Peay Vineyards
Nick Peay farms the vines at Annapolis on the far West Sonoma Coast and the family makes the wine an hour inland at Cloverdale. Tastings run in a subterranean barrel hall, $50 for current releases and $75 for the library.1
Why go
Two tastings happen at the winery and both are underground, which is why the invitation comes with a note about comfortable shoes and a light jacket.1 The Current Release flight runs the range of the estate vineyard for $50.1 The Library Select goes back through older vintages for $75.1 The third option is the one with the view: a tour and tasting at the Annapolis vineyard itself, over an hour west of Healdsburg, at $100, arranged directly with Nick Peay.1 The list is Pinot Noir, Syrah, Chardonnay, Viognier and a Roussanne-Marsanne blend, with a second label called Cep.2
Order this / avoid
- Order: the Current Release Tasting first, at $50. It is the one built to show the whole estate.1
- Avoid: planning the vineyard visit for late summer. The team is picking from August through October and does not host, and the vineyard tasting runs weekdays only in any case.1
Good to know
- Booking is by appointment, and the winery says availability varies because the team travels to its members.1
- The saved pin is the Cloverdale winery, not the coastal vineyard. They are an hour apart.1
- No independent review of these wines was read for this entry.
Verdict
could-visit — The reason to book is where the fruit comes from. Peay farms an estate at Annapolis on the far West Sonoma Coast and makes the wine an hour inland at Cloverdale, so the vineyard tasting and the winery tasting are two different days out at $100 and $50. The barrel hall is underground and the winery tells you to bring a jacket, which is the kind of detail that means somebody has thought about the visit. Nothing here is anybody's judgment but the winery's: no critic, no score and no vintage note was read inside budget, so the rung reflects a producer whose case has not yet been made by anyone outside the family.