Are you serious? This girl is doing another post about her weekend trip to wine country?! Yes. Yes I am!
If you follow me on social media, you probably already know that we took a weekend trip to Sonoma last weekend. I had to be in the Bay Area for work for 2 weeks, so it only made sense that we spent a couple days in wine country! You can’t let these opportunities go to waste.
We have been to Sonoma several times, so we wanted to do something different. We tried all new wineries, and I loved it! We had great weather which made it all the better.
On Saturday, we started out at Cline Cellars. This winery has free tastings! This is extremely hard to find these days. The history behind this winery was amazing. This was the site of the last and 21st California mission. Our host gave us a great overview of the property, history and the wine. It was a great start to our first day and the wines were affordable (and delicious)! They also decorated the tasting room for Christmas and it was gorgeous.
The next stop was Gloria Ferrer. This winery is known for their sparkling wines. I have been on a sparkling wine kick lately, so it was fun to fit one of these in.
Right when we pulled up, I saw a patio overlooking the vineyard. I knew this was going to be a great stop and a great photo opportunity as well.
We each ordered a glass of sparkling wine and apparently, I ordered the one that was served at parties/events during the Clinton administration. I can’t say I agree with the Clinton’s on much, but maybe we can find common ground on the wine! Haha.
After two wineries, we were ready for some lunch! We decided to check out El Molina Central. This is a hole-in-the-wall Mexican place that had great reviews. People were not lying – this place was amazing! Living in Texas, I had high expectations going in, and it definitely lived up to the hype!
After lunch, we went to Kunde for a mountain-top tasting. This might have been my favorite part of the whole trip! It helped that the weather was perfect.
How cute are those doors with the wreaths!?
The wines at Kunde were amazing – sipping them on top of a mountain, overlooking the bay was even better!
After Kunde, we decided to head to our bed and breakfast. We always stay at Bella Villa Messina when we are in Sonoma. It is in the heart of Healdsburg and close to several wineries. The hospitality is amazing!
We hung out at the B&B before dinner and enjoyed a glass of wine with our hosts: Jerry and Harold! We also got to meet their new puppy!
For dinner, we went to Charlie Palmer’s Dry Creek Kitchen in downtown Healdsburg. We have been here before, but we can’t stop going because it is so good! This time, we decided to try the tasting menu. It was well worth it. We got samplings of an amazing salad, risotto, salmon and steak. Oh, and of course desserts!
What I love about Dry Creek Kitchen is that you can bring up to 2 bottles of Sonoma wine for FREE. No corkage fee, nothing. We brought in a bottle from Kunde and it paired well with our meal.
On Sunday, we woke up and had a great breakfast at the B&B – mimosas included!
Sunday, we first went to Christopher Creek. Honestly, I wish we could have stayed here longer, but we had another appointment at 11. Christopher Creek’s wines are really bold and dry, which I love. The view at the winery was incredible and there was no one else there. It was such a relaxing way to wake up!
Our next stop was Acorn winery. Now, this one is really small, but incredibly interesting. The owners were the ones pouring us the wines and talking to us, so that gives you an idea as to how small and intimate it is. I love wineries like this because you learn so much and you learn it first-hand from the source itself.
Acorn’s wines were a bit lighter in nature, but they were still very tasty. It was a very personalized tour and experience – I would give this one a shot!
After those 2 wineries, I was a little wined out. So, we decided to stop for lunch at Healdsburg Bar and Grill – our favorite place to grab a burger and garlic fries. Garlic fries are a must in northern California!
After lunch, we stopped by Trattore Farms Winery – they had both wine and olive oil tastings! Oh and they also had cute doors with wreaths on them 🙂
Our last winery of the day was Ferrari Carano. The property here is GORGEOUS. Even if you don’t like wine, you should stop here just to see it and take pictures. The fall colors of the trees plus the Christmas wreaths on the gate….I was dying. Like, can I move in?! It was something out of a dream.
After Ferrari-Carano, we were totally done with wine! So, we decided to check out a brewery in downtown Healdsburg – Bear Republic Brewing Co. I got a lighter IPA and it was really tasty – you can find several of their beers at the grocery store!
That sums up our quick weekend trip to Sonoma! It was incredible, like always, and it was fun to try some new things. I think my favorite wineries were Kunde and Christopher Creek!
We didn’t join any new wine clubs this time around (because we already in too many), but I will definitely be purchasing some wine from these places in the future.
Hope y’all enjoyed reading about our fun little weekend. Have you ever been to Sonoma? What are some of your favorite wineries?
-Catheryn
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