A Rafanelli Winery

You need to stop there!!!
Small family owned winery, unfortunately they only had the Zinfandel available but that was a really nice stop!
Nice people, good wine, beautiful winery

Natalie was the best! Extremely knowledgable about the wine and well versed in the history of the winery. The wines are phenomenal. I will definitely be back soon.

This winery had a phenomenal reputation and it’s easy to see why after tasting here. I love some of the larger wineries in the Dry Creek area, like Truett Hurst, which has lovely facilities and allows one to just drop in. I tried to visit this place a couple times before getting a reservation. It was likely because two of the four wines had sold out.
A. Rafaneli is more about the wine than the ambiance. They only sell to members or people tasting there. There are no wine club member events like at Seghesio. Only a few people are allowed in per hour. When a vintage sells out, there are no new vintages waiting in the wings. The wine list only included four wines, two of which had sold out. We tasted the zinfindel ($ 45 a bottle) and the estate blend (merlot and Cabernet sauvignon blend $ 50 a bottle). Both were excellent. The estate blend was especially excellent with notes of anis, clove, plum, and peppercorn. It was poured with a piece of dark chocolate, which really enhanced the flavor. The zinfindel was also lovely, with strong berry and cinnamon flavors. It was a very intimate experience. I enjoyed it and would highly recommend it.

This place is the best! The wines are world class and delicious — great setting in the dry creek area, amazing family history and story behind the vineyard. This winery was the highlight of our trip to northern Sonoma county.

Rick was awesome. Authentic. The family history, the property, the ambiance are all very cozy, Italian and worth it. The sell
No merchandise, thank god. Ill be back.

Our favorite winery in Sonoma (actually anywhere). My first Rafanelli was a 2007 cab that might just be the best bottle I’ve ever had. Had never heard of it until that time (very hard to find on the east coast).
I’ve since visited twice and found the people there to be warm and friendly and even got a personal tour from Dave Rafanelli during our first visit — very special! The grounds are beautiful and reminiscent of Tuscany.
Now on the waiting list to join the wine club and am looking forward to the day!

Vineyard is absolutely beautiful. Great trail that goes a pond with a fabulous view of the hillside. The winery itself is small and that suits them well because their wines are great. Sampled the ’12 Zin, the best I’ve had in several days of tasting throughout the region.

What’s not to like? Old school feeling tasting room with no charge to taste, requires reservations and serves up some of the most delicious Zin in the region. My, my!!!
The only thing I can see that would frustrate some is the requirement to make an appointment here in advance, which requires a little planning. It’s worth it. The tasting room and parking lot are small and the vibe is completely old school, if not old-​world. This is not a giant corporate feeling winery. Far from it.
The female winemaker here is a third (fourth?) generation of this wine dynasty. The family history in the U.S. started auspiciously with an exodus from Tuscany when a great grandmother fled after being told that in no uncertain terms that women could not be involved in the winemaking process. She decided the New World would be a better place to pursue her winemaking passion. Italy’s loss was Russian River’s gain and now here we are several generations later, and particularly the last two generations have really been cranking out the good stuff. I mean, really good. Really, really good.
We bought several bottles and then spent the rest of the day tasting wines that just were not this good nearby (and they were all good, just not THIS good!) We ended up coming back to buy up to our limit (6 bottles of Zin) because this terrific wine is very hard to get outside of the area, and is just delicious.

This place should be called Rudinelli.
Rude, rude, rude. I’ve tried a few times to schedule a tasting appointment, but the lady that answers the phone is so rude and unprofessional. We are wine club members at a few Napa wineries, and were very interested in visiting this winery, which came recommended by one of my colleagues, who happens to be a wine club member here.
Apparently they have enough business. Oh well, it’s time to move on because they have driven away business.

I’ve been waiting a while to step through the hallowed halls of A. Rafanelli Winery. I’ve been a fan of their Zin for years, but because they’re only open by appointment, I haven’t been able to work out a visit, until Passport to Dry Creek Valley weekend. OK, there’s a reason people stand in line over an hour to get in to A. Raf on Passport weekend.
Locally owned and operated, this winery knows how to create consistently generous wines that rival the best from that other wine area to the east — for a much better price. In my opinion, A. Rafanelli produces great cab and merlot, but where they are really brilliant is their Zin. The Zin is a perfect balance of fruit and spice — not too jammy — and full of complex palate pleasers. We bought a case and are hoarding it.
I found the staff to be friendly and welcoming in spite of the crowds and craziness that are part of Passport weekend. If you’re headed to DCV and you love Zin, make an appointment. You’ll be glad you did.

Loved this winery but we came at the end of the day and I don’t think they were super excited to see us.
Their Zin is fantastic. I definitely recommend making an appointment. It’s a small operation but the people are so friendly and make great wines. Reds only! No tasting fee but doesn’t matter because you’ll definitely spend money here anyway!

