Under Winery Listings by AVA see: Note
Yeah, they announced the pending closure of SCOPA a couple weeks ago. Funny, I live here and have never eaten there because they have never had a table available when I called.
The Grand Tasting of Wine Country Weekend will no longer be held at MacMurray Ranch as they have changed venues to The Green Music Center at Sonoma State University in Rohnert Park. Booo hisss!
Hey Brian, you have a bad link in the canoes/kayaks pulldown for Rivers Edge Kayak and Canoe, try this one -
Just returned from a trip to (mostly) Sonoma Valley. The information here was a great help in planning the trip.
A few notes:
Dining: Barndiva requires a party of 6 or more to order the prix fix, which offered a choice of steak or chicken - no thanks for $79. So we went to Dry Creek Kitchen instead - borderline fine dining, food and service were excellent. Spinster Sisters was okay - food was good, pacing was off, and the metal chairs are incredibly uncomfortable. Willis Wine Bar in Healdsburg was very good - food and service. The meal of the trip was at Walter Hansel Wine Bistro - just excellent all the way around (I am still thinking about the duck gizzard confit salad with lardons).
Wineries: Pasterick Wines was a wonderful new find for us - syrah only producer in a very Northern Rhone style. Gerry Pasterick was a great host. Freeman Winery was a really good experience also - interesting new estate wines, particularly the Sonoma Coast vineyard. We also had a great visit with Paul Luckin at Enkidu, who recommended McClaren Wines located in the Vine Alley which was is also making some interesting cool climate syrahs.
I order that salad every time I dine there. The runny duck egg on top is the icing on the cake!
Brian and Jim - Thanks for the great notes! Now I need Spring Break to come around so I can take the kids up there.
Another thumbs up for ACORN. The old vine zin was pretty killer, as well as the dolcetto, syrah, and cabernet franc. They are really accommodating, and the sit-down format of the tasting made it highly enjoyable.
My wife and I are using this amazing conglomeration of information to plan our trip. I donât see any mention of golf. If anyone can recommend a good course or two, that would be great (we havenât narrowed down where weâre staying yet, so fire away with anything). Also, while I golf, my wife plans to hit a spa for a massage. Any recommendations for great spas would also be appreciated.
Great, more content!
Lots of places to play golf. A few out in the West end: Windsor Golf Club is fun. Northwood is one of the best if not the best 9 hole course in the Country. Want a wow experience, go to Mayacamas Golf Club.
Spas are like drive thrus here. Theyâre everywhere. Give me a more specific location and Iâll recommend some close by.
there are a number of public courses available to play in SC. here are a few (with my impressions):
The Links at Bodega Bay - fun course out near the water at Bodega Bay. interesting holes across the board, definitely more âlinks-yâ than âparklandâ. wind can be a factor depending on time of day (typically it picks up in the afternoon).walk-able, but a cart is probably best. green fees usually around $75. (there is a putting green, but no other practice area outside of a net to hit into, FYI)
Oakmont West - short-ish course in Sonoma Valley, winding in and out of homes in the local senior living community. fairly flat with small greens, itâs one of the âeasierâ courses in SC, though it does have water that comes into play on about seven holes. very walkable, and green fees under $50. driving range & practice green available.
Rooster Run - fun course out in Petaluma. like Oakmont West, itâs mostly flat with water on a number of holes. the front 9 is a little mundane IMO, and the back 9 is way more interesting. typically, youâll see wind in the afternoon. driving range and practice green available. green fees are around $50 and itâs walk-able.
Windsor Golf Club - this track is closer to Healdsburg, and i really enjoy it. a parkland setting, the are a number of fun holes on both the inward and outward nines. not too long w/ regard to length, it is a challenging course. driving range & practice green available.
Bennett Valley GC - heavily played muni in Santa Rosa. for as much traffic as this course gets, itâs in great shape. the downside: youâre almost always looking at a 5+ hour round, and for that reason i tend to shy away from playing there. with the amount of play BVGC gets, youâll be paired with at least three, if not four others.
other options include Foxtail (the North course is longer and more challenging than the South course), Northwood and Sea Ranch. there are some outstanding private courses as well, so if youâre staying at The Fairmont Mission Inn (for example), youâll have access to Sonoma Golf Club. if you have additional questions, let me know.
