Forchini Vineyards and Winery

Judged on friendliness, and value of the wines this place is amazing. We have been buying lots of wine here for 10 years and we keep coming back. Thanks Jim and Anita!

We just had the most amazing wine tasting experience at Forchini Winery near Healdsburg. What a fantastic view from the patio. The tasting room staff (Cher) was so friendly and knowledgable. And the wine. absolutely fantastic. Be sure to try the gold medal winner PapaNonno red.

During our recent trip to Sonoma, we were really looking for out-​of-​the-​way wineries where we could have more intimate tasting experiences. We got EXACTLY what we were looking for at Forchini. We had a one-​on-​one wine tasting experience with the winemaker himself, and leaned all about the estate, the vines, and the wines. Even though it was the end of the day, Jim spent a great deal of time talking about the wines, the vines (even took us out to try some of the grapes pre-​harvest), and even chatting about dogs and cars.
We walked out with several bottles of wine (which were all quite reasonably priced for the quality). Just this past weekend I opened the bottle of 2010 Proprietor’s Reserve Cabernet, and it was even better than I remembered. To-​date, it may be the most enjoyable Cab I’ve ever had – it was perfection. I immediately went to the website to see if I could order a half case, but the 2010 is all gone. Dangit!
Forchini is a MUST VISIT if you’re in Sonoma. It had everything: hospitality, great wines, beautiful views. I don’t do the wine club thing (ever), but I’m tempted to make an exception for Forchini.

I can’t believe I’m writing this, but their 2012 Old Vine Zin was probably the most enjoyable wine I tasted in my 4 days in Sonoma/​Napa. Now, that could have been because we stumbled upon this winery completely by accident while driving down Dry Creek Road, and went in with zero expectations. After reading some of the other reviews below, however, it appears I’m not alone. This is a solid winery and perhaps the best kept secret in Healdsburg. That Zin was smooth as silk. Apparently its 2.5 years of aging was absolutely perfect. In a blind tasting, I bet most people would guess this wine was 10 years older than it was. The Papanonno was also a very pleasant surprise considering it was labeled a «Tuscan Blend» and uses no Italian grapes. Tastings are only $ 10 and that fee is waived if you purchase a bottle.
Cher, the friendly pourer lady, said their pinot was her favorite but unfortunately it wasn’t included in our tasting. Now that I’m reading all the rants and raves about it, I’m kicking myself in the ass for not taking a bottle home, along with the Zin I bought. Probably gonna order one online as soon as I’m done writing this review.
Some of the wineries obviously can get pretty cramped and rowdy. Not this one. We had the place all to ourselves for a good hour and were truly able to relax and enjoy the wine and the scenery, which was the purpose of the long weekend.
We’ll definitely be back.
Tip: it’s pronounced «For-​KEE-​née.»

So if you are a zin lover this is the place for you. Found this gem during the passport to dry creek and singled up immediately. They has zin available at Costco too which was shocking. We bought older vintages during our trip but also bought a 2012 zin at Costco this weekend and was quite good for being so young. Worthy of a taste!

Love Forchini!
I am a huge fan of their old vine Zin’s…and pair it with a nice juice steak heaven!
I been a member for over a year now. Very happy with their reds.
The vineyard is tranquil and small. A great family vineyard.

Good wines at a nice price. Some traditional Italian wine making definitely comes through in the drinkability of their wines.

