$50,000 dinner party in Healdsburg celebrates leading industry women

Is it true that the going rate for a dinner party in Sonoma County is $50,000?

Yes - that is, when it’s an auction lot to dine with the leading women of Sonoma County in wine.

The pricey dinner party –– purchased at last year’s Sonoma County Auction - was recently held in the cellar at Healdsburg’s Dry Creek Vineyard, with far more wine than could be consumed in one sitting.

These leading women, representing Sonoma County wineries, each selected a current release and a library wine to share: Kim Stare Wallace, president of Dry Creek Vineyard; Ana Keller, estate director, Keller Estate; Joy Sterling, CEO of Iron Horse Vineyards; Bettina Sichel, general manager and partner of Laurel Glen; Kathleen Inman, founder and winemaker of Inman Family Wines; Regina Martinelli, co-?owner and executive vice president of Martinelli Winery; Kathryn Hall, vintner of Walt Wines (and Hall of Napa); and Merry Edwards, founder, Merry Edwards Winery.

The auction lot was the brainchild of Barbara Banke, chairman and proprietor of Jackson Family Wines, who hosted the dinner last year. Banke couldn’t make it this year so her daughter, Katie Jackson, senior vice president of corporate and social responsibility for the company, came to share bottlings of Stonestreet and Verite.

Many of the women said they grew up in the wine industry, with Stare Wallace saying she played Barbies in the corner of the cellar and Martinelli saying she rode horses into Forestville.

As Hall put it: “I grew up with my dad taking me to the grange in Mendocino when he was a vineyard farmer and most people only brought boys … But one of my real challenges today is that there are so many talented women, I’ve got to keep inventing new brands.”

Hall poured one such brand –– Baca –– which is being developed by her daughter, Jennifer Brown.

While tasting through just a portion of the offerings, some of the standouts included: the Mariness, a 2017 white Bordeaux blend; Verite, 2005 La Muse; Keller, 2016 Pinot Noir; Laurel Glen Vineyard, 2015 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon; Martinelli Winery, 2008 Vellutini Ranch Zinfandel and Baca Cat’s Cradle, 2016 Zinfandel.

The auction lot, purchased by Keith and Donna Strope of TricorBraun Winepak, was originally planned as a party in the vineyards with 12 guests but the rains complicated matters. Instead the dinner, prepared by chef Domenica Catelli of Catelli’s Restaurant in Geyserville, was served in the cellar with towering heaters surrounding the long table.

Shedding light on the unusual weather was Michael Haney, executive director of Sonoma County Vintners, who said he had talked with a lot of growers and vintners.

“What we haven’t seen before,” Haney said, “are the rains this time of year after such a rainy season.”

Heidi von der Mehden, winemaker of Merry Edwards, joked, “Do you see my gray hairs? Yes, it’s worrying me. One of our vineyards is flowering and there’s nothing we can do about it.”

Haney said, “We’re hoping for warmer temperatures and some wind in the days ahead, but one thing I’ve learned is never to predict what Mother Nature is going to do.”

Wine Writer Peg Melnik can be reached at peg.melnik@pressdemocrat.com or 707-521-5310.