![]() ![]() ![]() The Cast Iron Bar & Grill in Suisun City features Suisun Valley wines, as does the Mankas Steakhouse, which waves their corkage fee for local wines. Vezer mankas corner series#A concert series at both Vezér properties is a summer highlight. The tasting experience at “The Blue Vic” is more laid back, with a completely different selection of wines. The Vezér family also owns The Blue Victorian Winery (5071 Suisun Valley Rd), a stunning location for tours, tastings, weddings, and other events. Nowhere is this more apparent than in their incredible selection of blockbuster California reds-Petite Sirah, Zinfandel, and their blends. Winemaker Jake Stuessy states simply, “We’re proud of our wines.” Another family operation, Vezér lovingly handcrafts each vintage with a fanatical devotion to quality. In contrast to other local wines, the Vezér (pronounced VEE-zer) wines are aimed at higher, “ultra-premium” price points. Mankas Corner is a Suisun Valley hub, and home to the Vezér Family Vineyards’ Mankas Corner Winery. The family-friendly Ledgewood Winery is not far off, specializing in a variety of Chardonnay styles and excellent Merlot. In the summer there are weekly tasting events, featuring live bands under the breezy patio. Winterhawk Winery (4537 Abernathy Road) is less picturesque, but some of the best wine in the valley is made here. Once again, all wines sell for $20 or less. The 2012 Sauvignon Blanc and 2010 Petite Sirah are particularly memorable here. Its tasting room gives a sense of this proud history. The oldest winemaking operation in the region is Wooden Valley Winery (4756 Suisun Valley Road), established by Italian immigrants in 1933. At just $22, it is the most expensive bottle on the menu. “The wineries here are all family owned and operated,” he explains, “with a connection to the land, the community, and its history… our wines have a combination of quality and value that you don’t see elsewhere.” The Sunset Cellars 2006 Barbera proves his point handily: a luscious, velvety balance of old world structure and new world fruit, with hints of plum jam and licorice. Vezer mankas corner free#Reminiscent of the bygone days of the Napa Valley, a diverse tasting menu of over forty wines is offered free of charge, often poured by the winemakers themselves.ĭoug Sparks, owner of Sunset Cellars, is a regular fixture behind the tasting bar at the co-op. The co-op is a joint venture of five different Suisun Valley wineries that rotate staffing for its tasting room. What the locals refer to merely as “the co-op” is housed in a comfortable, rustic building that perfectly expresses the approachable, good-natured feel of the region’s wine industry. The first stop surely must be the Suisun Valley Wine Cooperative (4495 Suisun Valley Road). Winding north on Suisun Valley Road, the bustle of Cordelia Junction quickly gives way to bucolic scenes of farmland, churchyards, rolling hills and resplendent vineyards. Just twenty minutes from Benicia up highway 680, the Suisun Valley American Viticultural Area is an accessible and affordable winemaking region just waiting to be explored. Those who want to enjoy premium wines among vineyards comparable to Napa and Sonoma-but without the traffic, high prices, and crowded tasting rooms-have no further to go than our own backyard. Local wine lovers have long enjoyed a close proximity to some of California’s most storied wineries. ![]()
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