Boutique winery showcases Sonoma County wines made by Jesse Katz at Dry Creek Valley ranch.
A media event at Aesthete Winery & Farm provided a comprehensive introduction to the Healdsburg boutique winery. Aesthete has been making wines for a while from its estate Dry Stack Vineyard in the Bennett Valley AVA, but last year, vintner Jeff Jones bought the former Truett Hurst property in Dry Creek Valley to showcase the brand.
The press event began with wine tasting, followed by a tour and an alfresco lunch. Welcome holdovers from the site’s Truett Hurst past include the creekside Adirondack-chair setup for tree-shaded tastings, the sustainable gardens, and the darlin’ goats, sheep, and other farm animals.
Jesse Katz of Aperture Cellars and other renown makes the wines: Sauvignon Blanc, Rosé of Pinot Noir, and Pinot Noir from Dry Stack, plus a Cabernet Sauvignon from the Pritchard Vineyard in the Rockpile AVA, with a few others on the way.
I particularly liked the different plays on Sauvignon Blanc, one (2021) aged in stainless steel, two (2018 and 2022) aged in French oak barrels — well, three, if you count the lunch’s 2019, which, perhaps owing to its vintage (not to mention Katz’s skill), exhibited an extraordinary subtlety and grace for a California Sauvignon Blanc. The barrel-aged wines all had terrific mouthfeel.
At the tasting, owner Jeff Jones took some credit for the potent 2021 Dry Stack Vineyard Pinot Noir, saying that he’d told Katz he didn’t want one of those “thin coastal Pinot Noirs.” Katz, the vineyard, and the vintage (the last of a few drought years) delivered: this Pinot packs a (well-balanced) punch. The 2020 was a treat at lunch with the roasted wild boar shoulder from Chef Ben Martin at Camber Events.
For a Rockpile wine at the two-year mark, the 2022 Pritchard Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, perhaps the most blue-fruit-forward Cabernet I’ve ever tasted, was remarkably smooth. The tannins, which kick in after a beat or two, are ever so polished.
Such a pleasure checking out Aesthete Wines for the upcoming (mid-2025) edition of Fodor’s Napa and Sonoma guide. Reservations are helpful, but walk-ins are generally welcome.
Aesthete Winery & Farm is participating in Passport to Dry Creek Valley April 25th–27th, 2025, a good way to experience what this newcomer to the DCV scene is all about.
Why go: excellent wines by Jesse Katz; creekside tastings; darlin’ farm animals; reasonable tasting fee.
Info
5610 Dry Creek Road, Healdsburg 95488
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