The saddest thing is I have never stepped foot in this winery, but the way I was treated over the phone, I definitely never will. I felt like I had to Unilocal this, because these people were so dang rude.
I called on a Tuesday afternoon to inquire about wine tasting prices, etc as I was coming in with 4 friends that weekend. The man who answered the phone was extremely rude, didn’t even say «Hello, Forchini winery» or anything. I had to ask is this was Forchini winery and he snapped «yes». The way he sounded was that he was super angry I even called. Okay, maybe he was having a bad day. Not cool, but I thought to cut him some slack.
I proceed with my 2 questions, and he was very rude and short with me. I continued on my conversation very nicely, but was so put off by his manner and his lack of customer service. I just don’t think that is okay. That leaves a horrible impression.
I ended the conversation by thanking him for his time and his response was a rude «yeah okay, whatever» and hangs up. What a jerk.
Forchini winery, you just lost our business with your extremely rude customer service. Completely unacceptable! Each winery we visit we buy some bottles and they could easily made a fair amount of money off my friends and I, but they absolutely will not get our business. So sad too, but whoever answered the phone needs a lesson on phone etiquette!

Sweet stumble-​on. Low key, great patio viewing of stunning Sonoma Valley, Sinatra piped in music, and wines with a lot of bang for buck. A lot of Italian varietals that tasted like a bit of Italy. And, a charmingly chintzy label using a Caravaggio painting. Nice. Reds over whites here.

Tastings at Forchini are done in an old-​ish home and the tasting maestro is informative and very accommodating. We were SHOCKED to have used the Visa card to purchase their Chardonnay! We came for the reds and left with the chard, but our «white-​lovin» guests will be glad that we did!

Dog-​friendly small operation with a wonderful selection of red varietals! We enjoyed tasting in their outdoor seating area overlooking their vineyards, especially because we were being served by Cher, who definitely earned that fifth star.

Love LOVE this winery!
We’ve been coming here for over 5 years now and can’t say enough about the quality of the wine or the «family feel» of the location. The owners are always fun to catch up with, and Cher in the tasting room is the best! Try the Pinot… it’s really quite amazing. And the Papa Nonno is one of the best everyday reds you’re going to find for the price.
Can’t wait to visit again soon!

I came across this place during a barrel tasting. The owners were unfriendly (maybe because it was the end of the long weekend?) but the woman I talked to on the phone the other day was very helpful and friendly. Either way, the wine was very good at the barrel tasting and my husband had ordered a futures shipment which just arrived today.
After just having opened the wine shipment, I was extremely disappointed to find that they had packed up the wine with STYROFOAM — uggg! Who actually uses styrofoam anymore? It’s one of the most egregious abuses towards the environment — period. Do these winemakers not know better, or just not care?
It’s a bit shocking, especially in light of the fact that many winemakers generally «live off the land» and thus espect the earth. In this local area, there are so many other vinyards on the forefront of promoting environmental sustainability.

We found Forchini quite by accident and have been back many, many times. I love their Pinot! It is always a very nice, quiet experience. They have a lovely patio to eat lunch and taste wine with gorgeous views! Great vineyard dogs, Gina and Sophie. They are very personable here and are always helpful. I joined their wine club and will be back over and over again!

Came here several years ago on the advice of a coworker who is knowledgeable in wine, and have never regretted it. Jim and Anita are warm, genuine people. The wines Jim creates (especially the blends) are unique in complexity, world class, and the grounds are welcoming, not flashy. Cher in the tasting room is a sweetheart, quite knowledgeable, and always helpful. Like someone else said, please stay away if your idea of tasting is a tasting room crawl, getting plowed and being obnoxious. Go across the road for that.

Our visit to Forchini started off good, unfortunately it did not end that way. We pulled up to this great view overlooking the vineyard. It really was quite pretty. There were a couple vineyard dogs which I had come to expect having visited several vineyards already, a nice little patio area with a couple tables.
We started off tasting some wines out of the barrel. The gentleman doing the pouring had a thick accent, which made communication a little hard, but he was very friendly and very willing to talk, even though he had to search at times for the right word. We really liked the Tuscan blend they were tasting however when asked if the wine would get any drier since it still had time left in the barrel to age, the person who I assumed was the owner, was quite rude making some comment about adding sugar if you want it sweeter. Ok, that wasn’t what we were asking, but anyway. There was a pinot that was pretty good in the barrel as well, but nothing to get overly excited about.
Other than the dog bite incident mentioned by my fiancé, and the gruff owner, I liked their wines and the grounds. We didn’t venture into the tasting room as a result of the gruffness of the owner, but I imagine that we will return next year, if only to see if the wine did in fact get any drier, but most likely to see if the owner has become more hospitable.

