Spring has arrived in Sonoma’s wine country, painting the hillsides in shades of green and the sunny yellow of mustard blossoms. It’s bud break season in the vineyards, and there’s a sense of possibility everywhere you look. After staying close to home for so long, everything feels new these days, as we ramble through The Barlow and stroll Sonoma streets, explore new eateries and gambol through winery sculpture gardens.
Whether you go now or wait for one of wine country’s big events, the Healdsburg Wine & Food Experience in May, say, or Taste of Sonoma in June, fresh opportunities to eat, drink and play abound. Here are 10 possibilities to while your weekend away.
EAT: Troubadour Bread & Bistro, Healdsburg
When in wine country, who doesn’t need a damn-good gourmet deli sandwich? Reasonably-priced meals are an absolute must when it comes to pricey wine tasting jaunts. Get your bread base and so much more at Troubadour Bread & Bistro, a small boulangerie and café across from the plaza in downtown Healdsburg.
Troubadour is the brainchild of baking dynamo duo Melissa Yanc and Sean McGaughey of Condor & Quail fame. The sandwich shop specializes in fresh-baked-daily, naturally fermented bread, local ingredients and a lot of cheffy touches, like sumac-roasted carrots that are folded into burrata and pesto, or chicken salad studded with sunflower seed dukkah. There are about half a dozen sandos to enjoy inside, on the patio or for grab-and-go, as well as a few baked goods, like a knock-out canele flavored with buckwheat.
Details: Open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. (plus prix fixe dinner service from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m.) Tuesday-Saturday at 381 Healdsburg Ave., Healdsburg; www.troubadourhbg.com
DRINK: Tasting at Caddis Wines, Sonoma
In an era of concierge-style wine tasting, this new, pint-sized tasting room (it’s 400 square feet) offers an experience that is slowly disappearing in wine country: The opportunity to drink with a local, award-winning winemaker in a casual setting for less than $40.
At Caddis, which opened in 2020 and is sandwiched between a shoe store and jewelry shop in Sonoma square, owner-winemaker Chris Sorenson is perched behind the bar most days of the week, pouring tastes from his portfolio of small-lot wines. He makes about 1,000 cases — there’s a lush cabernet, a merlot that swarms your palate with chocolate-covered cherries and a crisp rosé of pinot noir that’s summer picnics in a glass — and you won’t find them in grocery stores.
With seating for about six, the space is small enough to host easy conversation, not bachelorette parties. Sorenson may tell you about the prized Sonoma and Livermore vineyards where he sources his fruit and why he began making merlot before “Sideways” and never stopped. But he’ll also ask about you, as he’s pouring that very generous fifth taste.
Details: $30. We walked in, but reservations are recommended. Open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily at 109 E. Napa St., Sonoma; www.caddiswine.com
EAT & SLEEP: The Flamingo Resort’s Lazeaway Club, Santa Rosa
A big renovation in 2021 gave this mid-century motor inn plenty of style, from the glammed up lobby to its 170 sleek guest rooms and suites, arranged in spokes that fan out from the resort swimming pool. The splashes are reserved for resort guests, but the Flamingo’s Lazeaway Club bar and eatery are open to anyone craving a tropical vacation in the midst of their wine country getaway. And so is Vintage Space, the resort’s retro music lounge which opened in August and offers everything from karaoke to bachata dance nights.
It all hails from restaurateurs Anderson Pugash and Benson Wang (San Francisco’s Palm House and The Dorian), who evoke the restaurant’s tropical vibe via lush plants, sand and wood tones, and rattan chairs surrounding those outdoor fire pits. The cocktail list ($13-$15) includes mai tais, of course, plus a tequila and mezcal Mount Tamarind and a rum-centric Lazeaway Painkiller, as well as local wine and craft beer. Small, shareable plates range from Bao to the Pork with kimchi slaw ($12) and Pork Belly Larb ($17) to Coconut Green Curry ($17) with seasonal vegetables.
Details: The Lazeaway Club opens at 7 a.m. on weekdays, 8 a.m. on weekends. Rooms at the resort, one of the more affordable lodging options we’ve found for wine country pampering, start at $189 per night, plus a resort fee of $35 per day. Find the Flamingo Resort at 2777 Fourth St. in Santa Rosa; www.flamingoresort.com.
