For years, Dan Marioni of Marioni Wine and Aaron Brown, co-owner of Bardos Cider, have traveled up and down the West Coast and internationally to campaign for the love of natural wine and cider. It’s been a political movement of sorts for the distinct style, made most often with no added yeast or other inputs and sustainable farming in the vineyard.

But despite all its low-intervention, back-to-the-land ambitions, natural wine can get a bad rap at times.

“The biggest misunderstanding is that natural wine is inherently funky, weird — you know, not wine anymore,” says Marioni. “It doesn’t mean that your Chardonnay all of a sudden turns into kombucha.”

On one of their tours, it dawned on Brown and Marioni that, coming from the wine-loving community of Sonoma, they shouldn’t need to travel to New York and Europe and Mexico to campaign for their labors. So now they have their very own campaign headquarters: Dos’ Bar. Dos’ started as a renegade pop-up and moveable feast around Sonoma. Now it has found new life in a brick-and-mortar space just off the Sonoma Plaza.

The term “tasting room” or “salon” isn’t quite right for the vibe this crew is cultivating. Located in a former Odd Fellows Hall, the rustic bar evokes backroad wineries or mythic California roadhouses with dollar bills hanging from low ceilings — think Washoe House with orange wine instead of PBR. The shelves are made of church pews found in a horse stable, repurposed and refinished by hand.

Nearly a dozen collaborators are featured, all part of the new guard of natural winemaking in the region. They include Anne Disabato and Noelle Vandendriessche at Etteilla Wines, Isabella Morano at Isa Wines, David Rothschild at Las Vivas, Caleb Leisure of Caleb Leisure Wines, Jack Sporer at Fres.Co, Matt Neiss at North American Press, and Brent Mayeaux at Stagiaire Wine.

This harvest, Dos’ is the place where these winemakers, who normally live in the cellar for months on end, have a place to lean against the bar — which means wine tasters looking to connect with winemakers during harvest also find refuge.

And since Brown is a storyteller above all else, when you walk into Dos’ Bar you might see shoutouts to anyone from Modoc chief Captain Jack Kintpuash and outlaw Joaquin Murrieta to rapper Mac Dre and organic farmer Amigo Bob Cantisano.

“Dos is like a character,’’ he says. “So, we see ourselves as docents of these stories. We’re not taking credit for the stories, but we’re here to steward and foster and amplify the storytelling.”

Dos’ Bar, 521 Broadway, Sonoma. Open noon to 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday; noon to 6 p.m. Sunday, Monday and Thursday. 707-933-6999, dos-bar.com

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I was expecting a nice charcuterie board. I got one of the most impressive meals I’ve had this year.

When Khom Loi alums Geneva Melby and Ryan Miller launched The Redwood wine bar in late February 2023, I planned to stop in for a glass of cloudy wine and maybe a courtesy nibble. It sounded nice, but I’d keep my dinner reservations elsewhere.

Ninety minutes later, I was still eating (and drinking) because once the first dishes came to the table — crisp cubes of potatoes with pimenton aioli ($7) and a plate of fresh pita with the best baba ghanoush ($8) I’ve ever eaten, I wasn’t about to miss out on anything else. The reservations were canceled, I moved to a more expansive table and settled in for the night.

The Redwood’s menu is divided into snacks, small plates, big plates and desserts. The menu will change seasonally, but hopefully, the Route One Pita and Dips will remain permanently.

Melby takes some liberties with the classic Mediterranean hummus, baba ghanoush and labneh, adding za’atar, sumac and fresh herbs to the creamy labneh, but it’s a lovely diversion. Spring for all three dips (with pickled onions and sliced radish) and three large pieces of Tomales’ famous Route One Bakery’s fluffy pita for $22. It will easily feed at least two people.

The Scallop Crudo ($16) with tart slices of kumquat, fennel and drips of fennel frond sauce is chefs-kiss good with Weingut Brand “Electric Chardonnay Acid Test” 2021 with hints of pineapple, lemonade and “lightning bolts.” That’s a wine descriptor worth stealing.

Carrots and Black Sauce ($17) stole the show, however. Caramelized carrot spears with fried cumin and feta sit atop a pool of “black sauce” made with skins of the smoky eggplant used in the baba ghanoush. It’s mixed with honey, vinegar and caramelized onion for an umami bomb of flavor. A bright herb salad with parsley and mint lightens the dish perfectly. Arroz Negro ($25) is a heaping bowl of risotto dyed black with briny squid ink and topped with bites of grilled squid.

