At Petaluma’s Keller Estate, brunch pairs with gorgeous views

Keller Estate is perched high above Lakeville Highway and offers world-class dining and wining with their monthly brunch and highly acclaimed chardonnays, syrahs and pinot noirs. Keller’s patio is tranquil and intimate, while offering commanding views over its olive groves and vineyard, out across the Petaluma River estuary and into the distant coastal range, highlighted by the iconic Mount Tamalpias.

The Kellers love brunch, and their monthly brunches are a way for them to share weekends at the Estate with club members and guests.

Keller Estate kicked off the spring season with two Valentine’s weekend brunches, highlighting the flavors of late winter. Future brunches are scheduled for the first Saturday and Sunday of each month and are usually seasonally themed.

Guests dine in Keller’s gorgeous loft space during cool weather, moving onto the sunny patio in the warmer months. Diners can also visit the cozy tasting room to taste the myriad wines not paired with brunch, or take a winemaker’s tour, where guests are guided through Keller’s impressively long wine cave, which snakes through the mountainside.

Visconte Catering handles the kitchen duties and with a well-earned local reputation for customized food pairings, it is no wonder that their custom dishes pair so well with Keller’s wines. Already sold out, the April brunch is the last month of three months to highlight mushrooms.

Our Valentine’s Day brunch started with a Brut cocktail as we arrived at the tasting room. After visiting with other guests, we were invited upstairs, where our bowls were quickly filled with mushroom bisque.

Delightfully warm and flavorful, this was perfectly paired with Keller’s 2012 La Cruz Pinot Gris. In true California style, Keller does not dictate how one enjoys their wine, instead encouraging guests to try different food and wine combinations in order to create their own experience.

The main course was a mushroom, avocado, tomato and spinach crepe with bacon and basil pesto and scrambled eggs that were to die for, paired with their 2007 Precioso Chardonnay. Dessert was a caramelized pink lady apple tart with fresh Greek yogurt and a glass of 2012 La Cruz Pinot Noir.

The Keller family traces their roots to Switzerland, where their name means “cellar keeper,” which explains the key within their family crest. Keller’s Swiss ancestors settled in Mexico in the early 1900’s, migrating north to Petaluma in the late 1980’s after Arturo Keller fell in love with the area while driving one of his many vintage automobiles through the Sonoma County countryside.

Daughter Ana Keller has an education in biochemistry and now runs the family’s vineyard.

Ana Keller is also the president of the Petaluma Gap Winery Association, and the driving force behind PGWA’s attempt to distinguish themselves with their own American Viticultural Area (AVA) designation. Keller points to wind and temperature patterns here in Petaluma as a key factor that sets Petaluma’s grapes and wines apart from the broader local region.

These microclimate features force grapes here to grow thicker skins and encourages them to ripen more slowly, which produces ideal sugar and acidity levels upon maturity.

With April’s brunch already sold out, Saturday and Sunday of Mother’s Day weekend is your next opportunity to dine at Keller. The menu will shift from winter to spring flavors and will feature a French twist. Brunch is normally $49.99, but Ana Keller has yet again graciously offered readers the 15 percent discount normally reserved for Keller wine club members. This is likely because she is rightfully confident that her wines and the ambiance and setting of her winery will draw many new visitors to join Keller’s wine club.

With no initiation fee, discounts on wine, brunches and special events, there is a wine club level for everyone. The Key Club level includes three bottles of Keller’s premium wine each quarter, plus complimentary tickets to their annual harvest celebration, as well other goodies. The Estate Club is aptly dubbed “one for now, one for later,” as each shipment includes two of each bottle for that quarter.

For those who want to experience the joy that can only come from tasting a wine as it ages, the Collection Club includes nine bottles per shipment, as well as more free event tickets, deeper discounts on the cave room rentals and free shipping.

For those looking to immerse all their sense in the wine culture, the PGWA is offering a once-in-a-lifetime experience next year. Ana Keller and three other local winemakers will host a Rhone River Cruise scheduled for March 2017.

This wine-lovers vacation will start in Lyon, France, long known for its gastronomical pleasures. While visiting Roman ruins, medieval villages and provincial towns, guests will enjoy the wines of Beaujolais, Burgundy and Côte du Rhône.

Additionally, the cruise includes wine maker dinners where guests will not only get to mingle with Petaluma Gap wine makers, but also taste Petaluma wines side-by-side with the best the French have to offer.

Whether visiting in the quiet wood-wrapped tasting room or basking in the warm Petaluma sunlight, Keller’s brunch is a great way to enjoy a lazy weekend morning while relaxing in one of the most tranquil settings in Petaluma.