EAT & DRINK: The Matheson Wine Wall, Healdsburg
Looking to taste a wide variety of wines without winery hopping? When chef-owner Dustin Valette opened his newest restaurant, The Matheson, on Healdsburg’s main square in 2021, he installed not only a bar, but a Wine Wall stocked with 88 different wines on rotation. It’s aimed at curious wine lovers who want to explore regions and varietals sip by sip, rather than order a bottle.
Valette and beverage director Jon McCarthy offer flight inspiration for the tasting ahead, or you can create your own themed flight by region, grape or whimsy. Swipe your card, choose your wine and pour yourself a 1-ounce sip, a 2-ounce sample or a 5-ounce glass. It could be a Merry Edwards sauvignon blanc from Sebastopol, perhaps, or a Le Roi des Pierres “Silex” sancerre from France’s Loire region – or both.
The high-end first floor restaurant offers farm-to-fork fare such as aged Sonoma duck ($38) with pistachios, kiwi and young leeks and braised short rib ($52) with umami hollandaise. Head up to Roof 106 for a more casual, alfresco experience with intriguing cocktails, small plates and nine tempting pizzas ($18-$29) blistered in a Mugnaini wood-fired oven.
Details: The Wine Wall opens at 4 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday and noon Friday-Sunday. The Matheson restaurant opens at 5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday; reservations recommended. And Roof 106 opens at 4 p.m. Sunday-Thursday and noon Friday-Saturday; limited reservations, walk-ins accepted. 106 Matheson St., Healdsburg; www.thematheson.com
DRINK: LOVE at Paradise Ridge, Santa Rosa
You could visit Paradise Ridge solely for the art.
Oh sure, the Santa Rosa winery’s Confessor GSM blend and the sparkling rosé — especially that sparkling rosé — are a draw. So is the view. The summer concerts with food trucks. The unhurried comfort of the terrace and the deliciousness of the charcuterie boards, with their salumi and cheeses, cornichon and dried tropical fruit.
But even if you’re not into all that, this winery property and its explosion of art, creativity and love, are worth the drive all by themselves. The 156-acre vineyard estate high above the city includes a four-acre sculpture garden, Marijke’s Grove, inspired by winery owner Walter Byck’s late wife, and massive Burning Man-esque creations dot the property. But the centerpiece — and the enduring symbol of hope after the 2017 Tubbs wildfire — is the 12-foot tall LOVE statue that stands in a meadow below the tasting room. The flames burned the winery to the ground that autumn, but Laura Kimpton’s iconic steel tribute to the transformative power of love survived.
The sculpture garden — including David Best’s massive, mystical Temple of Remembrance, which also survived the fire — reopened the following year, and the winery reopened in December 2019, just four months before the pandemic hit. You’d never know it now. The tasting room and terrace bustle with happy wine lovers, and art installations abound in the groves and glens. A towering cylinder of colorful doors greets visitors near the road. The fluttering, riffling edges of kinetic sculptures shift in the breeze. And wine tastings await.
Details: The sculpture garden is open to the public from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily at 4545 Thomas Lake Harris Drive in Santa Rosa. Reserve a wine tasting ($35 and up) and charcuterie and cheese platter for two ($35) at www.prwinery.com
PLAY: Amiot Art Walk, Sebastopol
Stroll down Sebastopol’s Florence Avenue, and you’ll spot witty superheroes, whimsical animals, crazed ice cream truck drivers and other colorful characters every 40 feet. There’s Boba Fett, the Mad Hatter – late, of course – and a bright red, retro rocket ship ready for blast off. And more. So. Much. More.
This is the land of junk art sculptor Patrick Amiot and his fans, neighbors who contributed front yard space to create what is essentially a streetside gallery of winsome, whimsical works of art by Amiot and his wife, Brigitte Laurent, whose creative paintwork brings these people and creatures to life.
Spend a little time in this part of wine country, and you’re sure to spot other Amiot-Laurent collaborations – there are scores of them, including a giant dog at the Sonoma County Humane Society on Highway 12. But a casual art walk on Florence Avenue offers a concentration of delights, courtesy of 25 Amiot-Laurent characters. Tell that adorable blue Batman we sent you.
Details: Free. Florence Avenue, Sebastopol; http://patrickamiot.com
EAT: Wm Cofield Cheesemakers, Sebastopol
The aroma of tomatoes, basil and molten mozzarella wafts temptingly from the terrace at Acre Pizza at The Barlow, the former fruit processing plant here in the heart of Gravenstein apple country. Crowds bustle on the patio at Crooked Goat Brewing and stroll the Barlow sidewalks, peeking into restaurants, shops and —
Is that a Union Jack-painted cow?
