Tucked in a corner in Bacchus Landing in Healdsburg is the tasting room of Smith Story. It’s a welcoming storefront with a beautiful garden patio.

Ali Smith and Eric Story are the couple behind the wine. Katy Wilson is their consulting winemaker and Dusty Rhodes their hospitality director. And not to be left out in any way is Lord Sandwich, the canine behind it all.

A KICKSTARTER got them off and running and they released their first vintage in 2014. They’re small and yet today they are creating over a dozen varieties of wine with great success.

We had the pleasure of tasting there as guests of old friends who were visiting from Florida. The tasting was paired with plant based cheeses which none of us had previously tried. The almond and cashew based cheeses were particularly well chosen and married extremely well with each of the wines.

We started off with a wine we were not familiar with – the 2022 Fleur Blanc. Here is where Picpoul and Bourboulenc make their appearance. They are the grapes, old french varietals grown here in the Dry Creek Valley, that together make this Rhone style blend – Fleur Blanc and it’s simply delicious.

Ali and Eric source their grapes from a variety of growers throughout Sonoma County as you can see from the wines we were tasting – their 2021 Chardonnay from Olivet Lane Vineyard, Russian River Valley – the 2019 Smith Story Pinot Noir The Boonies, from Anderson Valley – and the 2019 Smith Story Cabernet Sauvignon, Pickberry Vineyard, from Sonoma Mountain. We also tasted their 2019 Cabernet Franc. All were quite special.

I encourage you to visit their website to read the full Smith Story story! It’s one with twists and turns and good vibes!

Thank you Dusty for a your graciousness and patience with us and our canine.

Great tasting!

Salud!

A note about the cheeses: Smith Story and Nova Terra Artisan Plant Based Creamery have teamed together to provide this special pairing . It was a hit for us. We will look forward to trying more of their cheese products and more of Smith Story wines!