La Rochelle is a small artisan winery focused on making handcrafted, world-class Pinot Noir from vineyard sites in California and Oregon. The winery was named after the charming French port where the owner’s family departed for the New World.

In 2005, they moved their operation from the San Jose area to the vineyard-covered hills of Livermore Valley. Owned and operated by Steven Mirassou, of the six- generation wine pioneer Mirassou family, this winery makes very limited-production wines using grapes sourced from the Santa Lucia Highlands, Anderson Valley, Russian River Valley, Sonoma Coast, Monterey, Santa Cruz Mountains, as well as some select vineyards in Oregon. The Mirassou family has been credited with planting the first Pinot Noir grapes in California in 1854, and today offers a number of vineyard-designated wines. Some releases are very small (less than 100 cases), and all wines are sold through their Pinot Noir Program, the Internet, or in the tasting room.

There are two tasting experiences available for tasting La Rochelle wines. The Barrel Room is open 12-4:30 daily and offers a standing tasting of 4 La Rochelle wines. In the Reserve Room, guests are seated so they can enjoy their flight of wines along with a cheese pairing. The Reserve Room is open Sunday through Thursday, 12-4:30 and guests 21 and over are welcome.

The Reserve Room is back behind the “big house” (The Barrel Room). It is adorned with an extensive trellis system over a small courtyard and a walkway with wine barrel planters sporting rose bushes. A series of French doors leads you inside the long, single-story building. There is a stamped concrete floor and a long tasting bar, along with some gourmet food items and winery accessories. La Rochelle also plans to release a sparkling “Blanc de Blanc” in keeping with the family’s 60-year tradition of producing sparkling wine.