The British bovine presides over the entrance to WM Cofield, where cheesemaker Keith Adams offers tales of curds, whey and the UK, as well as samples of his English-style cheddar and Stilton-esque Bodega Blue. Adams trained in England, he says, but he’s a Minnesota boy at heart. So you’ll find Midwestern-style cheese curds in the shop’s refrigerated display case too, along with plenty of picnic inspiration. In addition to WM Cofield fromage, the case holds Bent River cheese from Adams’ Alemar Cheese Company, Mt. Tam from Cowgirl Creamery and salumi from Healdsburg’s Journeyman Meat Co. Want to dine there? You can enjoy cheeseboards, grilled cheese sammies ($16) and “Glorious Tomato Soup” ($10) at the Willie’s End Pub tables just outside.
Details: Open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday-Monday at The Barlow, 6780 McKinley St. #110, Sebastopol; www.wmcofieldcheese.com.
EAT & DRINK: Lo & Behold Bar + Kitchen, Healdsburg
This inviting downtown Healdsburg bar and restaurant that opened in 2022 from cocktail veterans Laura Sanfilippo and Tara Heffernon and their all-female bar team is a vibe, from the lush garden patio to the cozy leather sofa where your group will lose track of time and end up sipping cocktails with names like Savasana (gin, beet-ginger shrub, cucumber, cardamom, bergamot, lemon) and Love Bizarre (mezcal, cucumber, shiso, fennel, lime and aloe-based spirit) into the night.
It is difficult to pull away from balanced, beautiful cocktails (served in vintage-style glassware) brimming with herbs and edible flowers from Heffernon’s small Forestville farm. Add to that co-owner and executive chef Sean Kelley’s inventive, eye-catching comfort foods — confit beef brisket tacos, hatch-chile queso dip — that top out at 20 bucks and you can understand how much day drinking actually went on. Kelley is so good he makes salad a drinking snack. We still think about the curry vinaigrette-laced cucumber and tomato plate presented like a tile mosaic of crunch.
Details: Reservations accepted. Open from 11:30 a.m. to midnight Thursday-Monday at 214 Healdsburg Ave., Healdsburg; www.loandbeholdca.com
EAT & DRINK: Oyster, Sebastopol
If your daydreams about running off to Paris involve oysters and Champagne, this 5-month-old bistro is a French jewel box. Black bentwood chairs line the marble counters of the 400-square-foot Oyster, where an open kitchen offers nine diners a prime view of the raw bar and their oysters mid-shuck. The Parisian cafe vibe continues on the terrace, where black and white bistro chairs and small, metal rimmed tables will have you saying “oui” to everything from bivalves to bubbly.
Oyster — the restaurant — hails from Jake Rand, the restaurateur and chef behind Sushi Kosho, just across the street. The lower-case oysters are Marin miyagis ($18 for half a dozen) served on the half shell with a classic champagne mignonette, or fried and tucked into a po’boy ($24), or baked into a mouthwatering Oysters Dynamite ($17 for three) topped with smoky bacon, tobiko aioli and scallions. Moules, fried calamari and other seafood dishes round out the menu. And the wine list is curated by Pax Mahle of nearby Pax Wines.
Not into seafood? French bubbles paired with duck fat fries — with garlic aioli for dipping — counts as “dinner” in our book.
Details: Open from 2 to 8 p.m. daily at 6751 McKinley St., Suite 130, in Sebastopol; www.oystersebastopol.com.
EAT: Red Bird Bakery, Sebastopol and Cotati
The newest pastry and picnic haven at The Barlow is Red Bird Bakery, the brainchild of bakers Isaac and Linda Cermak, whose last name means red bird in Czech. Isaac hails from Napa’s (and soon-to-be Walnut Creek’s) Model Bakery and Petaluma’s Della Fattoria, where Linda, the pastry queen, baked too.
Pop into this tiny bakery for pastries ($4-$6) – croissants, for example, and cinnamon rolls and galettes – and Retrograde Coffee espresso drinks. Heading out on a picnic? Grab a sandwich ($9), ham and brie on a ficelle perhaps, or a square of housebaked pizza topped with thinly sliced red peppers and potatoes or pepperoni, yellow peppers and mushrooms to enjoy indoors or out on the grassy area outside, where children tumble and frolic.
Details: Open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday at 6770 McKinley St. in Sebastopol and from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday at 556 E. Cotati Ave. in Cotati; www.redbirdbakery.com.
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