By Glenda Winders
If an artist tried to create the perfect small town, that spot might turn out to be Healdsburg, California. This hub of the Sonoma County wine country was laid out around a central plaza in the mid-1850s by Harmon Heald, and on the tranquil Sunday when I arrived locals and visitors lounged on the grass while a guitarist played and sang in the gazebo. I passed the afternoon poking around some of the 22 local art galleries and the one-of-a-kind boutiques around the square, some of whose playful names were Cupcake, Snowbunny and Looking Glass. Everywhere I walked the scent of jasmine overlaid the aroma of good food.
What supports this good life, of course, is the wine produced by some 130 wineries that draw from the three appellations that come together in this part of the county — Dry Creek, Alexander Valley and Russian River. And many of those wines are poured at the 40 tasting rooms around town.
Sonoma County has a rich history that begins with the Southern Pomo and Western Wappo tribes who first settled here and gave the area its name, which means "Valley of the Moon." The story moves on to the California gold rush and the people who came in the hope of getting rich and never went back. Then came the French, German and Italian immigrants who planted the first vines, and in 1871 the railroad that connected the orchards and farms to the markets and canning and packing plants where the produce was sold.
"Agriculture unites the history of the region," said Holly Hoods, curator of the Healdsburg Museum and Historical Society.
The museum is housed in a building that was originally a Carnegie Library and is now on the National Register of Historic Places. The local historical society maintains a permanent exhibit as well as temporary ones that tighten the focus, such as one on Sonoma County's connection with the Civil War and another about 19th-century utopian communities here. Free audio tours help bring it all to life.
Lori Moore's walking tours around town supplement what visitors learn at the museum with information such as how the 1906 San Francisco earthquake affected Healdsburg along with peeks into historic homes and tales of ghosts who are said to inhabit some of the businesses and hotel rooms.
While Healdsburg's past is certainly a colorful one, its present is equally exciting. Back at those tasting rooms, for example, the experience has changed considerably from the extremes of swishing and spitting or becoming too inebriated to drive a car. Now the trend is toward wine and food pairings, with some purveyors serving small plates of food to complement what tasters are drinking. Every tasting room and winery does something special that sets it apart.
At Portalupi owners Jane Portalupi and Tim Borges serve up local cheeses, salamis and a sweet-and-salty olive and fig tapenade. And while they pour some premium zinfandels (for which this valley is noted) and pinot noirs, their specialty is the Vaso di Marina, an homage to Portalupi's bootlegging Italian grandmother.
"It's a blue-collar wine," Borges said. "It pairs well with spaghetti bolognese and Cheetos."
The wine is bottled in milk bottles that recall the days when customers came to Marina Portalupi's grocery store and filled their own containers straight from the barrel.
Over at Thumbprint, the specialty is blends of such wines as cabernet franc, cabernet sauvignon, merlot and Sirah, all made from locally sourced grapes.
"My palate drives the blends," said Scott Lindstrom-Dake, a classically trained artist who came up with the name for his business when he spilled some gold ink and accidentally left his thumbprint on a wine bottle.
Outside of town at Trattore Estate owner Tim Bucher had planned to produce only wine until he discovered some olive trees on the property. Now he runs a "soil to oil" operation that produces as many olives as grapes, but the quality of the wine doesn't suffer for the diversification. Their sit-down tasting pairs both wines and oils with food. Mine ended with a Bitter Chocolate Mousse that went well with the Frutteto Extra Virgin Olive Oil and the 2011 Petite Sirah.
What sets Quivira apart from other wineries is that the owners practice biodynamics — a form of organic farming that focuses on sustainability through biodiversity. This means that part of their land — creeks and forests — is set aside as a reserve, and they grow livestock along with their gardens and vines.
For this reason they call their estate a "farmery," where they host farm-to-table dinners, weddings and picnics. They are currently partnering in a project to restore salmon and trout to a creek that runs through the property, and they take pride in revealing their wine's terroir — a sense of place and balance with nature to create a relaxing, seamless tasting experience.
For sheer enjoyment of the landscape, however, a tasting at Jordan Estate is absolutely essential. Founder John Jordan, who loved traveling in France, bought 1,200 acres here in the 1970s with an eye to re-creating the experience of being in Provence. Today son John has expanded the operation with gardens, lakes and animals that visitors can enjoy.
The three-hour tour, which costs $120, begins with a glass of wine at the chateau and continues in a Mercedes Sprinter van through the gardens to a shady lake-view tasting area known as Seven Oaks. From there it's off to the vines, where guests learn about the process of grape-growing and winemaking. The finale is a sit-down tasting at Vista Point, a pavilion at 650 feet that offers what has been called the best view in the Alexander Valley.
While wine is the main draw in this area, however, there's lots more to do. One happy surprise is the only Hand Fan Museum in the United States (there are three in Europe). The offerings, which began with Pam Sher's private collection, number in the thousands, with the oldest dating back to the 17th century.
The fans are made of every imaginable type of material — from metal mesh to paper and feathers — and docents educate visitors about their uses: During Victorian times women used fans to keep their wax-based makeup from melting and also to send secret messages to suitors that their chaperones couldn't interpret — "Yes, I'll kiss you," "No, I'm not interested." The stiff fans on sticks used in churches are uniquely American.
Yet a different kind of fun awaits at Dry Creek Peach and Produce, where owner Gayle Okumura Sullivan gives tours of her orchards and points out the 30 varieties she and her family grow. At the tour's end guests can look forward to a peach treat, and she'll even teach them how to make a wreath with clippings from the trees.
When dinnertime comes, there's plenty to choose from here. My favorite, however, was Baci, where Chef Shari Sarabi takes delight in making Italian dishes exactly as his customers want them.
"Why not? We live in the cornucopia of the world," he said.
Anyone willing to make puttanesca without the anchovies is all right by me.
WHEN YOU GO
For general information contact the Healdsburg Chamber of Commerce: www.healdsburg.com, 707-433-6935.
I stayed at the Belle de Jour Inn, where I enjoyed the comfort of a private cottage and apricot-ginger scones for breakfast — yum! www.belledejourinn.com
Healdsburg Museum and Historical Society: www.healdsburgmuseum.org
Lori Moore's walking tours:www.walkhealdsburg.com
Portalupi:www.portualupiwine.com
Thumbprint Cellars: www.thumbprintcellars.com
Trattore Estate Wines and Dry Creek Olive Co.: www.trattorefarms.com
Quivera Vineyards and Winery: www.quiverawine.com
Jordan Vineyard and Winery: www.jordanwinery.com
Hand Fan Museum: www.handfanmuseum.org
Dry Creek Peach and Produce: www.drycreekpeach.com
Baci Cafe and Wine Bar: www.bacicafeandwinebar.com
Glenda Winders is a freelance writer. To read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.
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