Truett Hurst - An Interesting, Biodynamic Winery

The second Dry Creek Valley winery we visited after Dry Creek Vineyard during our October trip to California was Truett-Hurst Winery (https://www.truetthurst.com/index.htm), which was at 5610 Dry Creek Rd. about 2 and a half miles northwest of Dry Creek Vineyard. Truett Hurst had been recommended to me by the wine manager at our local Total Wine Store because of its biodynamic ecosystem.

Truett Hurst is relatively new. It was created in late 2007. However, the founding partners worked together at Fetzer Winery some years ago. Paul Dolan, one of the founders is an expert in biodynamic farming. Biodynamic agriculture is a type of organic farming that involves the holistic development and interrelationships of the soil, plants, and animals as a self-sustaining system. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biodynamic_agriculture)

In addition to its vineyards, Truett Hurst has five acres of garden. Dry Creek flows through the property. They say you can see Coho salmon and Steelhead trout in the creek. There are also otters, ducks, and sheep on the property. (I read one Internet posting about one of the rams attacking a visitor's Lexus - perhaps it wanted to "ram" the Lexus.) The gardens have flowers, herbs, olive trees, heirloom fruits, and vegetables, and a “beneficial insect habitat.”

The winery has music events on Saturdays and Sundays - https://www.truetthurst.com/events.htm

The tasting room was relatively basic. The staffer who waited on us was very nice and informative. He explained that one wine - the 2009 Red Field Blend, was biodynamic. Fertilizer was created by packing manure into cow horns. The horns are buried and bacteria forms in the manure. The horns with manure are then ground up and sprayed on the vines.

Total production of Truett Hurst appears to be less than 5,000 cases per year.

I believe that we were not charged for this tasting, but I am not positive. We tried five of the wines, all red, and enjoyed all of them. Bottle prices below do not reflect the 20-30% wine club member discount:

- 2010 White Sheep Russian River Valley Pinot Noir - very nice - $40

- 2009 Rattler Rock Dry Creek Zinfandel from 30-year-old vines - nice - $29

- 2009 Red Rooster Dry Creek Zinfandel - very nice - $29

- 2009 Burning Man Dry Creek Petite Sirah - very nice - $33

- 2009 Mendocino Valley Red Field Blend, 40% Syrah, 40% Zinfandel, 20% Primitivo, biodynamic - very nice - $24

After finishing in the tasting room, we walked around the gardens for a while. We did not walk down by the creek, where we could see some chairs for sitting and enjoying wine and nature.