San Francisco Day 2: Sonoma

Day 2 in California kicked off with a drive across the foggy Golden Gate Bridge and while I impressed by this bridge that I have seen so many times in books, magazines, and television, it took me a little while to actually see the structure as we approached it.  Lydia assured me that we would drive across the bridge a few times over the course of the next few days, so I would have a lot of opportunities for picture-taking.  Naturally, I still stuck my head out the window reaching into the cloud of fog for a few pictures of this mighty structure as pushed on for a two hour drive or so out to Healdsburg.  Yes, that's Sonoma County, baby!

Healdsburg is surrounded by several of Northern California's finest regional wine appellations, including Alexander Valley, Chalk Hill, Dry Creek Valley, and Russian River Valley. The Alexander Valley alone boasts over 13,000 acres of vineyards, 30 grape varieties, 28 wineries and over 200 independent farmers. Our area wineries focus on premium wines made from locally grown grapes. Healdsburg is centrally located to over 100 world class wineries and tasting rooms, from palatial European-style villas to rustic Mom and Pop operations, all sharing a passion for well-crafted wines.

Lydia handed over the map to me to start our wine exploration journey in Healdsburg, which probably was a bad idea since it took me a few tries to navigate our way to the first stop on the list, Rodney Strong Vineyards.  While I opted for the most commercial winery first, it also covered the spectrum in terms of the wine-growing regions within Healdsburg so I figured I was hitting a few birds with one large gulp of wine!  We had the option to do an "Estate" or a "Reserve" tasting for either Whites or Reds for a fee that could be used toward the purchase of a bottle of wine.  This initially threw me off my game as I'm used to the Michigan wineries with either an open tasting or just a simple list of wines for a very small fee (e.g., $5).  The fees in California were not cheap (e.g, $15-$25). Some wineries didn't even let you use the tasting fee towards a purchase of wine.  I'm certainly not in Michigan anymore. 

Lydia opted for the Reserve Reds while I coughed up my money for the Estate Reds.  I figured I have a lot of wine tasting fees in the near future!   The winner here was the Knotty Vine Zinfandel Estate, a first time for me tasting a good red zinfandel, so I had to go unique on this first purchase.

Our path continued on towards the heart of Healdsburg into the Russian River Valley wineries as we stopped at probably our favorite winery of the day (in retrospect), Hop Kiln.  Lydia was already talking this place up before we arrived, but as we pulled in, I could tell this would be a good stop. It just felt more like the Michigan scene rather than commercial wineries.  Even the gentleman that poured our wine took more of an interest in us than the folks over at Rodney Strong.  Hop Kiln is even a national historic landmark as this ranch was once the scene of a major hops provider for California's North Coast.  Here, we were offered a flight of the Hop Kiln proprietary wines as well as the HKG Flight, their ultra premium label of wines.  Their Russian River Valley Estate Pinot Noir was tops in this establishment. Between Lydia and I, we left with the 3 bottles. If I wasn't flying, I'm sure I could have purchased a few more.

After two flight tastings, it was time for a little breather as we rolled into downtown Healdsburg for lunch and to peruse their quaint shopping scene.  But it didn't take long for me to sniff out the local brewery in town, Bear Republic Brewing Company!  Hooray, sampler!  Fortunately for me, Lydia just played along, which wasn't hard since this joint served up a pretty tasty burger - a Sonoma style burger with guacamole, Sonoma garlic jack cheese, and much to Lydia's disappointment, smokey bacon that I opted out on.  My sampler included: Peter Brown, Racer 5 IPA (making Scottie proud), Red Rocket, Big Bear Black Stout, and the Whangdoodle Ale (just for the name!).

Before we left town, we stopped in at the La Crema Tasting Room, another Russian River Valley winery, for a quick sampler of their wines.  We tasted a few of their reds, but decided to pass on any purchasing here.  

Back on the trail, we headed to our last stop before heading back to the city to pick up Carolyn, the Dry Creek Valley winery, Quivira.   Much like Hop Kiln, this place had a very quaint atmosphere with some nice folks pouring our wines.  Of course, we flocked towards a red wine tasting flight, and took home a winner with the Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel here as well.

While I sobered up, Lydia hauled us back to San Francisco to pick up Carolyn before we checked into our fancy hotel, the Larkspur - Union Square, which was just a block from Union Square, the epicenter of the city’s shopping, dining and entertainment venues.  I think that just about sums up our crew as well - Carolyn, Sandra, Winnie, Lydia, and myself.  The evening concluded with some much need sustinance at Scala Bistro!  We were thankful for their late hours, yummy bread, and tasty food.

See more pictures from the wine trail in my Picasa album.