Premier Winery Experience participant  Brilliant, Jay! Arthur “Jay” Fritz was way ahead of his time in the 1970’s when the shipping businessman conceived his idea to build a winery entirely underground in order to protect his vineyards and 100 acres of springfed, forested land in northern Dry Creek Valley. The added incentive was to create a passively cooled and powered production operation wherein new wines are gently moved from above to barrels below using gravity flow instead of mechanics. Up above ground on the hillside property in the middle of Zinfandel country, Fritz was gaining a reputation for quality grapes that were outsourced to wineries around Sonoma County.

The Fritz winery opened in 1979 creating a line of wines from prime vineyards in Sonoma County with estate grown Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel playing a leading role. The Fritz Underground Winery was taken over in 2004 by Jay and Barbara Fritz’s son, Clayton, who with winemaker Brad Longton has focused the winery on producing small lot artisanal wines from top Russian River and Dry Creek vineyards: Pinot noir, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and of course, estate Zinfandels. Tastings are by appointment either in the tasting room or on the patio with a sweeping view of the Fritz vineyards.. Picnics are permitted and tours of the underground winery are by advance appointment.