La Crema’s new tasting room ups the North Coast visitor experience

The barn previously owned by Richard and the late Saralee Kunde plays a role in Sonoma County’s wine history as rich as the fertile soils around the property.

The structure, which dates to 1900, housed everything from horses to hops over the years until it became the couple’s home in 1991. They hosted friends and industry colleagues and held charity events, most notably at the tranquil meadow surrounded by large oaks that came to be called Richard’s Grove.

Saralee’s Vineyard, 200 acres the couple planted in 1989, grew to offer some of the best grapes in the Russian River Valley. Jackson Family Wines, having sourced its pinot noir and chardonnay grapes from the Kundes, bought the Windsor property in 2012.

Now the Santa Rosa-based company plans to open the property and the refurbished barn to visitors as the La Crema Estate at Saralee’s Vineyard. The estate is the latest example of how longtime wineries are feeling pressure to up their game for a better and more customized visitor experience.

It also provides additional cachet for La Crema, the second-largest-selling brand in Jackson Family Wines, which faces competition from other wineries nudging into the premium market where the label has made its mark.

“The thought is to really keep the essence of the home and to bring to life the modern elements of ?La Crema with the history of the estate,” said Caroline Shaw, executive vice president for Jackson Family Wines. La Crema will retain its tasting room in downtown Healdsburg.

Already this summer, Freemark Abbey Winery in St. Helena has opened up its refurbished century-old stone winery building to visitors. It has created additional buzz because it houses Two Birds/One Stone, the new restaurant under acclaimed chefs Douglas Keane and Sang Yoon. And just last year, Joseph Phelps Vineyards in ?St. Helena opened its renovated winery, originally designed in 1973, after 16 months of construction.

“Everybody is trying to create a unique experience that is going to showcase their wines,” said Chris Jahns, estate manager at Freemark Abbey.

The new La Crema estate tasting room opens as the winery faces greater competition in the category of wine bottles priced at $20 and above. Imports buoyed by a strong dollar are competitors, as is Meiomi Wines, purchased by Constellation Brands Inc. last year for $315 million from vintner Joe Wagner.

La Crema has seen steady sales increases, including a 10 percent rise in 2015 to 1.1 million cases, according to an analysis by beverage industry consultant Jon Moramarco of the BW166 company. In 2005, La Crema produced 445,000 cases.

Meiomi, Moramarco estimated, produced about 700,000 cases last year.

Given its large size, ?La Crema is not as dependent as others on selling its wine at its tasting room, a tactic that accounts for almost half of wineries’ direct-to-consumer sales on average.

Among wineries that produce more than 250,000 cases annually, the revenue is only 15 percent of its overall total, according to a survey that Silicon Valley Bank released earlier this year. In Napa County, the average tasting room purchase is $246.30, while in Sonoma County the average is $123.54.

The issue is critical, especially for smaller wineries, given how hard it is to get their bottles into retailers and restaurants. And even the larger ?La Crema felt the need to upgrade its visitor experience.

Vintners driven to generate more foot traffic with events and other activities have triggered opposition by neighbors and community groups who complain that noise and traffic are harming their quality of life. Both Napa and Sonoma counties are now grappling with new rules on wine tourism.

“It’s really more about having an integrated marketing plan,” Rob McMillan, executive vice president and founder of Silicon Valley Bank’s wine division, said of the role tasting rooms play for larger wineries.

The La Crema renovation project, led by BraytonHughes Design Studios in San Francisco, updated the 12,000-square foot, four-story building with a spacious modern feel inside while still preserving its historic elements, such as its working fireplace and the wine cellar with its original racks.

The main tasting bar on the second floor has wheels so it can be configured for different types of events. The ground floor, where Richard Kunde’s kitchen once stood, has an area to host private, high-end cellar tastings. There are two decks for alfresco lunches and wine and cheese pairings from local cheesemakers; visitors can gaze out over the vineyards toward nearby Russian Hill and Sonoma-Cutrer wineries.

The barn will allow wine club members much more space than the Healdsburg tasting room.

VIP experiences such as winemaker dinners can be held on the upper two floors, which used to be living quarters, said Brad Ingram, the senior estate manager.

“They are very excited they can have their own spaces here versus downtown, (where) it’s a very busy property and they really don’t have anywhere where they can go,” Ingram said.

The property also will allow for self-guided walking tours as well as motorized carts. A private vineyard tasting tour runs $50 per person and a picnic basket lunch is $65 per basket. The estate accepts walk-in visitors.

Jackson Family Wines also constructed a pavilion out at Richard’s grove where it can hold events, including community events in keeping with the Kunde tradition.

Tasting room renovations can be expensive; the prices can range from $500,000 to $700,000, McMillan said, and it may run much higher if the project is architecturally significant.

But vintners are realizing that customers’ expectations have risen and they must upgrade.

“You have to give people a better experience,” said Will Phelps, director of marketing for Joseph Phelps Vineyards. “Just going up to the tasting bar isn’t going to work.”

His winery completed a renovation that preserved its redwood exterior design and created new tasting areas complete with custom chandeliers, tables made of salvaged bay laurel and elm and rugs from Nepal. The winery also now has a commercial kitchen that will allow it to host more food and wine pairings.

Joseph Phelps now offers a wide range of tasting options, such as tasting its past, present and future Insignia wines as well as one that allows for a custom blending.

“You can play winemaker for a day,” Phelps said.

In fact, Phelps said the winery aims for such personalized service that even if a guest wants to sit out on the deck and just gaze out to its Napa Valley vineyards, he or she will be served at the table and never have to wander back to the bar for a refill.

“We want the quality of the experience to be commensurate with the quality of our wines,” he said.

Over at Freemark Abbey, a Jackson Family Wines business that produces about 50,000 cases annually, a main draw will be the new restaurant, though many visitors come to taste its wines, especially its single vineyard cabernet sauvignon, Jahns said. From 200 to 250 people are now expected to visit the estate on a daily basis.

“Both businesses are going to draw clients in and cross pollinate between the two,” he said.

Currently, the tasting room is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. while the restaurant is open from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. If Two Birds/One Stone opens for lunch in the future, Jahns said, it would open up even greater possibilities for visitors to spend a good half-day at the estate and offer an experience that other wineries would be hard pressed to match.

A 13-year veteran of the business, Jahns said he has seen a “huge shift” in the way people buy wine, with a new generation focusing on the wine-tasting experience and the work of the winemakers.

“People used to make a big deal of the packaging of wine. Now we are making a big deal of the packaging of the winery,” he said.

Winemakers are welcoming the trend. Elizabeth Grant-Douglas, the director of winemaking for La Crema, said she appreciated the new estate will offer a chance for visitors to personally discover, or rediscover, the La Crema brand, which has been around since 1979 and was a pioneer among pinot noir wines under the late Jess Jackson, who bought it in 1993.

For example, the estate tour highlights La Crema wines that come from Saralee’s Vineyard with newer offerings such as pinot noir rosé and a gewÜrztraminer.

“It gives us more depth. It’s wonderful to focus on two primary varieties.… You can still stay in your area of expertise, but you have different styles to offer. We don’t want to lose the focus on those cool-climate varietals, but we can go to different vineyards and showcase those places,” Grant-Douglas said.

She is eager for visitors to better connect the wine to the land.

“They get to taste what that little corner of Santa Rosa tastes like. They get to taste what the fog belt tastes like,” she said.

You can reach Staff Writer Bill Swindell at 707-521-5223 or bill.swindell@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @BillSwindell.