California Dreamin': Head to Healdsburg for a balanced experience

Until I visited Northern California earlier this year, I did not know how broad the term “Wine Country” was, or that visitors define it by many different destinations. There are more than 400 wineries in the area north of San Francisco — a vast selection from which to choose. A growing number of visitors are choosing Sonoma County over Napa Valley, and, more specifically, Healdsburg. Wine Enthusiast named Sonoma County among its 10 best wine travel destinations for 2012.

In the heart of Sonoma County, Healdsburg dates to the mid-1800s when it was a stop on the heavily-traveled route from San Francisco to the gold mines of Northern California. The town developed around the square, which remains the hub of activity today and is just a short drive or bike ride to the nearby wineries of the famous appellations — Russian River Valley, Dry Creek Valley, and Alexander Valley — that surround Healdsburg. Combined, the three valleys are home to more than 150 wineries.

Michael and Margy Hungate of Evansville, along with a friend, visited Healdsburg in April 2012. “We chose Healdsburg based on the reputation of the wineries in Dry Creek Valley,” Margy says. “It did not disappoint. It had rolling hills with vistas of beautiful vineyards everywhere you turned. We were pleasantly surprised with local, organic growers who were thrilled to give us tours and tastings as if we were part of their family. Our stay at the H2 Hotel was just as lovely with a quaint feel and an accommodating staff. We ventured out to local restaurants and loved every meal we had. We can’t wait to get back to Healdsburg!”

Locals talk about their town in terms of the new Healdsburg or the old. Before 2001, the town had family restaurants and just a sprinkling of visitors from outside of the area. Then the posh Hotel Healdsburg opened on the town square along with celebrity chef Charlie Palmer’s acclaimed Dry Creek Kitchen, followed by galleries, boutiques, wine tasting rooms, high-end eateries, and, of course, tourists. Yet despite Healdsburg’s chic new trappings, it remains a simple country town.

I stayed at the Grape Leaf Inn, a lovely 1900 Queen Anne Victorian just four blocks from the town square. The inn is surrounded with gardens and century-old evergreens. The rooms are very nicely appointed, comfortable, and small. Breakfast was delicious, and each afternoon, the inn’s speakeasy — behind a bookshelf in the breakfast room — opens for complimentary wine tastings. (The inn’s owner also owns wineries.)

There’s plenty to do in Healdsburg, but the reason you’re there is wine. Here are five wineries, of the more than 400 Sonoma County wineries, I enjoyed.

The Mauritson family of Mauritson Wines has been farming in Sonoma since 1868. Winemaker Clay Mauritson makes wines from the vineyards he tended as a teen.

“You’re familiar with the Rockpile appellation?” Mauritson asks our group.

Straddling the ridge between the two arms of Lake Sonoma is Rockpile AVA, one of the newest appellations in California. Mauritson’s great-great-great grandfather first planted vines on the Rockpile valley floor in 1884, shipping every ounce of his wine back to Sweden. The family’s Rockpile ranch grew to 4,000 acres by the early 1960s, when all but 700 ridgetop acres was taken by the Army Corps of Engineers to develop Lake Sonoma. The steep hillsides and rocky terrain seemed mainly suitable for sheep grazing and wild pig hunting. It was not until the early 1990s that the first acres of modern-era vines were planted and thrived, revealing that Rockpile held great potential for ultra premium mountain fruit.

Mauritson’s wife Carrie poured tastings of their 2011 Mauritson Zinfandel from the Dry Creek Valley (well balanced and full of high toned fruit), 2012 Mauritson Sauvignon Blanc, also from the Dry Creek Valley (bright and fresh with hints of key lime pie), 2010 Rockpile Cabernet Sauvignon (broad and complex tannins will allow this wine to gracefully age for 9 to 11 years), and 2012 Rockpile Uncle’s Block Zinfandel (both lush and powerful).

Lambert Bridge Winery is a small, family-owned winery established in 1975 in the Dry Creek Valley, making it one of the oldest post-Prohibition wineries in the valley. A pairing lunch in their Candlelit Barrel Room was divine. Chef Bruce Riezenman, one of California Wine Country’s most sought-after chefs and a frequent speaker on food and wine pairings, presented lunch and Lambert Bridge wines with comments from Lambert Bridge winemaker Jennifer Higgins and certified sommelier Summer Jeffus.

Higgins explains their passion is to craft small lots of artisanal Bordeaux-style blends and varietals. “We get to source the best vineyards in Sonoma regardless of their appellation,” Higgins says. The winery produces 8,000 cases annually spread across 12 to 16 wines.

Lambert Bridge wine is sold through the winery and in select restaurants in San Francisco, Atlanta, and New York.

Selected as one of Wine & Spirit magazine’s Top 100 wineries in 2013, Bella Vineyards and Wine Caves specializes in old vine zinfandel and Rhone-style varietals. Bella’s wine caves are tucked into steep hillside under its prized Lily Hill Vineyard, the crown jewel planted in 1915. The tasting room is nestled at the back of the entertainment area within the caves; 5,200 square feet are reserved for barrels and production.

Founded in 1972 by David Stare, Dry Creek Vineyards was the first new winery in Dry Creek Valley following Prohibition. The ivy-covered stone structure recalls a country chapel and is framed by tall shade trees and a lush lawn where guests picnic. Dry Creek Vineyard has a long track record of producing some of California’s finest fumé blancs and zinfandels.

Drinkers of sauvignon blanc perhaps have purchased a bottle of Dry Creek — you’ll recognize the sailboat on the label — at Evansville’s Winetree Liquors. (Dry Creek calls itself the Official Wine of Sailors for purely personal reasons — the Stare family’s love of sailing.)

Dutcher Crossing Winery proprietor Debra Mathy often can be found welcoming guests with Dutchess, her golden Labrador retriever and official greeter.

A lover of bicycles since childhood, Debra’s last gift from her father, a successful Wisconsin businessman who encouraged her to buy a winery, was a high-wheel bicycle showcased on all of Dutcher Crossing Winery wine labels.

During my visit, winemaker Kerry Damskey led our group to the vineyard for a lesson in pruning. A strong advocate of blending, Kerry is advancing a new category in California with Dutcher Crossing’s Cabernet Sauvignon-Syrah wines. Although the blend has been done for decades in Australia, it is a new concept in California.

“The brightness and aromatics of Syrah are the perfect complement to the rich denseness of Cabernet Sauvignon,” Damskey says. “At Dutcher Crossing Winery, our signature wine is a vineyard designated Cabernet Sauvignon-Syrah blend ­— the first of its kind in Dry Creek Valley.”

When You Go:
- Healdsburg Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Bureau • 707-433-6935 • healdsburg.com
- Grape Leaf Inn • 707-433-8140 • grapeleafinn.com
- Hotel Healdsburg • 707-431-2800 • hotelhealdsburg.com
- H2 Hotel • 707-922-5251 • h2hotel.com
- Bella Vineyards & Wine Caves • 866-592-3552 • bellawinery.com
- Dry Creek Vineyard • 800-864-9463 (winery) • drycreekvineyard.com
- Dutcher Crossing Winery • 707-431-2700 • dutchercrossingwinery.com
- Lambert Bridge Winery • 707-431-9600 • lambertbridge.com
- Mauritson Wines • 707-431-0804 • mauritsonwines.com