The reviews posted match our experiences. I would say their style is brusque, but not rude, but their wines are world class and superb.
Cash only and appointment required.
The Rafanelli Cab is on the wine list at Le Gare restaurant in Santa Rosa. Be sure to have dinner there, if they have room, and order the Cab. Interestingly the wine list offers the Cab at only a few bucks more than the winery price.

As a local Healdsburg resident, their wines are revered by even their competitors. They are family and they work very very hard to produce their wines. I will never forget I went for a bike ride on a Father’s Day several years ago, on a afternoon where it was well over 100 degrees and Dave Rafanelli was out working in the vineyard himself sweating away on day he shpuld have been taking it easy. Their vineyards always look perfect.
Some of the complaints about them, crack me up. They are good people. They are not perfect, but they are real. They support their community, where many of the other wineries that were bought by wealthy people from other places who wanted a piece of the wine country do nothing locally. If you don’t like how you were treated and want to complain about it, then you don’t get it. Buy someone else’s Zin, because it is hard enough to buy it as it is.

We found out about A. Rafanelli after having one of their amazing Zinfandel’s in a restaurant a few years ago. My wife and I gravitate towards smaller wineries and A. Rafanelli is an great example of why we do. It’s a small, family-​run winery that produces a small amount of fabulous wine. We recently got an appointment for a tasting and really enjoyed the experience. They really don’t have a tasting room and so you get to taste wine amongst the barrels while learning all about their wine and how it’s made.
Keep in mind that tastings are by appointment only and it’s a good idea to call at least several days in advance.

Been going to Raffi for decades… Used to be one of our faves; but gotten too expensive for what you get.

We love this wine! So when we had it seven years ago for the first time we knew next time we visited we had to have more! So while setting up our second trip this was a first on our list of wineries to visit. The only bad thing was they were closed the week we would be going due to a relaunching of their wines! So we called when we were around the area just to see if maybe we could just come by and buy a case of their fabulous wines and Stacy was so nice she said we could.
She not only sold us a case of wine but also took time out to talk to us for about 30 minutes. This is some of the best wines I have ever tasted and we are so appreciative for Stacy taking time out to sell us some.

Where do I start, this wine speaks for itself. The winery grounds are awesome. It’s a small family winery, The owners daughter is the winemaker, and her husband is the vineyard manager. They don’t even have a fancy tasting room, you taste in the barn and I like it that way. And seriously their parking lot fits about 4 cars. Like I said small family winery. The wine every year is excellent.
I don’t know about the few reviews saying the family will not talk about the wine, Rashell (the wine maker) has always answered all my question.
To the guy who said they should go wholesale LOL. They already sell EVERYTHING. There is a reason their «wine club» (they don’t really have a club it’s just a list of people that get early info on releases) doesn’t get a discount, just their limit of what they can buy is higher.
All in all if you have a chance to make an appointment and taste some wine here do it. You will never find this wine in a store, and rarely at a restaurant

We came here for Rafanelli’s 100^th Year Celebration and boy was this event fun-​filled and kept my wine glass «filled» too! ;)
We actually took the SBBF’s dad’s invitation since he was away golfing that weekend. You gotta be an exclusive member on their mailing list to even get an invite. Talk about sexy VIP status baby!
The SBBF is a big fan of Rafanelli wine and honestly he’s opened a few bottles (Zin & Cab) for us before and I was never really obsessed with the flavor BUT… their Terrace Select wine is definitely to die for. I had to confirm it myself when I had a glass or two poured from the founder of this winery.
They had this event catered with extremely delicious appetizers and mini entrees. The dessert station was one where we paid a few more visits than we should have. Can ya blame us? Those lil chocolate-​truffle-​pop-​in-​your-​mouth-​orgasm bites were the best!!! And made a great topping for the gelato.
Food aside, we got to tour the winery and I really enjoyed walking through the «cave» where they actually have a hosted dining table for guests who make reservations for special dinners. Totally a cool factor! They had a really nice garden right outside where they had most of the food and their signature wines being poured. The band was also a very good one; played very cute and lively Italian songs.
I would love to come back here for another event and/​or wine tasting. I could seriously have a whole bottle of that Terrace Select to myself right now…

A small private (means by appointment only) winery off the beaten path. No hordes of drunk bachelor and bachelorette parties. The grounds are gorgeous and the family and employees are super friendly and fun to talk to.
Oh — and the wine is quite yummy :) I do not believe you can buy it in stores but can get it at some nice restaurants in the area. So it’s best to try and get on their invite list here. But I am selfish so hope they never get too big!

No trip to Healdsburg would be complete without a stop at A. Rafanelli. As usual we had a fantastic tasting experience and walked out with a case of half bottles of Zin (normally you can’t buy the half bottles at the winery so this was a great score)
And to top things off, Stacy gave me a bottle for free since we were visiting during my birthday weekend (which we promptly enjoyed in the hot tub that evening) Thanks to Stacy and everyone at Rafanelli for making my birthday weekend extra special!