Mar 27, 2025 | Dysfunctional Family Winery, Sagrantino, Sonocaia Winery, Sonoma Valley, Uncategorized
SONOCAIA WINS MULTIPLE WINE COMPETITION AWARDS IN SAN FRANCISCO, SAN DIEGO, AND LOS ANGELES, PLUS A PROFESSIONAL JAPANESE SAKE TASTING AND THE SONOMA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL – CLICK ON THE POST TO SEE IT ALL
Sonocaia and Dysfunctional Family Winery win prestigious wine competition awards
- 97 Points – Los Angeles Invitational Wine Challenge – “notes of black licorice, cocoa bean, with a sensuous mouth feel, a classic.” We’ve held onto some cases of this wine as a library release. Aged two years on oak and five years in bottle. Blend of Cabernet, Petite Sirah, Syrah, and Merlot. This older but great annual version of our Red Blend is sourced from special boutique vineyards farmed by our wine industry friends around Sonoma Valley and Sonoma Mountain.To order, click here.
- 90 Points – Los Angeles Invitational Wine Challenge – This newer 2021 vintage is soft and fruity but carries the body and weight into a long finish. A terrific food-friendly wine, especially great with pizza, burgers, and BBQ. Super silky and so easy to drink. Pinot fans seem to love this wine. A blend of Syrah, Zin, Merlot, and Cabernet. To order, click here.
Our flagship red wine, and second vintage from 7 year old vines, 100% organic, from our estate Sagrantino vineyard. Transports you directly to Umbria, Italy, the home of Sagrantino. A rare find in California, this varietal is relatively unknown in the new world but is now sparking major curiosity and accolades from both the casual traveller and the serious wine critic.. To order, click here.
- Gold 92 points – San Diego Invitational Wine and Spirits Challenge
- Award – San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition
Navigate here to see the above award winners and our entire lineup of wines
PROFESSIONAL JAPANESE SAKE TASTING
For our monthly professional wine tasting program, we normally choose a specific category of wine, such as 90’s Sonoma Mountain Cabernets, For this outing, we selected eight Japanese Sake’s. We found that the sake’s had an amazing range of aromas and flavors, perhaps more even than grape wine. That was a fascinating outcome. Check out the images and notes for a sense of how it went:
That’s a wrap! The 2025 Sonoma International Film Festival was a spectacular success. Five days of films across five venues, plus nighttime parties, and the new pop-in sip and bites program at many wonderful plaza restaurants. Sonocaia and Dysfunctional Family Winery poured our wines at the sold-out Marcella Hazan “Italian Dinner” Culinary event. And we poured at the KHR McNeely Family Fund party and the SIFF Film Industry Mixer, both at the VIP tent. It was a five-day extravaganza of film, food, and wine.
Final thoughts:
Here’s a fun flashback to some older blog post images…
Dec 17, 2024 | Dysfunctional Family Winery, Sagrantino, Sonocaia, Sonocaia Estate, Sonocaia Winery
A look back at 100 blog posts, moments from life in Sonoma wine country
Let’s take a step back in time. But first…the wine business is suffering from over-supply, cost inflation, and Gen Z’ers hunger for canabanoids and canned cocktails. But that doesn’t stop us at from enjoying the best that Sonoma wine country can pour out of 750ml glass bottles. Here at the Swiss Hotel back room, I marvel at my colleagues ability to consume their own products!
Sometimes the drinking is purely social and maybe even gets a little out of hand (above). But just as often, we’re focussed on seriously judging our work and the work of our colleagues. Below, a blind tasting of 10-year old Sonoma Valley reds.
Join us as we reflect on over 100 blog posts over 7 years emailed to over 2000 subscribers, like you.
I embarked on the idea of this blog post as a way to communicate with each of you – as we set about developing the 11-acre Hydeout Farm. I was careful not to do too much selling. I was and still am interested in building a following and having dialogue – yes, about grapes and wine for sure; but also bees and honey, chickens and eggs, vegetable and fruit tree gardening, creek restoration, alternative energy, compost, travel, and the non-profits in Sonoma town.