There’s plenty more to choose from, including a selection of gourmet tinned fish with potato chips and pickles ($17 to $23), Liberty Duck Chicken Liver Mousse with fig mostarda ($14), Braised Lamb Shank ($39), Roasted Squash and Maitakes ($19) and Semolina Crepes with spiced honey butter ($10).

Melby’s menu is truly a stunner that you can go back to repeatedly as the seasons change.

When I first spoke to The Redwood last September, Melby (the chef) and Miller (the beverage director) were just at the trailhead of their journey to open a natural wine bar and kitchen at the former Ginger Thai in Sebastopol. The duo had tested the concept at pop-ups for more than 18 months, found a brick-and-mortar space to remodel and were ready to share their passion for the fast-growing field of low-intervention, native yeast, unfutzed-around-with style of wine.

It’s exactly what the next generation of wine drinkers want in their glasses because there are no rules about pairing or silly explanations. Clutch your pearls, darling, because at The Redwood, sediment in your glass is a positive, cloudiness is expected and a little funk never hurt anyone.

“When we moved (to Sonoma County), we started meeting all of these natural winemakers, joining this community but realizing that we had to go to SF or Oakland to buy or even have a glass of these natural wines in person,” Melby said last September.

The casual tables for two or eight are scattered about, with a friendly bar front and center. You can just eat, you can just have a drink, you can do both or just grab a bottle and go. The selection of wines runs from light French Beaujolais and skin-contact whites (the J. Brix “Sunrise over Skin” riesling from Los Alamos is a stunner) to meaty syrahs and cabernet francs. The bottle list runs four pages and is a perfect primer on the world of natural wines. A great variety of wines also are available by the glass.

A small but well-stocked bottle shop includes dozens of approachable and affordable wines to take home.

The Redwood is at 234 S. Main St., Sebastopol, 707-861-9730, theredwoodwine.com. Open from 1 to 9 p.m. Thursday through Monday.

Heather Irwin is the Dining Editor of the Press Democrat and Sonoma Magazine. You can reach her at heather.irwin@pressdemocrat.com.

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There’s a new wine bar on the Sonoma Plaza and it’s the first in Sonoma and Napa County to zero in on natural wines. 

Valley Bar + Bottle opened in July as a wine bar, restaurant, and bottle shop. Housed in the Leese-Fitch Adobe built in 1836, which was most recently Harvest Moon Cafe, Valley feels like a tiny neighborhood cafe in France. It’s intimate and minimal, yet chic with dusty pink accent walls and a rustic open kitchen. There’s a bar and a few tables inside, but for now, all seating is on the back patio. Visitors can also take wine home from the positively-adorable bottle shop wall at 25 percent off the menu price. 

“We wanted it to feel inviting and open but also European and kind of cozy,” said Lauren Feldman, co-founder of Valley. “It was really important to make sure we didn’t change it too much from the fact that it was this amazing historic Adobe. We didn’t change anything architecturally; we just wanted to make it feel humble and clean and as original as we could.” 

This unique-to-California Wine Country venture is a partnership between four friends (two couples), all alumni of Scribe Winery. Each founder brings unique skills and experiences to the table, drawing also on time spent in New York and Europe. 

The Wine

Feldman said they’re not technically marketing themselves as a natural wine bar—the term can be both controversial and difficult to define since there’s no official regulation on this burgeoning corner of the market—but almost the entire wine list at Valley does fall into the general category of natural wines. This means the wines have received little to no intervention in the cellar, are produced entirely without or with minimal sulfur, and the vintners farm organically sans pesticides.

“We’re focused on farming first. We’re working with people who want to leave the land better than they found it,” said Feldman. “We’re really interested in Indigenous farming methods and regenerative farming.”

Locals may be especially drawn to the wine list, which presents an opportunity to explore wines that go far beyond Sonoma County. While there are a few bottles from local producers like Gail Wines, Source & Sink, Winery Sixteen 600, and Scribe (of course), the lineup mostly hails from Europe — France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Hungary, Slovenia and beyond — while also highlighting other appellations within California. The current by the glass list features unique selections like a sparkling Cabernet Franc from the Loire Valley and a red wine from the Canary Islands. Don’t be embarrassed if you discover several grape varieties you aren’t familiar with and likewise can’t pronounce; you’re not alone and that’s part of the fun. 

