Notre Vue Estate Winery & Vineyards – Wine with a View in Windsor

Notre Vue Estate Winery is not really that far from town. It is less than 4 miles and 10 minutes from the Town Green in Windsor, but it feels much further. After you turn off on Estate Lane, you are only halfway there as you make your way up into the hills, over some washborded gravel one-way roads to the tasting room.

Notre Vue means “our view” in French, and it is not an exaggeration. The estate stretches across more than 700 acres of vineyards, open land, and trails at the meeting point of the Russian River Valley and Chalk Hill appellations. From the terrace of the tasting room, you can see rows of vines flowing downhill, the valley opening beyond them, and the kind of horizon that makes you forget how close you still are to town.

Arriving at the Estate

The drive itself sets the tone. You climb steadily through vineyards and natural open space before reaching the tasting area, which feels intentionally removed from the road and the rest of the world. Parking is easy. There is no crowd pressing at the door, no line of buses idling nearby. Instead, you are greeted by the sense that you have arrived somewhere private, even though it is very much open to visitors.

You are also greeted by a display of wines festooned with ribbons from various competitions, giving you a foreshadowing of your tasting experience.

The tasting area is outdoors, arranged with comfortable seating, umbrellas for shade, and low tables that encourage conversation. This is not a stand-at-the-bar experience. You sit down. You settle in. You are handed a tasting menu and a glass, then given time.

The Tasting Experience

Tasting costs $25 per person and has an Optional Charcuterie Board for $30 per plate (serves 1-2 people). 

The charcuterie board immediately shifts the experience from wine sampling to something closer to a relaxed lunch. Cheeses, cured meats, olives, nuts, and crackers arrive alongside the first pour. It is enough food to slow the pace and encourage you to taste, then retaste, with intention.

In addition, boxed lunches are available by calling the office with a 72-hour notice.

Two Labels, One Estate

Wine grapes were first planted on the property in 1869 by Sonoma’s town founder, General Mariano Vallejo. The first winery on the property started in 1916. But the history of wine production here is a more complicated story, with starts, stops, and even fires.

Notre Vue produces wines under two names: the Notre Vue Estate label and Balverne. They are made on the same property, often from the same general region.

Balverne: A Name with History

Balverne is not a new brand invented for marketing purposes. It began here in the early 1970s under the previous ownership of the property and became well known through the 1980s. The original Balverne winery was critically acclaimed but a business failure, succumbing to bankruptcy. When the current owners acquired the estate in the early 1990s, they produced grapes for a few decades before opening a winery and reviving the Balverne brand.

The first wines for the new Balverne brand were bottled in 2012 and sold in 2014.

Today, Balverne wines are the more widely distributed of their two brands. Prices are accessible. Styles are friendly without being simple. During the tasting, Balverne wines felt like bottles you would happily open on a Tuesday night or bring to a dinner with friends who enjoy wine but do not want to analyze every sip.

The current Balverne logo is designed by local artist Bob Johnson, it features a hawk rising. The old Balverne label also featured a hawk. As you sit, you likely will spot a hawk or a vulture or two soaring over the hills.

Notre Vue Estate: Place and Precision

The Notre Vue Estate wines lean more firmly into site expression. Chalk Hill fruit brings structure and depth. Russian River Valley fruit adds elegance and acidity. These wines are more contemplative and are largely available only on the property.

Fire, Resilience, and Perspective

It is impossible to talk about modern Sonoma County without acknowledging fire. Notre Vue has faced its share. In May 2019, a fire damaged a warehouse and tasting facility on the property, destroying roughly 5,000 cases and 500 barrels of wine awaiting bottling. Sadly, you won’t find wines at the winery older than 2019.

As if that wasn’t enough, in October 2019, the Kincade Fire swept through Sonoma County, burning 77,000 acres, forcing widespread evacuations that included the Windsor and Healdsburg areas surrounding the estate. Notre Vue had to be evacuated, but was fortunate that the grapes had already been harvested and the winery did not burn yet again.

Wine is agriculture. It is vulnerable. Knowing this, that Balverne hawk looks more and more like a phoenix rising from the ashes.

Tasting The Wine

Stories are great, but you come to Notre Vue for the wines, and they don’t disappoint.

We started with a GSM Rosé (Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvèdre popularized in France’s Southern Rhône Valley). This was a wonderful wine for just the sort of surprisingly warm indian summer January day of our visit. Sitting on a deck with a view makes any wine taste even better.

The second wine, the Balverne Sauvignon Blanc from Chalk Hill, was bright and expressive, with enough texture to hold its own against the food. I am not normally a fan of Sauvignon Blanc, as most wines of this type just don’t have enough flavor for my palate, but this one surprised me.

The 2019 Malbec has a great nose and a lovely flavor. This is a wine that survived the Kincade Fire, and I was glad that it did.

The winemaking team described using non-fermenting yeast (non-Saccharomyces ) during early processing, meaning strains that shape aroma and texture without driving the alcoholic fermentation itself, allowing native yeast to complete the transformation from juice to wine.

The 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon was in the middle of that process when the winery was evacuated due to the Kincade Fire. Winemakers did not know what the shape of the wine would be on their return, but the Cab is a wonderful, full-bodied wine, no worse for its adventure.

Exploring Beyond the Glass

One of the more unusual aspects of Notre Vue is that the estate is not limited to the tasting terrace. Wine club members have access to hiking and biking trails that wind through the property, offering a chance to experience the land beyond the vineyard rows you see from your seat.

Friday-Sunday, you can have your tasting and charcuterie board at a rented cabana by one of the small ponds on the property.

Practical Tips for Visiting

• Reservations are recommended, especially on weekends. This is not a walk-up spot if you want the full experience, especially during busier times of the year.
• Late morning or early afternoon works well, especially if you want to linger over the charcuterie and enjoy the view without rushing to another appointment.
• Notre Vue sits near Windsor, making it an easy addition to a day that might also include Healdsburg or the Russian River area.
• Because the experience here is relaxed and time-intensive, I would plan no more than one or two additional wineries the same day.

Why Notre Vue Stands Out

For travelers who value context as much as flavor, this is a rewarding stop. You come for the view, but you leave with a clearer sense of how history, land, and resilience shape what ends up in the glass. And that, ultimately, is what travel-centric wine experiences are about.

My tasting at Notre Vue was paid for by the winery; the opinions expressed are my own.