Albini Family Vineyards

We had a terrific experience with Don Albini. We had previously tasted his 2010 Merlot and were blown away. On our next trip to Napa, we contacted Don to request a private tasting. What a gracious, informative, and passionate winemaker! We tasted his current 2013 merlot and zin which were fantastic as well as an 08 zin. His wines are rich and complex! He told us his story as a winemaker for more than 25 years and answered our many questions. It is a different experience from the large and often opulent tasting rooms. Cannot say enough about our visit! Give it a try in your next visit to Russian River!!!

We visited Don Albini during our girls trip to wine country. He was not only a great host, but provided some excellent wine education, history and fun discussion.
Don makes 2 wines — merlot and Zinfandel, and does so with care and love. His passion for winemaking is obvious. The 2012 Merlot is fantastic — something definitely to add to your cellar!
If you want a personal, engaging and educational wine experience, Albini is definitely the place for you!

Of the 13 Napa/​Sonoma vineyards I visited this fall, my experience at Albini Family Vineyards was by far my favorite. Don Albini is such a good guy… he is clearly passionate about his wine and his family, he is self-​taught (and very up on the research), and he is ridiculously humble given that his wines have been sought out by Wolfgang Puck. I loved listening to him explain the science behind dry farming and the art of pruning while we hung out in his garage, tasting his fabulous merlot and zin. We told him we found out about him through Unilocal,and he seemed truly touched when we showed him others’ reviews. I was really impressed that he remembered everyone who left him a review, and who was on his mailing list. We all got huge hugs when we left, along with a free bottle from the tasting (and many, many bottles we purchased, haha). If you are looking for a truly unique and special experience, Albini Family Vineyards is a hidden gem that is bound to be the highlight of your trip.

What a treat! The guys at Christopher Creek introduced us to Don (Don Albini). Don doesn’t do tastings per se. He has no wine club. He’s just a guy making wine the old fashioned way in very low quantities in a barn on his property. And it’s great wine! I particularly like the Zinfandel.
You can contact Don on his website and set up a visit and you’re sure to see a whole different side of winemaking and Don will do an individual tasting. His wines are available in a few NYC restaurants and on an individual basis by newsletter. A true hidden gem!

I had one of my most memorable vineyard visits today, when I went to Albini Family Vineyards. Albini is located in both the Russian River and Chalk Hill regions. Don Albini is the proprietor of the vineyard and does everything the old-​fashioned way. Don does everything with heart! The grapes that go into the Albini wines are hand-​punched. All wines are entirely natural. He uses natural yeast and doesn’t filter the wine. BEAUTIFUL!
I found Albini Family Vineyards as I searched the Internet for wineries in Chalk Hill (a region in Napa Valley /​Russian River area). I find that the red wines (Syrah, Zinfandels) have a heavy fruit taste, heavy on the back of the tongue, & full of body. I contacted Don via his vineyard website and made an appointment to go visit the vineyard (Note: This is a family vineyard and there is no formal tasting room. Appointments are a must!). When you drive onto the property, it is an unassuming looking house with several acres of primarily zinfandel grapes.
Both Don and I got to the vineyard at about the same time, and he greeted me with a huge smile and a very friendly personality! He began to tell me about his family wine business — he is a self-​taught wine maker (he learned everything by reading books on wine making). He is also from an Italian family who has generations of wine makers, going all the way back to Northern Italy.
Don showed us the pressing /​hand punch process, bottling machines, fermentation process, corking, and just about everything that goes into producing a bottle of his wines. The tour (more like a casual discussion) took about 1 hour, and we enjoyed every moment of it! He’s a one-​man show and his wines surely taste like it is made with tons of TLC!!!
Albini Family Vineyards only sell two kinds of wine — Zinfandel and Merlot. This year, there are three varieties of wine available: First, is the 2008 Zinfandel (500 cases; Russian River Valley); Second is the 2008 Zinfandel Ponzo Vineyard (500 cases; Russian River Valley); Third is the 2008 Merlot (Russian River Valley).
We did an informal tasting of the 2008 Zinfandel, which was full of fruit, and delicious tastes in the front of the tongue. 75% of the grapes are from his personal vineyard, 25% from Ponzo vineyard. Don mentioned that this wine was heavier tasting than the other Zinfandel Ponzo Vineyard (which 75% of the grapes are from another vineyard, 25% from his vineyard). I opened a bottle of Merlot for dinner tonight and everyone really enjoyed it. Very rich depth of flavors in the wine!
If you join his mailing list (free to join), you’ll get a 20% discount on his wines. Currently, wines are $ 28 a bottle for the Zins, but you get it for $ 20 a bottle if you visit his winery or if you join his free mailing list. The Merlots are $ 18 a bottle with the discount. Truly a good value for the money! I purchased 1.5 cases of his wine because I want to share this newly found gem with my family & friends.
I have to say that when I left the vineyard, I walked away very calm and relaxed. I walked away more educated about wines. I walked away with a new friend in Don. Each time that I enjoy my wine, I’ll think of the great experience I had visiting the Albini Family Vineards. Don is a wonderful human being, and this characteristic is apparent in his wines.
Note: Don is about to harvest his wines and begin the process for the 2011 wines. Contact him ASAP if you want to get on the mailing list and enjoy his wines.

After visiting Don and seeing how hands on he is with his wine i have a deeper respect for the man. He walked us through his tiny barn operation and showed us how everything is done by hand in order to preserve the natural flavors and complexity of the wine. Don does not use a pump to move the wine from the barrels into the tank, it is moved with buckets. He also mentioned that sometimes he spends the night in the barn in order to «hand punch» the grape /​juice at least 5 times per day. All of this hard work and love go towards making his handcrafted wines. He doesn’t have any employees just his family, friends and sometimes volunteers who have bought his wine before. I may volunteer next year and help him out.
2007 Release info:
Russian River Merlot 300 cases.
The 07 Merlot is rich, complex and laced with spice and black fruit flavors. It is still young and evolving. This wine is very well balanced and should continue to improve over the next 4 to 6 years with proper aging.
Russian River Zinfandel 188 cases.
The 07 Russian River Zinfandel is a big, fruit — forward wine with firm structure. Aromas of dark plum, blackberry and toasted oak set the tone for this concentrated wine. The palate follows up with very ripe berry fruit, mulled spices and a touch of new oak. The finish is quite long and generous.
I will be placing my order in about 2 weeks. Let me know if you wanna jump on it. The prices haven’t changed if you are on the mailing list (Merlot $ 20.50 /​Zinfandel $ 23.50).