Curated by Feldman and her beau/co-founder Tanner Walle, the list “has something for everyone” and is a good balance of “some really weird stuff” (her style) and more classic (his). “We’re also not proponents of wines that are super flawed,” she said, acknowledging a common critique of the natural wine category. “The best wines and the worst wines you’ll ever have are natural wines.” Patrons will also find a selection of beers and ciders sourced from all over the U.S. 

The Food

Partner Emma Lipp, who was the Culinary Director at Scribe for five years, is responsible for Valley’s food menu, along with co-founder and chef Stephanie Reagor. Lipp said the concept for the fare is California home cooking that’s ingredient- driven, rustic, and simple using traditional methods of cooking. “We want our food to facilitate the experience of sharing wine and conversation,” she said. “We want it to feel nourishing and satisfying, and we emphasize brightness and levity.”

Lipp made many connections with local farmers during her time at Scribe and said “working with small, local farms and purveyors is the cornerstone of the food program” at Valley. The list of farms she’s working with is long and impressive: 11 different operations for produce, TwoXSea for fresh fish, and Cream Company for meat, chickens, and eggs, just to name a few. 

“We source everything for Valley with the same agenda: stewardship for the land and care for people,” said Lipp, who seeks out “farmers and purveyors that farm sustainably, who eschew chemical farming, and who invest in human culture and economy.”

The XO Egg topped with the iconic, spicy Hong Kong condiment, are a must-order. Other small plates on offer include mortadella, a pink shrimp roll, tins and chips (with your choice of a tin of razor clams, mussels, or octopus), and eggplant with ginger and garlic. There are two main dishes—a half chicken with fried potatoes and Bolinas King salmon with cucumber and sesame—plus a selection of desserts. The menu does shift slightly depending on what produce and ingredients are available each week. Valley is open Thursday-Monday, 5-9 p.m.

487 First West, Sonoma, valleybarandbottle.com

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When Bergamot Alley closed in March, local oenophiles were crushed. In its 6.5-year-old existence, the Healdsburg wine bar had turned into an afterwork hangout for people in the industry as well as those seeking rare wines from Europe. The non-American wine list may have seemed a bold move in this particular part of the world but, while many of us love to drink local, we also like to taste new and interesting wines from around the globe—and there’s was not better place for that than Bergamot.

Some eight months after the brick-and-mortar bar shuttered, Bergamot Alley has now returned in the form of Bergamot Wine Company, an online wine club and shop curated by owners Sarah and Kevin Wardell.

As he did at the wine bar, Kevin Wardell uses his sommelier skills to create a handpicked selection of wines from small, family-owned producers in Europe, now available online. Let’s just say you won’t see these on the wine list at your favorite Italian restaurant in Sonoma County. (Bonus: the wines average between $22 and $30.)

The breakout star of the new Bergamot Wine Company is the Italian Wine Club. A passion project for the Wardells, club membership includes four wines focused on varietal and regional themes sent out monthly ($105 per month). A recent shipment featured wines from the “four corners” of Italy: a rosé from Sicily, a white Petite Arvine from Valle D’Aosta, a red Schioppettino (say that ten times fast) from Friuli, and a Negro Amaro from Puglia.

With over 300 distinct Italian grape varietals and over 20 regions to choose from, this is just the beginning of the journey, says Kevin Wardell: “When it comes to diversity and opportunity to expand your wine horizons and educate your palate, Italy is a treasure trove. There is no greater collection of flavors and textures in the world than that of Italian wine.”

Each shipment also includes an unpretentious guide to each wine created by Sarah Wardell, who serves as the company’s Creative Director. Stylized maps complement illustrations of each wine with details on the grape, winemaker/grower and the scent and tastes of each wine. However, our favorite fun fact comes on the bottle label descriptions—your team will win the trivia subject “Italian wines” when the time comes.

Aside from building appreciation for Italian wine, the Wardells hope that wine club members will become more knowledgeable, and thus more confident, when it comes to Italian wines. Their “Wine Smarts” series, which includes an online guide to Italian wine, informative and entertaining videos, aims to do just that. And for those who would really like to get a taste of la dolca vita, Bergamot Wine Company will also organize trips to Italy (3-4 times per year), during which participants will visit small wine producers and stay in local farmhouses, or “agriturismo” type lodging.

If you’d like to jump on board the Italian bandwagon, visit bergamotwine.com. Saluti! 

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