As soon as we opened the door, we were pleasantly greeted by a smiling woman saying “Welcome to Williamson Wines, are you here for a wine tasting? Ours are free.”
It had been a long day and we were worn out as we had been wine tasting all day in Healdsburg in Sonoma Valley, CA. It was around 6pm in the evening. To top it off, some of the wine tastings were as much as $25 US per person. We accepted the invitation. After being guided to a table, they informed us that we would be tasting 5 wines that day.
The Tasting
When the first tasting came out paired with small bites of food, we were further intrigued. A lot of places don’t offer anything. The food pairings were exquisite. Whoever was assembling the combinations was spot on. Spot on.
All in all, we had 5 tastings paired with 5 different types of food. Staff was incredibly kind, and took time to explain each wine, its origin and its production process. They even offered us more of our wine and food favorites.
Friends Dick and Diane Welch on the left, Gary and Dianne from JMO on the right.
While they were describing the wines, they told us that they have a chef on site. How many wineries can say that? The chef should be celebrated for creating tasty bites that pair exquisitely with the wines.
Why Free?
After tasting a few of the wines, we got up the nerve to ask why they didn’t charge for tastings. The response? “Oh, that’s simple. We make most of our money on wine club sales.”
SOLD!!
Needless to say, we joined their wine club that day ourselves. We were sold not just on how well the wine complimented food, but also that the wine was really good on its own.
They have a following for a reason. Not just because their wine tastings are free. The wine is good, it pairs well with food and it’s great to drink by the fire. When we posted on Facebook a bottle we were drinking, and people we didn’t know shared their love for the wines.
The Wine Club
Williamson Wines offers some different options for their wine club members. We signed up for the 1 case per year club membership. They ship 4 times per year – September, December, February, and May. Roughly.
Like any good wine club should, Williamson ships only when they are confident there won’t be any adverse (warm) weather issues. So don’t expect wine in the summer if you live in the Mid-Atlantic like us. It’s too hot. Once the weather was still hot in September, so they delayed it till October.
It’s a pretty popular wine club. We had just received their Entice Cuvée 2016 in our February shipment. It was delicious so we posted a picture of it on FB and we got several comments from others who love the wine!
Another unusual aspect of the owners is that they host travel events. Every year they join a group, hosting wine tours throughout the world.
The Pickup Party
A pickup party is when your wine shipment is ready, but instead of having it shipped, you pick it up. If you live in their area, you can sign up for a “pickup party”. We don’t live in the area, but we were traveling the next year to a wedding in San Francisco so we decided to see what their pickup party was like. After checking out the available dates and times, we selected one that fit our itinerary.
We showed up at the tasting room we’d been to the year before, but it wasn’t there. That’s because it’s at another, larger location down the same street. Not Williamson Wines fault, one of us (Gary) saw the street and assumed the number was the same. Fortunately the two locations are only about 2 blocks from each other!
We hustled down the street. Once again when we walked in, we were warmly welcomed. They gave us name tags and pointed us in the direction of the party. This was some party.
Because of the size of the crowd, they had four stations set up. Each station had certain foods, paired with a wine. Once again the chef paired great food tastings for the wines being highlighted at the pickup party.
We made some new friends while we were there.
Gary and Dianne of JMO in the center, other wine club members on either side.
Bill and Dawn Williamson happened to be attending this one. Even son Sam was there! We spoke to them personally, and they were all very nice.
Once everything had officially ended, there were still allowing tastings. They added some new, different wines. Specialty wines. What a smart marketing move. People ended up buying more wine (we did) based on the additional tastings.