Accolades
"Muscardini Cellars is among the best experiences you'll have in your wine tasting travels. Great wine, great people, great setting. Its off the beaten path, and as such its a very relaxed, calm, and laid back experience.
The indoor tasting room and the outdoor patio are both need to be experienced. Make sure you get to say hi to Beni, the wineries dog that is just wonderful! Their Cabs are amazing, their Sangiovese is amazing, and he has a couple of blends that are out of this world. We love, love, love Muscardini Cellers, and Michael Muscardini himself is just a great genuine person."
Boater63
TripAdvisor Review
[Pair] "A Serious Man" and "Up" with “forgotten wines” rosé (Muscardini 2009 Rosato di Sangiovese, Sonoma Valley) and Malbec (Terra Rosa 2007 Malbec, Mendoza, Argentina). The link between “A Serious Man” and “Up” is the common focus on two beleaguered main characters, and two wine styles lost in time.
In the case of “A Serious Man,” the main character is trapped in the 1960s and wishes to break free of the conformity of the time.
In the case of “Up,” an old man’s house is a time capsule full of memories and unfulfilled dreams. And “forgotten wines” rosé and Malbec come from two producers based in Sonoma Valley: Muscardini with grapes from a historic vineyard, and Terra Rosa Malbec made by Laurel Glen with grapes grown in the Mendoza region of Argentina.
“A Serious Man” requires a serious rosé, Sawyer says. This story is about a Jewish professor in the Midwest in the 1960s, a decade in which the sweet flavors of Lancer’s and Mateus became the nation’s gentle introduction to wine. Cut to 2010: Made with fruit from the famous Monte Rosso Vineyard, the Muscardini 2009 Rosato di Sangiovese is an upgrade to an old idea in dry rosé form. When served slightly chilled, it’s all delightful flavor and color, minus sweetness
Sommelier Chris Sawyer, Carneros Bistro & Wine Bar
I rec’d a delightful bottle of your 09’ Monte Rosso Zinfandel as a gift from Bob Anderson of Arrowood winery…(signed by you)…hated to open it so soon, but was delighted with the wine…Bravo…great job Michael!
Cheers, Richard
On Monday, August 3, 2009, we had an exceptional visit at your wine tasting room. We have been club members since almost the start of your winery and have been loyal fans since our very first sip!
However, we had to tell you that we more than our usual good time but because George was doing the pouring on Monday. George is just fantastic. He made our trip which could have been a short visit into a wonderful experience.
We, of course, walked out with a couple more cases of wine to share with family and friends!
Just wanted to take a moment to share a great trip to your wine tasting room with you and thank George for sharing the experience with us. We will see you soon.
Diane S.
We have found your wines so exceptional! Some of our absolute favorites. Muscardini & Ty Caton are one of my favorite wine spots in Sonoma where I steer people I like. Please do keep me on your mailing list! Before we leave, we'll definitely pop by for a visit, and when we come back, you'll be one of our first stops when we visit family in Sonoma.
All the best, Kristin
Michael, we visited your tasting room last February and was fortunate to meet both you and your dog.....plus ship some of your wine back to Iowa. (We Iowan's cause your earthquakes....we send so much wine back home that the weight coming off the earth causes California's earth to rise....)
We really enjoyed your wine. Thinking about coming out late this fall with another couple to visit the Sonoma Valley - which my wife and I really, really enjoyed.
Thanks. Ron M.
Michael,
It was a pleasure to meet you and visit your tasting room when vacationing earlier this month. My husband and I found your Sangiovese to be our favorite wine of all that we tried, so much we bought 6 bottles! We definitely had the experience that we were looking for- a family-owned winery with lots of hospitality when tasting.
We grew tired of the corporate experiences that we kept having throughout Napa and Sonoma. You were the only owner that we met, which really helps to make a special visit.
Thanks again for making a great wine and creating an inviting tasting room. If we make it back that way, we will be sure to put your Sangiovese on the top of our list!
Sincerely, Kevin and Karly M.
The 2006 Muscardini "Pauli Ranch" Barbera (Ukiah, Mendocino County ) was slurpably good...very ripe and very rich...the complex layers of deep berry fruit flavor were just so damn good!
Utterly slurpable and a nice surprise, even though I had quite liked the wine in their tasting room. There was also a delicious bit of "funkiness" which I enjoy in fruity wines in proper doses. I guess I still straddle both sides of the austere-old world/fruity - New World divide when something like this hits the glass.
To be honest, this may be one of the only American Barberas I can remember enjoying—the grape usually seems to produce insipid and sweet and blah wines. Well worth 94 points- a classic for the varietal.
