29 Mar Ferrari Carano Healdsburg CA

As our PTWG spring break tour winds its way north out of Healdsburg, up Dry Creek Valley Road, past mom-and-pop “we’re blending juice in our barn” set-ups,  all of a sudden,  boom!  Statement winery on the left!

The Ferrari Carano estate, Villa Fiore, is a little bit of Italy plopped down in Northern Sonoma County.  No, make that a BIG bit of Italy.  A 25-thousand square foot Tuscan-style villa surrounded by five acres of meticulously-landscaped grounds and gardens.  Not a blade of grass out of place.  They say they have a total of 10-thousand tulips & daffodils planted throughout the spread.

Heads up:  you can get tantalizingly close to the villa.  But that’s it.  Close, but not inside.  I asked an employee, “I’d like to get a picture of the reflecting pool.  How can I get inside the villa?”  The response:  “You can’t.”  End of conversation.

When it comes to the villa, unless you’re attending a special event,  you’ll be on the outside looking in.

But that’s OK.  Even without access to the villa, you can tell by these quick-and-dirty I Phone shots that there are still plenty of grounds to wander through…all in amazing condition.   Ferrari-Carano has a small army of  groundskeepers keeping the paths, patios and plantings pristine.

Rhonda and Don Carano built the El Dorado Casino in Reno, then built this wine empire.  They churn out 1/2 million cases a year.  (You’ll find their chardonnay and fume blanc in Portland stores.  We’ll review both in a future PTWG post.)

Ferrari-Carano is more than sizzle.  There’s a lot of substance.  They offer a free one-hour tour.   No tastings…it is free after all… but it does include a fact-packed, behind-the-scenes walk during which they go into great detail about the grape-growing and wine-making processes.  Post-tour, there are tiered tastings which, depending on the fee, include limited edition and reserve reds and whites.

Ferrari-Carano offers all the requisite features of a Napa/Sonoma winery experience.  You can check out the crush pad, stroll through the cellar barrel and do some sipping at the tasting bar.

But there’s no question about the main attraction at Ferrari-Carano.

It’s the estate.

The estate.  The villa.  The views.  The wide variety of varietals.

All in all,  a statement winery.

And one of the more popular stops on the Sonoma Wine Trail.