I’ve selected my personal favorite blog posts for republishing. I would be pleased if you would scroll through them and relive your favorites with me. And please send me a note with your thoughts:
June, 2017 – the very first post announcing the launch of this blog.
Welcome to the Hydeout Sonoma vineyard and wine blog
Feb, 2019 – Celebrating 20+ years of winemaking
Celebrating 20 vintages from the Santa Cruz Mtns. to the Sonoma Valley
September, 2020 – FIRE !
The smoky grape harvest of Sonoma 2020
October, 2022 – traveling to Montefalco, Umbria where Sagrantino grows
Umbria and Sonoma – Sagrantino, Food, and Motorcycles
March 2020 – Wildlife (in the time of Corona Virus)
Sonoma Farm Life (in the time of Corona Virus)
December, 2021 – RAIN!
Rain in Sonoma, finally…
June, 2017 – it was a backyard music party
1st annual wine and music party Hydeout Sonoma 2017
December, 2018 – Hope for the future
Hope for the future of wine and food
January, 2024 – a review of 2023
A year-end wine country lifestyle photo journey
A 2018 post about the wine industry convention held every year in Sacramento
Wine Industry Convention
June, 2018 – Farming organically
Farming Sonoma vineyards organically
And there’s still time in 2024 to shop for wine!
Sonocaia wine lineup – DYS 2021 “Double Buffalo” Red Blend, DYS 2017 Red Blend, Sonocaia estate reserve 2021, Sonocaia estate reserve 2022, estate olive oil, apple grappa
Shop Our Wines
Winemaker Ken
Nov 12, 2024 | Dysfunctional Family Winery, Sagrantino, Sonocaia Winery, Sonoma Valley, Uncategorized
Pre-holiday sale of Sonocaia and Dysfunctional Family wines
with a great discount only for subscribers
Enter discount code FF20 at check out for the Friends and Family 20% off all of our wines. Good only via this blog post.
Pick up at the winery or ship it to your address
Have a look below at the special and quite delicious wines we are featuring today. As most of you know, we are a small boutique winery at the intersection of Sonoma Valley and Carneros, just south of Gunlach-Bundshu and Scribe wineries. Our approach to both farming and winemaking is very hands on. We produce only between 150 to 200 cases of each wine. This equates to just 1-2 tons of each cuveé, allowing us to literally do everything carefully by hand, with our eyes and senses judiciously managing each lot every day all year long, from farming to harvest to barrel to bottle. The result are wines that each come with a great story, an interesting provenance, and are genuinely true to their terroir. And therefore fun to drink. Please dive in…
2022 Estate Reserve Sagrantino
Pre-release allocation only to blog post subscribers like you. This just-bottled 2022 vintage is a truly epic red wine; deep and dark in color, with ample tannins, a long finish and great acidity. We are very excited about this vintage. It is the result of literally years of effort in the vineyard and winery. Originating with the importation of Sagrantino grapevines from Montefalco Umbria in 2016. Aged two years on oak. This wine is made for dining on a cold winter night. It will cut through the meanest turkey gravy your momma ever made!
Click here to order: 2022 Sonocaia Estate Reserve Sagrantino
2021 Estate Reserve Sagrantino
After years of carefully farming our estate Sagrantino, this inaugural 2021 vintage is rich and smooth and very food friendly, like Sagrantino should be. As it was the very first vintage, it is a bit softer and more approachable compared to the blockbuster 2022 we just bottled, above. This wine will go very well with baked turkey, sweet potatoes, and pumpkin pie! Suggestion – try this in place of your go-to Thanksgiving Pinot Noir.
2021 Dysfunctional Family Winery “Double Buffalo” Red Blend
The “Double Buffalo” 2021 Dysfunctional Family ‘Red Blend’ was sourced as always from four of our friend’s special boutique organic vineyards around Sonoma Valley. This vintage is soft and fruity and really easy to drink, but carries some body and weight into a long finish. A terrific food-friendly wine, especially great with pizza, burgers, and BBQ. And, this is a great wine to match with Thanksgiving leftovers! Blend is 62% Syrah, 24% Zin, 8% Merlot, and 6% Cabernet.
