Geyser Peak Winery

Geyser Peak Winery's image is of a friendly, good-value place. Some of the wines, particularly Sauvignon Blanc are good value. The tasting room is not.
Because multiple tastings are available, you could pay $25 and still not taste all the wines that you want. The staff is intermittently friendly but not particularly helpful.
That's a shame because Geyser Peak is an interesting place.
Geyser Peak Winery was founded in 1880. It's now owned by Illinois-based Fortune Brands, which also makes Titleist golf balls and Jim Beam whiskey, but its ownership history reflects the booms and busts of the wine industry -- the winery went bankrupt in 1908 and again in 1945.
In 1982, the winery, then owned by Stroh Brewery Co., was making gross amounts of 4-liter wine boxes when it was bought by Santa Rosa entrepreneur Henry Trione. Trione changed the focus to quality wines and sold a share of the company to Australian wine giant Penfolds in 1989. Penfolds imported Australian winemaker Daryl Groom to shape up the wines.
But Penfolds itself was sold the following year, and the company that bought it sold its share in Geyser Peak back to Trione. Fortune Brands bought the company from Trione in 1998; Trione now sells grapes from his vineyards to Geyser Peak.
Perhaps corporate changeovers have removed the personal connection. Groom and winemaker Mick Schroeter still make good wines, but the company could do a much better job of presenting them.