Fair enough. Iâll report back when I know where weâre staying.
Thanks for the golf recommendations, too!
It looks like weâll be in Sonoma for spell this coming May and will be doing a fair bit of tastings. If one buys a few bottles here and there, what is the ideal way to get those back across the country? Fedex in a wine mailer? Specialized wine shipper companies? Iâve seen that wine check bag but not sure if the cost of that plus extra check fees is worth it over sending a case or two intra-continental ground. Any suggestions here?
iâd visit the local UPS/FedEx store and pick up a 12 pack styro shipper. buy your wines during the trip, pack and seal the box, and take it with you to the airport and use it as a âchecked bag.â
upside: most cases will come in under the 50lb. limit whereby the airline will charge you extra for the bag (or in this case box), and youâll get it when you walk off the plane (no issues with weather). depending on your air-travel habits you might get one or more free checked bags (big plus) and even if you donât the carrier probably wonât be charging more than $25 or $30 for an extra bag (way less than youâll pay to ship it yourself or have a winery do it).
downside: youâll have to hump all your wine around with you during your trip, as well as lug it to the airport (a couple of 40lb boxes doesnât exactly make for âtraveling lightâ). also, youâre trusting the baggage handlers not to drop-kick your box across the tarmac to get it on to the plane.
Couldnât agree more. We tasted with Betsy and had a fantastic experience. Bought a mixed 6 pack of wines and will be a future customer as well.
You can ship the wines from the winery/tasting room when purchased - theyâll take care of it for you. Otherwise, as mentioned above, youâll have to lug the bottles around with you and deal with shipping yourself.
I can add one small piece of knowledge. Right across the street from Rockers Oysterfeller in Valley Ford is the Valley Ford Market. Mom and pop type local market. But they have excellent house smoked salmon by the pound. We often grab some before heading to Hog Island Oyster farm in Marshall (which is actually in
Marin Country, but highly recommended) for a shuck your own feast.
Rockers Oysterfeller itself isnât fine dining, by any means, but a pretty good little casual restaurant with an interwsting and economical little wine list. Itâs no substitute for Terrapin Creek Cafe or Zazu Kitchen + Farm, but itâd a enjoyable good causal meal.
Just got back from another trip:
The route to Hog Island in Marshall is a great drive, and the destination is a terrific scene to take in a meal. The menu is a limited (the only hot item is bbq oysters), but what is offered is definitely good. I might recommend the shuck-your-own picnic if only to bring something to grill/heat up in addition to what is served at the bar. A chowder would have been perfect that day.
Campo Fina in Healdsburg & Ramen Gaijin in Sebastopol were solid highlights of the trip. I think Iâm craving a bowl of the shoyu right now ![[wow.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/7/7d450e9830889c8943b674446a21b7254cad657e.gif "wow"){kind=small}
SingleThread has several really strong dishes. We went with two different sake for dinner, which we thought complemented very well. Depending on your preference, the wine list does have some gems, which they can provide by email if you request.
We didnât get to try it this time, but this is on our list for the next visit: http://www.quarryhillbg.org/
Totally agree! We stayed in February and they were gracious hosts, and we have great conversation together while drinking wine by the fire as well! The Inn is centrally located to a lot of great RRV wineries!
Has anyone tried the Kistler (four - $75) or Paul Hobbs (four - $65) tastings? Do they seem worth it for the price? Also, it doesnât seem from the website that Kosta Browne offers tastings. Has anyone been able to wrangle one with them? Trying to plan my Sonoma trip in October and was lining up KB, Littorai, Kistler, and Dehlinger in the same day.
You can get a tasting wth KB if you are a current customer. They just donât have a tasting room. Never done the Hobbs or Kistler tasting, canât comment on them. Good luck on getting 4vtastings in on the sme day. Littorai is a long one with the tour/educational aspect of it.
Brian is right. Limit to an AM tasting and an afternoon tasting and plan on freelancing between/after stops. Nothing worse than having to run out of scheduled tasting to make the next appointment.