The Bacchus Landing wine-tasting collective on Westside Road, next to the animal shelter, has been adding new wineries right and left lately — but one of its original and most beloved tenants, the Montagne Russe tasting room and record shop, has decided to pack up and head south, the Petaluma Argus-Courier reports. We now have until the end of May to stop by Montagne Russe and take advantage of the winery’s moving sale (20% off of six-plus bottles) before it makes the leap down to Petaluma, according to its website.
Where in Petaluma, you ask? The Argus-Courier did some sleuthing and noticed that “a sign recently went up on the Petaluma Boulevard spot formerly occupied by Black Knight Vineyards, promising a June debut of its downtown Winery & Record Lounge” at 155 Petaluma Blvd. North. More from the story:
The wine industry can seem a lot like a roller coaster sometimes, which is part of the reason that winemaker Kevin Bersofsky named his winery Montagne Russe, translated as Russian Mountain, the original name that the French gave to roller coasters.
Bersofsky — who once designed roller coasters while studying engineering in college — started making his own wines in 2006, experimenting in his tiny garage until he got busted in 2013, and finally emerged as a legally acceptable wine-making business in 2015.
Almost immediately, Montagne Russe wines — affectionately made from grapes grown in places like as the Petaluma Gap — began winning fans.
The operation’s Healdsburg tasting room quickly became a popular spot for visitors eager to check out offerings like its Dragon’s Back Pinot Noir and Poet-Laval White Blend, and also for its Vino & Vinyls Record Shop, featuring over 2,000 vinyl records ranging from $5 to $40.
Back when Kevin opened his tasting room on the Bacchus Landing campus, in summer 2021, he said in a press release that he “started his own personal record collection to play at the tasting room.” Then, “as it grew, people were continuously asking to buy his records… and so began the idea of creating a record shop within the tasting room.” Our loss, Petaluma’s gain!
Note from Simone: This piece originally appeared in the weekly email newsletter I write for the Healdsburg Tribune, called Healdsburg Today. Subscribe here!