2017 Dysfunctional Family Winery ‘Red Blend’, Library Selection
Driven primarily by structured hillside Cabernet Sauvignon and inky Petite Sirah, this wine is dark, rich, and weighty, and yet is also easy to drink – owing to both perfect bottle age and the addition of small amounts of smooth Syrah and jammy Merlot. Aged 2 years on a mix of new and neutral oak, then aged an additional 5 years in bottle. It is perfect and ready to drink right now.
We are re-releasing this library wine just for the holidays. I recently snuck this bottle into a blind tasting with some very well known and expensive red wines. The team was a collection of local Sonoma growers and vintners who have tasted many delicious wines. And they were so moved that they each bought a case. Get yourself some while it lasts.
2020 Dysfunctional Family Winery Rosé
Just 7 cases left in the whole wine world! If you love Rosé for Thanksgiving, and many have that tradition…made in the ‘saigneé style’ – meaning ‘bleeding off’ the unfermented pink grape juice from the full tank of fresh grapes, then cold fermented in stainless steel and quickly racked back to neutral oak barrels for settling; all resulting in a wine that is dark pink in color, crisp, and fruit forward. Drink well chilled, and don’t be afraid to put an ice-cube right into your glass like we do. Chill and open this wine for your family and guests to set the perfect festive mood.
Part of the Sonocaia and Dysfunctional Family winery lineup. You and your family and your guests will enjoy having these wines on your holiday table.
Enter discount code FF20 at check out for Friends and Family 20% off of all our wines. Good only via this blog post. Order today to receive by Thanksgiving.
News and flash backs:
November 2023 – just one year ago, the grand opening of Sonocaia estate winery
December 2023 – gathering with friends and colleagues over too many wines, in the private dining room at the Swiss Hotel on the Sonoma Plaza
Ken and Cynthia pouring Sonocaia at the 2024 Vintner’s Festival. This is one of the major events put on every year by the Sonoma Valley Vintners and Growers Association. The SVVGA has a great board of directors and staff. The team is superb at featuring the beautiful and authentic wines of Sonoma.
Some informative reading about Sagrantino, polyphenols, and tannins, just fancy words for color and flavor:
Next post coming in December – a trip back in time across 100 blog posts, and a chance to sit back and scroll through images and news from across the world of wine over the past few years.
A winter corporate event at our Redwood City winery, in 2003; one of the first urban wineries in the bay area, and the genesis of our entry into the wine business over 20 years ago.
Oct 9, 2024 | Dysfunctional Family Winery, Hydeout Sonoma, Sagrantino, Sonocaia Winery, Sonoma lifestyle, Sonoma Valley, Uncategorized
Enjoy this pictorial journey of Fall in the Sonoma Valley
From our sun-soaked vineyard to the bustling crush pad, immerse yourself in the sights and sounds of the Sonocaia Estate Winery in the Sonoma Valley. Explore the heart of California wine country and savor every moment of the season.
With our 2022 vintage, we reached the promised land having created a Sagrantino wine with superb color, great depth, structure, and varietal distinction. It’s simply a gorgeous wine that goes so very well with grilled beef, rich pastas, and aged cheese. And the most perfect match of all – mushroom risotto!
Bottling the 2022 vintage
The finished product – vintage 2022 Sonocaia estate reserve Sagrantino. The first truly representative example of our almost decade-long effort to replicate Umbrian Montefalco Sagrantino in the Sonoma Valley.
The bottling crew
Valley of the Moon “Vintage Festival” – Grand Tasting Event
We poured our recently bottled 2022 Sonocaia Sagrantino estate reserve and the 2021 Dysfunctional Family ‘Double Buffalo” wine at the Valley of the Moon “Grand Tasting” event at the Barracks on the Sonoma Plaza. A really large audience crowded around our tasting table for three hours, a wonderful surprise given that we were literally surrounded by much larger and more famous wineries.
