Kenwood, California is home to a winery making some interesting Italian wines – Muscardini Cellars. Their tasting room is right on Highway 12 in the heart of town.

Sangiovese and Sagrantino wines can be found here as well as an extensive range of California wines from Savignon Blanc to Cabernet Sauvignon and almost everything in between. They source their grapes from growers throughout Sonoma’s wine region as well as from their own vineyard.

We were most interested in trying their wines made from Italian grape varietals and did our best to stay on track but ultimately failed. Michael Muscardini’s 2019 Sangiovese from Alpicella Vineyards was a favorite as was his 2018 Sagrantino from June Mountain Vineyards and his 2017 Fortuna from B. Wise Vineyards. A proprietary red blend named Tesoro is his flagship wine. and we enjoyed the 2017 vintage of it.

Ashley Songer hosted us in their wine library and tempted us with so many wines that we departed from the Italians a bit trying a number of the California varietals. We found a 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon from Cassata Vineyards to be especially nice.

It was a wonderful tasting. Thank you Ashley!

Salud!