In my years of barrel tasting I have learned that each experience is different and that you can’t judge a winery based on barrel tasting. for this reason I will return to Forchini and give them a second try.
The wines were nice and I loved the Tuscan blend. It had a great note, dark berry fruit forward taste and ended dry. Pretty darn perfect for still being in the barrel. I was even set on buying futures. Then I asked the owner if the wine would get any drier since it still had time left in the barrel. He proceeded to tell me that if I wanted it sweeter I could add sugar. No, not what I’m trying to say. I tried to rephrase, gesture, translate. nothing. Add sugar then! Luckily we were interrupted when another guest came in to report that her husband had been bitten by one of the dogs (supposedly he did try to take the bone from the dog, so in my book it was a deserved bite). At this point we left.
The view is beautiful and there is a nice area of tables out front.

I really wanted to like Forchini. We went to the tasting room and had a nice experience during the Winter Wine Road event. I bought a case of 3 varieties and joined the wine club, sent away smiling.
The problems started with the first shipment. It was the exact 3 varieties I had bought the week before. No big deal, I sent a note to them asking if I could delay to the next shipment since I had just bought 4 bottles of each of these varieties. Nope, they said I had to start then no exceptions in a short cold email.
Second shipment. Forchini uses GSO who is less than stellar in their delivery. They tried to deliver once and I was not at home. No big deal right? OK. They tried a second time and missed me by 30 minutes. Left a message for me saying «we will try a third time but if we miss you we’ll hold your shipment and you can pick it up from our depot.» Industry standard and fine by me. Instead, I get an email from Forchini saying the shipper returned it to them instead which cost a return fee and if I wanted my wine I’d have to pay for the return fee plus reshipment fee. All in all $ 40 in shipping penalties for a 3 bottle box. Completely absurd and nothing was done about the fact that their shipper did not follow through on their word to try and deliver a third time or hold it.
I’ve canceled my membership in the wine club and am disappointed.
In a business where there is so much competition, if you get someone who should be treated as a preferred member, you should do just that.
I wish my club experience left as good a taste in my mouth as the wine does.

My friends and I went here for a tasting event, we came in a relatively large group, and we understand that some places can not handle groups of 15, but we made sure that only a handful came up to get wine at one time so that we did not overwhelm anyone of the wineries. We have had a great time so far, this would have been our 4 place to visit. We were somewhat loud, laughed a lot, but no different than any other place we had been, and at all the other places we were well received with smiles and all.
HOWEVER, this was not the case at this place, when we arrived, we walked into the ban/​garage area to do tasting at the barrels. Everything seemed to be going well, the younger host pour a good tasteful amount of the first few of us, and as 3 of us walked away, 3 more of us walked up, the other half of us were talking, laughing, joking, taking funny pictures, until two of my friends over heard one of the female hosts say «Only serve this group very little, they drank far too much, and … «and a few more distasteful comments.
Though this was our 4^th winery, we had not drank that much, we would have joked just as much, and laughed just as much, regardless of how little we drank. There were 3 of us who have not drank at all. Naturally, a group of 15 people in their late 20s would be having a good time together. We were highly insulted, poured all the wine they had just given us out, and left. Nothing we did justified such a rude attitude and comments. We will definately not be coming back.
I give it one star because the guy their was at least nice to us.

Family owned and operated, the dogs greet you, it looks like you are going in to someones home, you are treated like friends. These are Italian
style wines, with Tuscan style blends, especially suited not to over power food. The Chard was way too thin for me, but their reds were all very nice, all had a different character than most wineries are offering! Dad wad a bit of a character too! And he delivers to wine club members nearby! He was a KICK!