High Note
Petaluma’s Brooks Note Winery Sings
PHOTOS BY GARY OTTONELLO
Something extraordinary happened on the 400 block of Petaluma Boulevard three years ago. The promise of the city of Petaluma’s burgeoning wine scene was realized in a trifecta of oenological proportions when one small enterprise had the audacity to envision wines grown, made, and poured in a town formerly known as the “egg basket of the world.”
Boulevard winery
Opening its doors in August 2021, Brooks Note was early to see the area’s possibilities in a part of Petaluma that had previously only been home to autobody garages, places to check one’s smog, and, inexplicably, a florist.
The downtown district that includes this part of Petaluma Boulevard North (which some locals call “NoBo,” an artsy-sounding contraction for “North Boulevard) now boasts Brigitte Bistro, a French restaurant on its far end, and the more recently opened Sarmentine, a French bakery.
Given the preponderance of French varietals at the winery, one might think a francophile movement is afoot to offset the Cal-Ital of much of the rest of the town. But don’t be fooled by the Burgundians and Rhones (not to mention an occasional Blaufränkisch, a name that will make horses whinny if you say it right), Brooks Note is a distinctly Petaluma affair.
That’s not to say that all its wines hail from the American Viticultural Area (AVA) known as the Petaluma Gap—though many do, what makes it distinctly Petaluma is the fact that Brooks Note brought winemaking downtown. The Boulevard facility achieves what many local breweries already have—making and serving their wares on-site.
Winemaker Garry Brooks began his journey into winemaking two decades ago while still steeping in a career in technology. After planting a small vineyard with his wife, Joanne Note Brooks, who also worked in tech, a shift in his prospective career trajectory took root. That said, his first homemade vintage of Sonoma-grown cabernet sauvignon tasted like “Pumpkins,” he laughed—not pumpkin spice, but squash.
Brooks would soon find his calling with pinot noir, which he discovered after several tasting tours with friends. “My friends started to get tired of drinking pinot,” he recalls. “But I really fell in love with it.”
In 2004, Brooks had committed to the journey from tech to terroir. He started at the bottom and worked as an intern in the lab at Ravenswood Winery while earning a bachelor’s degree in Viticulture and Enology from the University of California, Davis. A stint at Acacia Vineyard (where he helped make a pinot noir for the first time) was followed by Kosta Brown Winery. Brooks was part of the lauded team that won Wine Spectator’s 2011 “Wine of the Year” for its 2009 Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir. That same year, after working as the assistant winemaker at Dutton-Goldfield Winery, Brooks was at an inflection point.
After years of learning, experimenting, and crafting garagiste wines for friends and family, the couple decided to create their own commercial label, which eventually led to building their own facility.
“I always tell people it’s a marathon, not a sprint,” says Brooks, who purchased a nearly century-old, 7,000-square-foot former automotive space in Petaluma that he converted into a winery, barrel room, and tasting room.
“Petaluma has been so generous and welcoming,” says Brooks. “We have met so many people in the community and we’ve had a chance to participate in lots of different charity events. I feel like we’re becoming part of the fabric of the community.”
Brooks Note is also becoming much of what defines Petaluma’s wine experience. A favorite is the Petaluma Gap Pinot Noir, which is dry-farmed in the just-outside-of-town Chileno Valley. It offers a rich, jammy profile, highlighted by aromas of dried cherry, baking spices, and an arboreal earthiness (or “sous bois” if you’re mixing with NoBo’s French neighbors). It boasts a full-bodied mouthfeel featuring berry compote, blackberry, and fig flavors and finishes long, leaving, in its wake, traces of bright berry and plum.
Those trying to beat the Autumn heat, however, might consider the 2023 Rosé of Pinot Noir, which is floral and crisp with peachy and berrylicious notes alongside a kiss of citrus. Ditto the 2021 Sonoma Coast Chardonnay, which boasts bright tropical fruit notes and a whisper of lemon and melon that sidesteps the “butter bomb” many chards fall prey to in malolactic fermentation. This wine is a lean, mean sipping machine, and like all of Brooks Note’s offerings, redefines what it means to “drink local.”
Brooks Note Winery
brooksnotewines.com | (707) 981-8470
Open Saturday-Thursday 12pm-7pm | Friday 12pm-9pm
426 Petaluma Blvd North, Petaluma