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FLOWERS VINEYARDS WELCOMES GUESTS TO ITS NEW WINERY AND HOSPITALITY CENTER IN HEALDSBURG, CALIFORNIA
story by Jonathan Cristaldi
Twenty-eight years after Joan and Walt Flowers established their eponymous winery, fans finally have a place to visit. Seven miles southwest of Healdsburg, California, on the site of the former Belvedere Winery off West Side Road, Flowers Vineyards has opened a brand new winery and “House of Flowers” hospitality center offering wine and culinary experiences.
The culinary pairing program is led by chef Jamil Peden, formerly of Campo Fina, Woodfour Brewing, and Applewood Inn, while head winemaker Chantal Forthun continues to carry the torch she picked up in 2012.
Set on a 15.5-acre property, the estate includes a winemaking facility, hospitality center with both indoor and outdoor seating, including exclusive retreats for mailing list members, gardens, and an outdoor wood-fired oven. Four prime acres of Massal selection vines of Point Noir, dating back to the 1980s enshrine the front of the property, cascading down toward West Side Road. Looking east from the visitor center on a clear day Mount St. Helena is visible beyond the Russian River, and just south is Rocchioli, Williams-Selyem, and Gary Farrell.
Back in 1991, Joan and Walter Flowers pioneered the planting of two extreme coastal vineyards that now fall within the Fort Ross-Seaview AVA. The first was Camp Meeting Ridge vineyard planted to Pinot Noir and Chardonnay starting at 1,450 feet elevation, and situated just over two miles from the Pacific Ocean. Seven years later they inched a quarter of a mile closer to the ocean and planted Sea View Ridge, with bright red rocks and varying aspects with different sun and wind exposures.
When it became obvious that these ocean-breeze battered sites enjoyed enough sunshine to ripen Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, the mineral- and acid-driven profiles that have become hallmarks of Flowers wine made them hot commodities. But few visitors were ever permitted to make the treacherous drive to the steep, fog-shrouded, rocky outpost. Thankfully, that’s all changed.
Walking into the new visitor center, I felt an overwhelming sense of calm. Soft tones abound, with bald cypress tree panels lining the ceiling and walls and wide-paneled oak floors—all warm and inviting. Spacings between gaps in the ceiling were fitted with acoustic absorbing material and that keeps the space from becoming an echo chamber.
There are four main tasting areas, each one clean, sleek, and designed for comfort—a library, a study, a living room (which really does feel like a living room), and main dining room. Tours and tastings typically last an hour and a half, and the Flowers Tasting Experience includes four wines and locally-sourced, hand-crafted educational-driven food pairings curated by chef Peden. The cost is $55 per person, offered daily from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
The outdoors offers eight different seating experiences, including cabanas, and lots of couches and places to lounge, buy a bottle and just sip or picnic—most of this seating is in the sun, so bring sunscreen.
Back in June, I was among the first to spend an afternoon to experience the food and wine pairing offered. Winemaker Chantal Forthun and Chef Peden were my hosts. “We really want to educate people about drinking and enjoying our wines, but also about holding them for the right moment,” Forthun told me.
“For pairing, it starts with aromas and flavors,” Peden explained, “but I’m all about texture, and Chantal’s wines boast such a compact profile already, that my aim is to match flavors and textures.”
“You’re not actively realizing you’re getting an education in flavors and textures,” Forthun chimed in, “it’s all about the natural reaction to the food and wine pairing.”
I would agree. I’m a Pinot Noir and Chardonnay fan to begin with, but I was bowled over by the sheer energy, freshness, finesse, and elegance of Forthun’s coastal renditions of each variety. These were expertly complemented by Peden’s precise food pairings, which are so meticulously prepared, and so profoundly layered with flavors and textures that it feels as if you’re experiencing a full-on Michelin-starred meal of haute-cuisine food and wine in just four wines and four bites.
