I am really stessing over this. We are visiting our son in SF at the end of October and want to go to Sonoma for the day. We love Guy Fieri so we want to have lunch at his restaurant in Santa Rosa, but that's about as concrete as our plans are so far. I was thinking we might be able to get to one winery before lunch and then head to Healdsburg for a few hours of walking around so we don't have to drink and drive so much. We've been to Francis Ford Coppola's when it was in Napa and like their wine, so we'd kinda like to stop there. We prefer whites. We were thinking about going to Michael Chiarello's restaurant in Yountville for dinner before heading back to SF. Get some food in our tummies before the long drive back.

First, does this sound at all reasonable. Second,any winery suggestions?

Thanks

PS - we would also like to do an olive oil tasting, we enjoyed that in Napa on our last visit.

The Jaccuzzi Family Winery south on Sonoma, Ithink it is on Highway 121 has some interesting white wines, Chards, Sav. Blanc and some Italian blends and they also press their own olives and have oils available for tasting at the winery. Also, B.R. Cohn just north of Sonoma on Highway 12 does olive oil as well.
J Winery just outside Healdsburg makes great sparkling wines and also excellent Pinot Gris and Chardonnay. Another good Chad winery is Ferrari-Carano in the Dry Creek Valley north of Healdsburg. Also Mazzocco on Lyton Springs Road north of Healdsburg has good Chardonnays as well.

Although I like Jacuzzi & B.R. Cohn, they are logistically way, way out of your way for a day trip that you are centering around Santa Rosa & Healdsburg. I like boom_boom picks near Healdsburg.

A few of my favorites in your chosen area are Martin-Ray, also home to the Angeline and Courtney Benham labels.
Hook & Ladder makes a great Reserve Chardonnay called "Third Alarm". The Family Wineries in the Dry Creek Valley area are a collective of six wineries producing small lots that would be fun to visit. Rochioli over on Westside Rd.still produces my favorite sauvignon blanc in a very scenic setting.

A great resource for maps and wineries of the area
can be found at www.wineroad.com

The drive over to Napa Valley seems a bit out of the way when there are fabulous restarants in Healdsburg
and a few gems in Santa Rosa. It will be dark by 7:45P
and the roads to and from NV are windy, 2 lane roads.
Will you have a designated driver after diner ?

R5

Much as I love Napa Valley and all the great restaurants, I think you'd probably have a more relaxed time if you had dinner in Healdsburg. Many Fodorites have restaurant recommendations for that area. The wineries in that area are spread out all over the place and involve lots of driving (as opposed to Napa Valley which is smaller and more contained). If you do decide to head to Napa, it will be about an hour and 20 min. drive on the windy road from Healdsburg to Yountville.

Thanks everyone for your input. Here is the itenerary I've come up with. Is it too much?


Jacuzzi to Gloria Ferrer to BR Cohn, then Johnny Garlics in Santa Rosa for a late lunch, Ferrari-Carano then end the day in Healdsburg to visit the wineries in town. I plan to have a leisurely dinner, drinking water, before the drive back to SF. I haven't started looking at the restaurant suggestions yet.


I'll write a review when we get back.


Thanks for your help!!! Any comments on the itenerary would be appreciated since I don't know the area. I figured 30-45 mins per winery, is that about right if your not taking a tour?

I was wrong about the sunset time-it's 7:14 PM and it's
D-A-R-K here in Sonoma County. I think your itinerary is fine so far. It will be a very pretty drive from Jacuzzi & Gloria Ferrar to BR Cohn through the Valley of the Moon, then up Hwy 12 over to Montgomery Village where Johnny Garlic's is.

Do know there is construction on Hwy 101 north at Steele Lane
north of Hwy 12 in Santa Rosa that continues up into Windsor.
They are widening 101 from the middle so you will be driving through imposed lane changes rimmed by those white
concrete barriers. Don't leave Johnny Garlics much after 3 PM and allow your self at least 30-45 extra minutes to get up to Carano.Just keep your wits about you and you will be OK.