The Grand Tasting inspired a big crowd from around the country
Lead by Executive Director, Robyn Sebastiani (2nd from right), the entire Vallay of the Moon “Vintage Festival” staff made the event a great success.
Valley of the Moon “Vintage Festival” – Harvest Dinner and Auction Event
Celebrating 200 years of Sonoma Valley wine and farming, we donated a monster 6 Liter Methuselah of the 2017 Red Blend – 32% Cabernet, 29% Petite Sirah, 25% Syrah, and 14% Merlot, all from 100% organic, 100% Sonoma Valley vineyards, and 100% grown, produced, and bottled by our company.
Valley of the Moon “Vintage Festival” – Grape Stomp
As a large audience roared with encouragement (from a significant distance), 2-person teams raced each other to stomp ten pounds of grapes and produce a winning volume of liquid, and happily got themselves and the judges covered in red grape juice in the process
This was the winning team’s submission. And the stomping was much harder than it looked, even for the energetic youngsters.
Recent visitors to the Sonocaia estate
These are a few of the photos of various visitors to the winery, very random and with instructions to “just act natural.” They were all very good at following instructions.
Vintage 2024 – harvest prep
Sanitation and equipment checks are a constant at the winery. And especially at the start of harvest. Even more so when your assistant winemaker, Dominic Smith, also of Domesday wines, shows up with a new ultra-sleek, super-gentle, and very expensive Italian must pump.
A brief pause for some fun on the Sonoma Plaza
The Sonoma Plaza has an all-summer-long Tuesday night Farmer’s Market. It always attracts a large audience, especially when the food trucks and the music make the scene.
A grand rodeo at the Wing and Barrel Ranch in Carneros
The most incredibly all-American and patriotic event of the year in Sonoma, other than Fourth of July, our hosts Christine and Jon Curry of Landers Curry (famed Sonoma home builder and interior designer) served us ample cold beverages, provided perfect seats to view the parachute, barrel racing, and bull riding (and it should be called bull falling), followed by an hours-long BBQ. The right way to prep for harvest.
Watching, waiting, tick tock, and finally, it’s go-time for the harvest
It’s a bit nerve-racking and daunting to work to diligently farm a vineyard and then put your head on the pillow every night in October and say to yourself “should I pick…now?” The decision will affect the quality and features of that vintage for years to come – in barrel, in bottle, and on your dinner table. But the decision must be made. And so in my view you make it fearlessly and without hesitation.
5:00am, the sky is dark, the air is perfectly cool, the tractor lights are glowing, it’s time, let’s do this.
The team is psyched for the final bin as the sun begins to set on a long day, and the mighty Kubota tractor keeps on chugging
Wait, did you wash those feet?
Funny? Yes. But not a joke. Mike and Dom dropped the last 20% of this fruit into the bin as ‘whole clusters’ (stems on) and foot-tread the fruit. Truly, the most gentle and really pretty compelling way to very softly break up the berry skins without cracking the seeds. Works really well on smaller lots of 1-2 tons. Not so much on 100 tons!
Final thoughts
With all the wines quietly fermenting in the winery, we’re now busy with punchdowns and pumpovers 2-4 times every day for the next month. Then, it will be time to press that wine into barrels. And then eat some turkey and mashed potatoes.
But meanwhile…wait for it…Acorns! Just like clockwork, as the last grapes are harvested, the oak trees start dropping acorns. And I start yet another year of passionately collecting them for the baby oak tree nursery.
And from the Hydeout gardens, a payoff of amazing Fall potatoes
Warmest regards to you each for a fantastic, cold, rainy, quiet, and peaceful winter
Next post – a review of the over 100 blogs posted here since June 2017
Happy tourists in their hot air balloons grace the early morning October skies over the Hydeout Farm and Sonocaia Winery
Jul 7, 2024 | Sagrantino, Sonocaia, Sonocaia Estate, Sonocaia Estate Vineyard, Sonocaia Winery, Sonoma Farming, Sonoma International Film Festival, Sonoma lifestyle, Sonoma Valley, Yoga Retreat
Yoga Retreat at Sonocaia – by the team from Euphoria
Just a few spots remain for this Sunday’s retreat at Sonocaia. July 14th. 4:00pm – 6:30pm. Details below. Click here to learn more and claim a spot.
