Forchini Vineyards & Winery

Forchini Vineyards & Winery is one of the Dry Creek Valley's most deeply rooted Italian-heritage wine estates. Jim Forchini's family has farmed the 68-acre Dry Creek Road property since the 1980s, but the agricultural heritage of the land itself predates even the Forchini ownership — some of the estate's heritage Zinfandel vines date to the 1890s, when Italian immigrant families first established the benchland grape-growing tradition that defines Dry Creek Valley's wine character to this day.

The estate produces Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon, and other varieties from old-vine heritage plantings and the family's newer blocks, with a focus on the warm, food-friendly, fruit-forward styles that the Dry Creek Valley benchland consistently produces. Jim Forchini's personal involvement in the winemaking gives the estate a hands-on authenticity that larger Dry Creek producers have lost.

Weekend walk-in tastings on the estate grounds — dogs welcome, picnic facilities available, genuine family warmth guaranteed — provide one of the most unpretentious and historically grounded winery experiences available on the Dry Creek Road wine circuit.