dan, built a small winery on an old apple orchard at Vine Hill Road, outside Sebastopol in the heart of the Russian River Valley. Only 28 years old at the time, Tom was an early proponent of bringing winegrowing back to Sonoma County since its decline after Prohibition. It turned out he was wise beyond his years, given that Russian River Valley is one of the greatest growing regions in the world for Burgundian grape varieties. He planted 15 acres of vines and met his wife, Carole, with whom he started a family. It might be hard to imagine now, but that was during an era when there weren’t many resources, proper equipment or viticultural know-how, so it took a lot of hard work and trial and error on the Dehlingers’ part to create what is regarded now as one of the finest winegrowing estates—not just in the Russian River Valley, but in California!

Today, Dehlinger remains an independent, family-owned and -operated winery, with the second generation of Dehlingers, daughters, Carmen and Eva helping to run things and who have worked alongside their parents to manage the gradual expansion of the vineyard to its current 45-acre size. They grow primarily Pinot Noir and Chardonnay as well as 4.5 acres of Cabernet Sauvignon and 3 acres of Syrah—however they are most famous for their wonderful Burgundian varietal wines. In addition to the regular estate wines, they also produce ‘Altamont’ and ‘Goldridge’ bottlings of Pinot Noir and Syrah to pay homage to the distinctiveness of each soil type in their vineyard.

No reservations required. Must be 21+ to attend.