Not-So Dry Creek (Slideshow)

Like most Dry Creek wineries, West Wines — my first stop — has lots of vines on the valley floor. Owner Bengt Akerlind opened several bottles and gave me the keys to his guest house. 

A tributary of the Russian River, Dry Creek is now a steady stream because its flow is controlled by Lake Sonoma, carved into the hills of Sonoma's Coast Range.

Dry Creek is well-known for its old-vine zinfandels, many of which are individually head-pruned, standing alone without support from wires or cordons.

Many of the wineries along Dry Creek have styled their tasting rooms along traditional architectural wines, such as this one for Mill Creek Vineyards, founded in 1974.

Ferrari-Carano has been a Dry Creek fixture since 1981, but its tasting room and winery, almost in the shadow of the Lake Sonoma dam, are a very modern take on a traditional Tuscan estate.

Dry Creek has a diverse group of winegrowers. Greg and Nancy Chambers left Silicon Valley to start up Kachina Vineyards, and now sell all their production at the winery or by mail order.

The Chambers' home and winery sits on the cooler bench lands above the valley floor. Over a home-cooked dinner, I was treated to Nancy's chardonnay and Greg's cabernet and charbono.

Passalacqua Winery's Jessica Bilbro was hired two years ago to craft Passalacqua's elegant, yet big, zinfandels and cabernets. She also poured me a rare fiano white varietal.

Jason Passalacqua left an electronics career to take over the family business. His modern labels reflect the elegant wines, but one traditional label honors great aunt Edith, herself a winemaker.

Michael Talty boasts he is his winery's only full-time employee and that he makes only zinfandel wines. "I just wanted to get really good at one thing," he laughs. He has.

Jeremy Kreck worked in the family vineyards and winery since a teenager, got a degree in business and is now head winemaker. I left loving his sauvignon blanc and cabernet sauvignon.

Jennifer Higgins joined her mentor Jill Davis at Lambert Bridge in 2010 and helps make about 20 varietals and blends. We had a great talk over a fabulous wine and food pairing.

Clay Fritz of Fritz Underground Winery and Erik Miller of Kokomo Winery brought their bottles with them for my goodbye dinner at Healdsburg's Bistro Ralph. 

Visitors can't leave Healdsburg without a breakfast of huevos rancheros. I savored mine the next morning at Center Street Café before I re-packed my bags for the flight back east.