Former art gallery is overflowing with style
Wine Guerrilla owner Bruce Patch made a very lucky score when he came across the space that is now his tasting room in Forestville. The building was formerly an art gallery, and it sings with style, from natural cork floors to polished, strawberry blond built-in furniture, as well as a curving, stacked half-wall hallway leading to a landscaped garden out back.
As soon as the gallery owner retired in 2013, Patch pounced, made only the slightest logistical revisions, and opened his own showpiece last August. Now, lined with glittering wine bottles, the space still acts as an art salon, featuring oversize prints of Wine Guerrilla labels.
The wines take an art form themselves, with Patch using a diverse palette of often rare grapes. Front and center is the area’s renowned Zinfandel, but this also is the only place around to explore an array of imaginative field blends in obscure varietals such as Carignan, Alicante Bouschet, Palomino and Chasselas Dore. The vibe: Tiny, rural Forestville disappears as soon as you step into the shop, eclipsed by chic structure and walls lined with the oversized renditions of Wine Guerrilla’s labels. An Adel’s Vineyard Zinfandel print shows a milky white nymph musing under the moonlight in a dark forest, while another, the label for the signature Rebel Cru blend, depicts a band of fanciful “guerrilla” soldiers in a mystical garden.
The experience: Let’s not take things painfully seriously when enjoying the finer things that are art and wine — Patch doesn’t. He makes all his wines himself, from grapes he sources across the Russian River, Dry Creek and Alexander valleys. It’s a meticulous process, he says, but essentially, if he likes a grape he makes it into wine, offering some 24 different labels and focusing on flavor rather than a stuffy story. The team: Patch moved to Forestville 17 years ago following a career in the music industry. After studying winemaking with his friend and Dry Creek winemaker David Coffaro, he began producing Wine Guerrilla wines at Coffaro’s winery in 2004.
The wines: This is a great place for large groups of friends to gather, given the open, airy flow of the tasting room, the spacious garden, and the sheer choice among wines. Everyone will find a favorite, be it the seven different Zinfandels including from 100-plus-year-old vines (all $40), or the 100 percent Alicante Bouchet from Clopton Vineyard in the Russian River Valley ($50).
The $10 fee (refundable with purchase) covers anything Patch has open on a given day; on a recent visit, that included eight wines. Purchases can include bragging rights, too, since production ranges from just 50 to 300 cases. The extras: Pick up lunch and enjoy it on the patio. Forestville is a wealth of great sources for lunch a few steps away, including Canneti Roadhouse Italiana, Twist Eatery, Backyard and Nightingale Breads.