If you want to take the back roads/scenic route from Santa Rosa up to the Healdsburg area, I can give you directions, but it will make a visit to Ferrari- Carano a long haul.
Any other winery interest you on the Eastside or Westside
Roads ? Look at the maps on wineroad.com

R5

101 doesn't sound like much fun! I didn't think I should add more wineries to the list, I thought I was kinda pushing it with the closing time of 5:00 at most of them. My thoughts were to get to Healdsburg where we could walk instead of drive. Ferrari-Carano looks really pretty on the website, but I could skip it if that's advised due to timing and road construction. We are big fans of the Food Network and love Guy, so that's why Johnny Garlic's is also a must. I think the first 3 wineries will probably have a lot of the white wines and olive oils that we are looking for also.
Sometimes I wish I was the type that could just get in the car and see what happens, but I MUST plan!
Thank goodness there are friendly experts to help guide me!
Thanks

I know that there are many restaurant recommendations for this area but, to throw in my 5 cents worth, we had dinners at Dry Creek Kitchen and Cena Luna in Healdsberg a few weeks ago, and both were excellent. Of the two, we preferred Dry Creek Kitchen. Watching the servers decanting each bottle of red wine and "veneering" the wine glasses with a dribble of the wine from the bottle was a new experience for us.

Rob.

Hey bmaring, Here's a route for you to research:
Take Hwy 12 West from Santa Rosa into Sebastopol. Turn right onto Hwy 116,
also called the Gravenstein Hwy, and head north to Mirabel Rd.
Turn right on Mirabel and head to River Rd. At River
Rd turn right and take the next left on to Wohler Rd.
Follow Wohler to a "Y" in the road and vear left to continue on Wohler to the Wohler Bridge which crosses the Russian River.
After you cross the Wohler Bridge, turn right onto Westside Rd.and this will take you into Healdsburg's central square.

This route is very, very scenic and has many wineries
to visit along the way. Use your super planning skills to find this route at mapquest or google and research the wineries in the Russian River Valley area at wineroad.com

Have fun with it !

R5

I have never been a fan of 101, but the worst of it is usually south of Santa Rosa. Healdsburg is a nice little town for walking around, but I don't recall any wineries you could visit that are within walking distance. Perhaps you'd want to keep with your plan but stay in the Sonoma Valley after lunch.

Wow R5 you're really trying to freak out my Garmin! I can just hear her now "RECALCULATING!" After a while it sounds like she's getting mad at you. LOL
elnap29, according to the wineroad website there are several wine tasting rooms in dt Healdsburg. I hope someone will let me know if I'm wrong here.
Thanks bunches,
Bonnie

You reminded me, elnap, that there is also some construction
around Rohnert Park, but the major event for the next few months is from north of the Hwy 12 junction all the way north to Windsor.

Bonnie-Here's a map showing all the wine tasting rooms
(store-fronts) that have a prescence on the square in Healdsburg.

http://www.wineroad.com/maps/3/

I would toss your Garmin for my "scenic route". These little compu machines will get you lost on the backroads or take you
the long way around using only major roads. Not always true, but more often than not around Sonoma County, IME.

Get your hands on a real paper map such as the ones made by Compass Maps
www.compass-maps.com
Their street map for Sonoma County is excellent.
I'll send you mine, if you like. I think it would make your life alot easier and it won't yell at you !


R5

I actually have the wineroad map. It's been a great help. I'm usually really good with putting maps together and visualizing areas, but I'm really having a hard time with Sonoma for some reason. The various small maps just aren't clicking together for me just yet. But I've been really busy at work and haven't been able to focus.
I'd love to travel the scenic route so a good map would be really helpful. I've looked for a map to order online a couple of times, but haven't had any luck.

Hey bonnie-

http://www.compass-maps.com/street_a.../santarosa.htm

R5

We were in Santa Rosa in March staying with friends. We went to a few wineries. Ferrari-Carano is beautiful. We also liked Pellegrini for the wine. The wine tasting is cheaper in Sonoma Valley than Napa Valley. Napa has become very expensive.