Harvest Time in Healdsburgby Judy Babcock Wylie
Fall is the perfect time to visit these valleys. The maples and cottonwoods are turning yellow and crimson, and the miles of grapevines glow bronze, copper and gold. Tastings and harvest events are easy to find. To make it even easier, before you leave home order a copy of the Russian River Wine Road map which �lists all the wineries� addresses, plus notes on wine specialties. Call 800 723-6336 to order a map.
Those who don�t want to drive to wineries could enjoy a decent wine tour by walking around the square. We strolled to the Windsor Vineyard tasting Room located in a desert-pink building with a long oak tasting bar. The Oakville Grocery had upscale lunch items.��� Just to the north, the Kendall-Jackson tasting room offered more than wine, with fancy mustards, dressings and flavored oils. Before you leave downtown, be sure to stop at the Chamber of Commerce office on Healdsburg Avenue to pick� brochures on the area
Anyone ready to splurge for dinner should try� Madrona Manor, a huge Victorian mansion west of town with a great chef. We had the pear salad with local greens, Gorgonzola cheese, candied walnuts and pear dressing, plus a loin of veal on garlic-potato puree. Celebrating being in the wine country, we had a Chateau Souverain Barrel Fermented� Chardonnay with the salad and a Rodney Strong River East Vineyard Pinot Noir with the main course. Meals with wines cost $40-$60 per person.
At Hop Kiln Winery, also on Westside Road,� you can have your picnic beside a pond alive with the quacking of local wildfowl. We liked the zinfandels there. As we continued along Westside, the string of wineries seemed endless. Our back seat with already packed with bottles, making the car rattle like a liquor delivery truck. We finally admitted defeat: 54 wineries are too many for one weekend. City of Healdsburg �(707) 431-3301 |
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A little more than an hour�s drive north of San Francisco more than 50 wineries hide in the rolling hills of Healdsburg, where the Alexander Valley, Dry Creek Valley, and Russian River Region converge. Many are boutique wineries run by a single family, which produce handmade vintages sold only to private customers or curious wine lovers willing to take the time to drive down a dusty country road and taste for themselves. 
But beware! Once you actually set foot in this shady town, it�s hard to pull yourself away �without spending an hour or two poking into shops tucked into old banks, Victorian-style houses and historic brick buildings around the grassy town square. We got stuck immediately in Robinson & Co., a kitchen store where we bought a spoon rest shaped in a grape cluster and a set of pate knives with doll-sized vegetable shapes for handles. 
At Friends in the Country, we barely escaped with only a tapestry tote bag woven with wine bottle designs. While I looked in Levin & Co. Booksellers for books on Sonoma County, my spouse disappeared, emerging from the Downtown Bakery sheepishly holding a cookie as big as a sandwich. 
Before looking for wineries farther afield, we drove two miles north of town and checked into the Belle de Jour Inn. The Italianate farmhouse was built in 1873 on a hill, with cottages dotting six acres.� The owners, Tom and Brenda Hearn, use a 1925 Star Durant� open touring car to take guests to wineries. We hopped in and were soon sailing along back roads to taste some of the area�s famous cabernets and zinfandels. 
Glad to have a designated driver, we arrived back at the inn� windblown and pleasantly mellow, retreating to our hideaway in the Caretaker�s Suite. A Franklin stove� warmed the large open room paneled with white barn planking. The king-size bed had a white canopy, while the whirlpool tub in the bathroom was big enough for two. This former caretaker�s cottage had flowers on the porch and lace at the windows. The inn has five units.
We looked into some of the other rooms and found the huge suite over the carriage house framed with old redwood. Rooms at the Belle de Jour range from $165 to $275. Call (707) 431-9777 for more information or reservations. 
The next day we loaded our car for home and toured a few more wineries on the way out of town, most of them along Westside Road. We stopped first at� Rabbit Ridge, where there is a small tasting fee. A short way down the road was the Armida Winery, a small family operation where we liked the Russian River Valley Chenin Blanc. The wine tasting building� had tall ceilings that made it spare and cool. An arched window looked out over the Myacamus Mountains. Outdoors a towering� live oak t5ree shaded a deck complete with picnic tables. You can buy crackers and cheese inside, then sit out here and enjoy your purchases.