In just one bite of a gougere, fennel pollen, Meyer lemon zest, the salty texture of Estero cow’s milk cheese, and the wild, fresh herbal pop of a foraged edible flower made this the best gougere I’ve had in my life. Tasted alongside the 2017 Flowers Sonoma Coast Chardonnay it was like Peden had imbued this simple gougere with all the complexities of the wine—with pairings like this, the experience for most guests will be quite memorable, and at $55 a person, a tremendous value compared to similar experiences over the mountain in Napa.
As far as winemaking goes, “I don’t have a style,” Forthun said. “This is a legacy brand to me. I’ve inherited these properties from Joan and Walt Flowers. Since the beginning, sustainability and respecting the land and people and hands-on winemaking has been the number one priority.”
Flowers Chardonnays and Pinots undergo full native yeast fermentation. Yeast geeks are gonna love this: “We studied our native yeasts for five years,” Forthun explained, “and isolated cultures and saved them for the next harvest and made our own ‘tea of yeast’ and they put that ‘tea’ in backpack sprayers and sprayed our native yeasts all over the new winery, after cleaning and laying new concrete and painting. It was my idea.”
Coming off of six years with Randall Grahm at Bonny Doon, “I learned to really talk to the tanks and the wine,” she says, laughing about it, but adding, “this is really hands-on with eyes noses and hearts.”
Today, Flowers falls under the Huneeus family umbrella, owners of Quintessa, Faust, and Leviathan among other brands. Their vineyard-designate wines are “an expression of place,” and the coast blends are, according to Forthun, “an expression of Flowers.”
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TASTINGS
2018 Flowers Rose of Pinot Noir – ($32)
Delicate, ethereal, and refreshing, with sea spray aromas, melon and strawberry fruit notes on a lingering mineral finish.
2017 Sonoma Coast Chardonnay – ($45)
Pale lemon in color. Vibrant salty Meter lemon aromas with sea spray minerality and sumptuous baking spices are underscored by candied ginger and jasmine. Marvelously creamy and rich with deep layers of salted lemon and crushed stone notes. Taking a bite of Chef Peden’s gougere is like taking a bite out of the wine—incredibly flavors and textures. This is a blend of select grower-partners and estate Camp Meeting Ridge vineyard fruit—all Wente Clone. Drink now to 2023.
2016 Camp Meeting Ridge Chardonnay – ($85)
Estate, single-vineyard, entirely Wente Clone planted in broken shale for three feet before vine roots hit clay soils for water and nutrients. Lemon gold. Pronounced aromas call to mind lemon oil and salted Meyer lemon. Fresh sea spray notes are layered with ginger and sweet baking spices. Deeply profound layers of intense citrus flavors, beginning with rich lemon oil, lemon curd, and lemon bar. A viscous texture is supported by lifted acidity and a long toasty note reveals flamed citrus peel. Drink now to 2028.
2006 Camp Meeting Ridge Chardonnay – (price n/a)
As a point of comparison, to show just how well these Chardonnays age, Forthun brought this 13-year old estate bottle out and we tasted next to the current release. It was a showstopper. Vivid golden color gave way to a briny Chardonnay with toasty, smoky elements, and it hadn’t evolved quite into marzipan, but offered more high-toned honeycomb, fresh raw almonds, was juicy, round, and mouthcoating, giving way after several minutes to rich, earthy notes. A phenomenal showing. Drink now to 2021.
2017 Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir – ($50)
Deep ruby-purple. Brooding aromas of flinty and smoky minerality and deep black cherry. Creamy with vibrant and lifted acidity, and layers of dark berry flavors unfolding with earth, mineral, and crushed wild herbs. Drink now to 2023.
2016 Sea View Ridge Pinot Noir – ($75)
From 1,875 feet in elevation, 1.8 miles from the Pacific Ocean, comes this estate-vineyard Pinot Noir. Red-berry fruit, clove, orange peel, and garrigue aromas. Voluminous on the palate, revealing black cherry and clove and mocha tannins with flamed tangerine, earth, and fine cedar spices. Drink now to 2028.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
