Foppiano Vineyards has a rich history in winemaking. Located in Healdsburg, in the northern Sonoma Valley, the winery goes all the way back to 1896. The vineyard and winery is still owned and operated by the Foppiano family. They’ve seen a lot over the years, from Prohibition to the Great Depression, World Wars, fires and everything else you can imagine. During prohibition they were raided by federal authorities and a lot of wine was poured into the nearby creek. Through it all the winery has changed direction a few times, but currently they are on a trajectory which seems like a great one to us. We’ve reviewed their wines in the past, and chatted with owner Paul Foppiano and winemaker Nova Perril. You can read about that interview here. Since we were out in Sonoma visiting wineries, we put Foppiano near the top of the list to visit in person. We’re glad we did.
While many of the producers we will chronicle during this series are small, Foppiano is not. They’re also not huge
One Tank Room at Foppiano
by today’s standards either. Still, when you wander around a bit you’ll see a good deal of production capacity, some huge concrete holding tanks and a lot of barrels. They make their own wine as well as juice for others on contract. Back in the 1980’s the facility was churning out upwards of 200,000 cases of wine per year. They don’t do that much now, but it is still impressive.
As far as production under the Foppiano label, they make a good selection of wines between their Estate Series, Single Block wines and an assortment of blends. They also have a delicious sparkling red Pinot Noir. The estate series represents great value in every bottle we’ve tried. What is potentially even a greater value are the single block wines, which Nova has crafted to suberb levels of quality and which come at a bargain price compared to many other producers either in Sonoma or elsewhere. It’s hard to beat the value in Foppiano wines.
Barrel room at Foppiano
For this visit we were hosted by Rob McNeill, General Manager of Foppiano. We walked the facilities and talked about the long history. You can almost trace the history through the people who’ve picked the grapes over the years. In the late 1800’s it was mostly Italian immigrants, but later Native Americans, migrants from the dust bowl years, German U-boat prisoners of war during WWII and finally today’s groups of migrant workers have all brought in the crops.
The vineyards stretch away from the winery complex, starting right at the edge of the tasting room patio. During 2020 they lost almost the entire vintage to the Walbridge Fire. Rob recalls seeing the first wisps of smoke on the hillsides to the west of the winery. Those wisps would grow and eventually burn through over 55,000 acres and take out more than 150 structures in northwest Sonoma Valley. They were harrowing times, with all of Healdsburg under an evacuation
Lot of History
order. Rob was working on his sparkling wine project when the evacuation order came through. This was an important, personal project for Rob, and he waited until the last minute to leave. We have to say, people in the wine business can be somewhat overly focused at times! It’s another sign of the passion they put into the product.
Fortunately Rob did indeed escape, the sparkling wine was made, and we had the chance to spend a few hours with him and taste through the current releases from Foppiano. We did that in the VIP tasting room, part of the original structure on the site, and back in the day the bedroom where Louis J. Foppiano was born back in 1910. Louis would live to be 101 years old and managed the family business for many years. Here are the wines:
2021 Estate Sauvignon Blanc – the grapes for this wine were planted in the early to mid-1970s. One vineyard
is planted east – west, the other north – south, and that brings different influences. The juice is pale yellow, with a nose filled with bright fruit including peach, grapefruit, melon and some lemon. I don’t get much grass in this, which is good as it’s not one of our favorite flavors. This is smooth and delicious. $20 and a great value there.
2020 Estate Chardonnay – Barrel fermented in 55% new French Oak, this wine sees only partial malolactic fermentation to retain acidity. The nose has pear and tropical fruit, somewhat restrained. It’s an elegant wine, with medium to light body. Good length on the finish. $28
2018 Estate Pinot Noir – A medium, slightly dusty ruby red in color, this wine sports a nose of cherry, with a
touch of charred oak and some herbal notes. Another elegant wine, with a Burgundian feel. The fruit core is beautiful. The overall wine is elegant and delicious. Long finish. $35
2018 Estate Zinfandel – This has a medium, ruby red color and a bright nose of raspberries, other red berries and spice. It is medium+ in body with nice texture. Beautifully balanced, the fruit hides the alcohol in a pretty big wine that doesn’t overly announce its presence. It is delicious. This is superior at $28.