Brian M. Wine Lovers Discussion Board
TheDrinksBusiness.com
TOP 10 WINERY DOGS: Beni Wins!
"Stop into Muscardini Cellars, the home of Sonoma Valley Wines in Kenwood, and you might just be served by this four-legged sales clerk. Beni the Golden Retriever proudly presides over the establishment with his owner, winemaker Michael Muscardini."
USAirways Magazine
Take the Journey: Sip your way through Sonoma County's vineyards
"Michael Muscardini continues the family tradition, creating handcrafted wines from some of the best vineyards in the region."
SFGate.com
Muscardini Cellars offers new tasting room
"The vibe: Set in a circa-1860s two-story red schoolhouse with front and back porches, the new Muscardini Cellars is packed with playful diversions, including a model train circling on a track above the large, oval wood bar, a couch (often occupied by Beni, an amusingly fluffy 94-pound golden retriever), rotating selections of artwork, and an expansive gift area offering novelties (such as wreaths made of corks).
The building renovation leaves little historic feel, with the contemporary polished wood doors and floors, but step outside to the sprawling back lawn set with picnic tables and a fountain for a more pastoral mood."
StyleGourmet.com
Muscardini Sonoma Valley Wines
"Stylistically, the Tesoro is the type of wine that pushes my button, bringing out the best from three substantial European grapes. A winner."
San Francisco Chronicle ~SF Gate
Grappa Cart at Estate Restaurant
"Local Muscardini cellars makes small batches from Sangiovese grapes using an Old World distilling method"
Jetting Around City Travel Blog:
5 wineries to visit in Sonoma, California
Muscardini has been recognized for its organically-grown Sangiovese...Visitors may run into the wineries’ owners, as they sometimes take a place behind the bar counter.
Alhambra Source
Vino at Trio's:
An upscale wine bar in Alhambra?
"The room was teeming with laughter and discussion about this evening’s wine tasting featured by the owner of Muscardini Cellars. The wine maker, Michael Muscardini ambled from one table to the next as his guests sample his selections of Pinot Grigio, Rosate di Sangiovese, Barbera, Tesoro, and Syrah. He says the wine menu is structured from, “the more subtle to the robust.”
Sonoma Sun
Michael Muscardini:
Driven by Passion and Family
"Michael Muscardini’s journey in wine – and that of Muscardini Cellars – began really with his grandfather Emilio Alchera who came to the United States and San Francisco from the village of Calliano in the Piemonte region of Italy."
Mutineer
Shared Tasting Room:
Muscardini Cellars & Ty Caton Vineyards
"Just the type of tasting room you’d expect from Sonoma’s Valley: Human, relaxed, diversely delicious. Wanted to stay longer, sip away the Saturday with my new friends on both sides of the counter....Memorable, each scenic and gustatory ingredient. Wine, conversation, what we all look for in a wined time. Sip, sip...."
Barberafest, Numero Uno, Goes Off Con Gusto in Amador County
My Vine Space
"The 2009 Muscardini Cellars from the Pauli Ranch in Ukiah was racy and spicy, engaging every taste bud in a tingling conversation."
Sonoma Patch
Who's Who in Sonoma:
Michael Muscardini
"Born and bred in San Francisco, Michael Muscardini of Muscardini Cellars spends his time balancing his passion for art with a business acuity that has served him well...."
Muscardini 2009 Sonoma Valley
Monte Rosso Zinfandel
garners 91 Points
Sonoma Sommelier
Wine Magazine
"Spirited, mountainside character, broad shouldered auburn fruit and a gregariously giving texture concede clearly the terroir flavors of this high altitude Zinfandel Vineyard...."
Phenomenal Grappa
I was in California in August and informed by one of the local winery's that you sold a great grappa. So, I went to your store and bought two bottles. I have enjoyed it every since. Your Grappa di Sangiovese is phenomenal. I have to thank you for being a master craftsman in making your liquor....
Featured in Vine Times
"Michael Muscardini is the quintessential Sonoma Winemaker: he’s Italian, down-to-earth and extremely passionate about his craft...."
Wine Lover's Discussion Group calls our 2006 Pauli Ranch Barbara "slurpably good...."
A review of our wines and tasting room from Simple Hedonisms....
Brewventures loved our tasting room as well....
"Muscardini Cellars' Sangiovese...was absolutely perfect with the tomato and goat cheese tarts AND the lamb. The spiciness worked nicely to cut through the richness of the gratin too."
Accidental Syrup
"The Muscardini 2009 Rosato di Sangiovese is an upgrade to an old idea in dry rose form," says Sawyer. "When served slightly chilled, it (has) all the delightful flavor and color, minus the sweetness."
Sommelier Chris Sawyer,
Carneros Bistro & Wine Bar
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