About Euphoria: What began as a dreamy idea in 2008 over a glass of Brunello in Tuscany is now a women-owned lifestyle retreat company with more than 100 retreats enjoyed by thousands around the world. Here’s to dreams, wine, travel and friendships.
With 20+ years of yoga instruction under her belt Monika Kaufman has even more passion for sharing yoga with others than ever before. She believes that enthusiasm, curiosity and a sense of wonder fuels a yoga practice that feeds your soul. Her classes will meet you wherever you are at on your yoga journey by keeping it fun, and accessible with just the right amount of challenge to keep you fully engaged and growing.
Olive oil from the Sonocaia estate
New: 100% extra virgin, 100% organic, pure, hand bottled; available only at the winery
Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) is the highest quality, most flavorful, and most costly type of olive oil – because it’s unrefined – never heated treated or processed with chemicals. And never blended with other oils. It has a green grassy color and bright peppery flavors and is ideal for dipping or drizzling over finished dishes. Stop by and try some Sonocaia EVOO soon.
July 4th in Sonoma
Sonoma is a small town with a very big parade and an even bigger fireworks show. Sonoma also has a vast array of non-profits. The Sonoma International Film Festival supports the local high school film department. And puts on a dazzling fully-walkable film festival every March. This was our first year actually having a float in the parade. We were small but mighty!
Top row: Bob Berg, Board Chair, and Ken Wornick, Board Vice Chair Bottom row, Cynthia Wornick, Siri Berg, board member Ursula Zopp, and SIFF Exec Director Ginny Krieger (note the popcorn purse, winner!)
I just hooked up the vineyard trailer to the Polaris Ranger and off we went. That’s our E.D., Ginny Krieger, looking resplendent riding on the back of the Polaris. Cynthia and Siri holding down the fort in back. The rest of our gang is walking out in front with the Film Fest banner. Next year, we’ll be back with popcorn and music too.
How hot was it really last week? 107F! And you’re dry farming grape vines during a heat wave? Yes.
Check this out. In case there was any doubt, the outside thermometer hit 107F in the shade. Everything suffered under the oppressive heat. But three days later it was back to the mid-50’s at night. And everything recovered. We are still mostly dry-farming the vineyard, watering only during the winter and perhaps counter-intuitively often while it’s raining. With this approach, the vineyard builds up larger stores of soil moisture during the winter – with both natural rain and controlled irrigation, simultaneously. And then in summer the roots chase the water down deep as the sun bakes off the surface moisture. The theory is it makes for healthier grape vines long term, and more stress resistant versus making life easy by watering all summer. And likely increases color and flavors in the wine too.
75F inside, 107F outside
Dry farming the Sonocaia estate Sagrantino in the 107F heat wave
News from Sonocaia
Coyotes have been around much more frequently lately. Thinking it’s the boom in the rabbit population. Also, no explanation yet, but it seems everyone around the Sonoma Valley has massive spider webs everywhere outside – walls, lights, furniture, etc. Even after a good broom or high pressure wash, they come back overnight. Must be an insect bloom of some kind supporting this large population of spiders?
The moment before an event is always fun. Here, minutes away from a Sonocaia wine and food tasting
Sonocaia estate barrel room
Sonocaia estate reserve 2022 Sagrantino. You haven’t tried it yet? What are you waiting for?
Apr 14, 2024 | Hydeout Sonoma, Sagrantino, Sonocaia Estate, Sonocaia Estate Vineyard, Sonocaia grand opening, Sonocaia Winery, Sonoma, Sonoma Farming, Sonoma International Film Festival, Sonoma lifestyle, Sonoma Valley
You need to know what’s happening at Sonocaia Estate Winery – follow us on Instagram
@sonocaia
At Sonocaia Estate Winery, our primary focus is growing grapes and making wine, specifically our estate reserve Sagrantino, a deep dark yet incredibly drinkable red wine.