2019 Estate Petite Sirah – A dark purple red wine, and opaque, it has black plum aromas
along with savory notes, herbal nuances and a meaty undertone. On the palate this is still tight, tannic and really young. Wine Spectator gave it 90 points and it seems to be a fan favorite. We think it’s a very good wine that will continue to improve with some bottle time.$28.
Gianna’s Block vines
2018 Gianna’s Block Petite Sirah – this is a single block wine, located next to the tasting room outside patio as well as the tasting room we were in. It is named after current owner Paul Foppiano’s daughter Gianna. After fermentation it was aged in tight grain, new oak barrels, 50% French and 50% American. The juice is very dark, opaque purple red. On the nose you get mostly red fruit, with vanilla and a hint of oak. It’s a rich nose, followed by an equally rich, full bodied experience in the mouth. The fruit core just courses through this wine, right up to the long finish. This is one excellent Petite Sirah. At $48 is is also a ridiculous value, especially when you consider wine club members get it for even less. We shipped home some of this. Wow!
2018 River’s Edge Pinot Noir – from a single block near the Russian River, this wine was aged for 14 months in 55% new French Oak. It’s purplish red in color, with raspberry, blackberry, black cherry, earthy and herbal notes. Another Burgundian style Pinot Noir from winemaker Nova Perril. Medium+ in body, the fruit carries through the long finish. Nicely done and also $48.
2018 Nonno’s Block Zinfandel – Here aging was done for 16 months in French and Hungarian oak. The result
is a dark purple red wine. The nose has plum, some berries and menthol, but the palate is more fruit driven. All around I would call this a little lean compared to earlier vintages, but it is still a big wine with high acid and tannins. It is a wine that will age for decades and not even think about it. If you like to put half a case away and watch a wine evolve over a decade or two, this is a great candidate. $48
2018 Grant Station Carignane – I’ll say right up front this is one of my favorite wines anywhere. We tried this vintage two years ago and were floored. We bought some and have enjoyed pulling it out 
of the cellar. For some reason they still have some, which we cannot explain. Good for us though, as we shipped more home!
This is red fruit driven with vanilla, herbs, some light savory notes and a complex but seamlessly integrated palate. It is a beautiful wine and a little different. 90 points from James Suckling, which is just too low. 94 would be more reasonable, but of course we don’t use numerical scores! Either way, it is a great value, superb wine at $48 retail.
2019 Northern Edge Cabernet Sauvignon – A very dark wine and opaque. Classic ripe berry fruit with some
tobacco notes. Big but balanced, very young and built to age for decades. I would give this another 3-5 years in the bottle to really start to see what it is going to become. Excellent wine. 91 points from James Suckling, which we agree with. $55
RRV Sparkling Pinot Noir – this wine is just fun, although it is very much a well made, quality sparkling wine. Still, it is fun. Lot’s of bubbles, red fruit flavors and a clean finish make for an enjoyable sip. It’s also red, which is a little unusual for a quality sparkler. $39
You can visit the Foppiano Winery, try some of their wines in the tasting room, and then you’ll probably take some home at 12707 Olde Redwood Highway in Healdsburg, CA. Their website is https://foppiano.com/. If you visit there are several choices of tastings and experiences you can enjoy. We
Comfy tasting room
strongly recommend the Reserve tasting, which will highlight the single block wines. These represent some of the best wine values we have ever run across, and you can easily find similar quality wines at twice the price. If you wander around Sonoma and Napa a bit you absolutely will.
If you run into Rob, Nova or Paul say hello. This is a laid back, comfortable, family run winery. It’s great to see tradition continue, and quality rise to the levels they have achieved. We can only believe even greater things lie ahead.
You can read about the previous winery visit from our trip to Sonoma and Napa by clicking here. The next stop is available here.
A votre santé!
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