Musical Chairs Part 2, or if One is Good, Two is Better

If having one tasting room is good, having two must be better. So it seems as SonomaUncorked is seeing a lot of double these days all over Sonoma County.

For starters, Kokomo Wines opened their first tasting room, the Kokomo Lounge, in downtown Santa Rosa’s Railroad Square last summer. Although Kokomo has some outstanding wines, the lounge has been slow to catch on, mostly because of that old real estate adage: location, location, location. The lounge is located just around the corner from the main drag of Railroad Square, but you wouldn’t know it unless you happened to park in front of it.

Luckily, Kokomo has found a better spot at its winery, in Dry Creek Valley on the Timbercrest Farms property. With winery neighbors Papapietro Perry, Amphora, Peterson and Family Wineries, Kokomo should get the foot traffic it deserves.

Speaking of Family Wineries, another one of those has popped up in Kenwood, in the former SL Cellars location. The new co-op features different wineries than its Dry Creek sibling, except for Collier Falls. Family Wineries wooed the high-brow Tandem Winery away from Plaza Farms in Healdsburg, and Christie Vineyards away from its spot on Front Street in Healdsburg.

Finally, a small “Paradise Ridge, Coming Soon” sign has popped up just north of Family Wineries in Kenwood. Paradise Ridge Winery, one of the few wineries in Santa Rosa proper, has never enjoyed much support from the city, which will only allow them one sad little blue sign on Fountaingrove Parkway to direct visitors to the winery. Stay tuned for opening information…