Find our winery here: Sonocaia home page
Learn about Sagrantino here: All about Sagrantino
View a brief summary of our farming projects here: Farm projects
But Sonoma is also a place with so much going on, it’s hard to keep up. Here is a quick photo journey from the past few weeks…
Bud Break @Sonocaia
You’re probably seeing photos of vineyard bud break all over social media. It’s an invigorating time for everyone involved in growing grapes and making wine. Sagrantino is a late-ripening variety. So we are just about last in line for bud break. It’s kind of like watching everyone else have their babies and wondering will ours every be born! And then boom, you’re suddenly a parent. Now begins the journey through 7 months of judicious farming…
Trashion Fashion – clothing from recycled materials
Hosted by the Sonoma Community Center, building community by offering opportunities to connect, learn, and grow, “Trashion Fashion” celebrates the intersection of fashion, art, and sustainability. There were over creative 45 entries.
This is the first time I have ever designed or made a garment of any kind. Luckily, Cynthia was a willing model. The dress, head band, train, and shopping bag are made entirely from used plastic chicken feed bags (and some trimmed pieces from potting soil bags and salt crystal bags). That’s it. We had a great time. Didn’t win any awards. But we had a good laugh! (And the boots are Cynthia’s actual chicken boots for when she actually feeds the chickens and collects eggs).
Springtime on the farm
Blooms are going crazy around the 11-acre Hydeout farm and the Sonocaia winery building. Some of these images are from our fruit trees, others from various ornamental and native plants around the farm:
Go-Kart Racing at Sears Point Sonoma Raceway
A very good friend invited me and some pals to learn how to race High Speed Go-Karts at Sears Point Sonoma Raceway. The carts sit just a few inches off the ground and fly at 60 mph. We had some great classroom time, some track sessions, more class instruction, then off to the races. The Sear Point Sonoma Raceway is just a few miles south of the town of Sonoma.
Spring vegetable garden
Nothing like growing your own food. You can do it too. Even just one tomato plant in a pot. Give it a try. I seeded our raised bed vegetable gardens in the dead of winter, and covered them with frost cloth until the last frost passed. We’re now harvesting lots of lettuce and arugula, with cabbage and onions and radishes and artichokes close behind:
Sonoma International Film Festival
The Sonoma International Film Festival just wrapped. It was a record-breaking event in terms of attendance, quality of over 100 films from around the world, and sponsorships. Sonocaia donated many of cases of wine which were poured around the various venues.
Hydeout chickens
As the weather warmed, egg production took off. In the winter they put their energy into growing down feathers and staying warm. In spring, they produce eggs like machines. And like most living things, chickens too have personalities. Some are shy and some are friendly. We have two roosters right now that guard the hen house from airborne predators, mainly hawks. Rocky (the old fella with wicked claws), and Harvey (the young buck who is very aggressive with the hens, we’ll leave it you to guess where he got his name). One day soon, Harvey will pick a fight with Rocky and they’ll fight it out for dominance.
The pretty winter weather coming into Sonoma from Petaluma
San Francisco, still worthy of a visit
I shot this photo on the side of the road last week. It was such a pretty moment. The Palace of Fine Arts is a monumental structure located in the Marina District of San Francisco, originally built for the 1915 Panama–Pacific International Exposition to exhibit works of art. It was constructed from concrete and steel, ahead of its time. Our public works projects don’t look like this anymore.
After your visit to the Sonoma Valley, cross the Golden Gate Bridge, and stop here for a photo before you head south for the SFO airport!
Keep up with the news and photos from Sonocaia on Instagram.
Just point your camera at this QR code:
Thanks for being a subscriber to this blog. See you next time!
Ken
Ken Wornick
Owner/winemaker
SONOCAIA estate winery
Insta – @Sonocaia
Blog – https://www.sonocaia.com/blog/
20656 Hyde Road
Sonoma, Ca 95476
