What do you get when you take an experienced wine executive from New York City and drop him into the Russian River Valley with two winemakers who also hail from New York? Apparently you get some delicious and surprisingly elegant chardonnays and pinot noirs that are undoubtedly California, but not what you might expect. Chris Donatiello was that marketing and sales executive for the Charmer Sunbelt group before teaming up with venture capitalist Bill Hambrecht. Together they purchased Belvedere Winery in Healdsburg, CA — a winery that had been making 125,000 cases a year and converted it into C. Donatiello…
Posts Tagged“healdsburg”
C. Donatiello Winery: The Aroma Garden
Not every wine-related happening from my recent trip to California was directly related to the Wine Bloggers Conference. One non-WBC event was a trip to C. Donatiello Winery in Healdsburg. I'll be writing more about the visit and the wines (which were among the best I tasted on the trip) but for now, I wanted to share this video I took of owner Chris Donatiello showing us the aroma garden. All of the plants offer flavors and aromas often found in the two varieties they focus on — chardonnay and pinot noir. Thanks to both Chris and also to Joel…