#Roadtrip, Part 2

Your blogger recently had the opportunity to visit some of our partner properties in California. Part 1 of this report was on Monday. Today, we report on winery visits in Sonoma County.

When we began planning this trip, we had always planned on visiting Sonoma. We'd visited Napa on our last trip to Northern California's wine country, so it was time for a change. We picked a hotel in the quiet town of Healdsburg, and visited wineries within about 20 minutes of there.

If you're thinking about visiting Healdsburg, here are some pro tips. Most importantly, the town closes fairly early. By 9pm, there aren't a whole lot of places still open in the center of town. It's very walkable, with plenty of tasting rooms all around the square. In addition to the tasting rooms, you'll find the Bear Republic brewery just off the square. As we were told on our first visit to Sonoma, it takes a lot of beer to make a good wine.

Our first stop was the Francis Ford Coppola Winery. This is a full-on entertainment destination, with movie memorabilia, a swimming pool and restaurant. We started with a taste of the Sofia Blanc de Blancs sparkling wine, and then went on a tour of the facilities. Since it was early July, the harvest hadn't started, but the bottling line was humming along. After our walk-through, we returned to the tasting room for samples of several additional wines across their extensive portfolio.

The tasting really just confirmed what we already knew: Coppola produces solid wines that are excellent values at every price point, throughout their extensive portfolio. We wrapped up our visit with a pairing lunch at Rustic, the on-property restaurant. Three courses, paired with the appropriate wines. We could get used to that kind of lunch.

Next on our agenda was the Sbragia Family Vineyards, which was barely 10 minutes from Coppola. We don't currently stock wines from Sbragia, but they are available via special order. The peacefulness of this part of Sonoma was a welcome companion to the outstanding wines. Sitting out on the terrace and talking about the various Sbragia wines was a great way to wind down after a hectic day. The Sbragia tasting room is also a short drive from the Lake Sonoma recreational area, and we took a nice ride through the mountainous area.

Whether you prefer white (Sauvignon Blanc or Chardonnay) or red (Cabernet, Zin, Merlot), there's a lot to like in the Sbragia portfolio. Since the tasting rooms all have to close by 5pm, we limited our official agenda to two wineries per day.

On our last day in Sonoma, we started off at the Quivira Vineyards. At this point, we only carry their Dry Creek Zinfandel, but their portfolio is certainly larger than that. They practice Biodynamic agriculture at Quivira, part of which means that a percentage of the land must be devoted to uses other than the grape crop. At the entrance, you'll find an extensive flower, herb and vegetable garden. The property also includes bee colonies, along with an assortment of farm animals.

We were given a bit of salumi to accompany our tasting, and we went home with four of their wines. Your blogger is partial to Rhone wines, and they excel at those varietals at Quivira. This was probably our favorite stop, even though we started the tasting at 10am. Hey, it was 1pm according to East Coast time.

Our final stop was down in the Russian River Valley, at the Gary Farrell winery. Where most of Sonoma is typically hot and relatively dry, the Russian River Valley has more of a maritime influence, with much cooler nights. We watched the afternoon fog roll in from the Pacific, which also impacts the overall climate.

That cooler climate means that Russian River vintners tens to specialize in Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. We tasted through the Gary Farrell range of both varietals, all while relaxing on their beautiful terrace. These are outstanding wines that are standards of their varietals.

Like every other winery, the Gary Farrell tasting room closed at 5pm. We decided to follow the Russian River down to the Pacific, and follow the coast road back to San Francisco, for the flight home. Napa might have mystique, but for wine travel, your blogger can highly recommend Sonoma County as a desirable destination.