Fun things to do in Healdsburg

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Our friend Karen took us to this beautiful winery and we took a short tour of the shop and then decided on a bottle of Zinfandel 2003, it cost a hefty $US 24 (which is high compared to a similar wine in Israel), but was worth it when we enjoyed it over a picnic lunch that Karen had packed for us at home.

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The hardest thing about our 2 days in the California Wine Country is to try and decide which wineries we wanted to stop by and visit and what else we could fit in. We didn't want to drive ourselves crazy going from winery to winery and attraction to attraction so it took plenty of pre-planning to at least assemble some semblance of order. Not that we were going to follow all of our plan, but at least it gave us a logistical way to cover as much ground as we could in our only two days in the area.

I had checked the weather forecast starting 10 days ahead of time and although it looked favorable, I was just a little worried. When we arrived in San Francisco a mere 33 hours before in a light rain after having been delayed at O'Hare in Chicago for 90 minutes we were getting a little worried. And then on Sunday morning into the early afternoon the gray skies and some light and heavy rain continued. However, late in the afternoon as we were finishing our brief tour of Sausalito and started heading up to Healdsburg, the rain departed. We woke up that Monday morning to an absolutely gorgeous day of sunshine and weather in the upper 60's, lower 70's predicted. My PERFECT type of weather.

We chose Ferrari-Carano as the first winery to visit based upon a recommendation from my server and wine buyer from my favorite restaurant in Moorhead, Minnesota. I had eaten at the restaurant where he worked in September and asked him to give me a few suggestions. This one was at the top of his list. And after visiting I could see why.

We started out just after 10:00 a.m. from our hotel and had a nice little ride in the country for about 15 minutes. I was surprised I only stopped for one picture along the way. I was tempted to take many more, but figured we would get a chance to work those digital cameras and camcorder once we arrived.

We found the winery with no problem as like a lot of wineries it is just off one of the main roads. Since it was fairly early in the day and a week or so past the rush of all the tourist and real serious wine folk there were only a few cars in the parking lot.

Before we even arrived at the house itself, we entered the area to the right where they have a very nice garden area to walk through. We got a little kick out of the gentlemen in the garden tending to the weeds. He was a little older then us, but must have been working 10 times slower. I have included the pictures from the garden area in a separate travelogue for Healdsburg.

More to come.

They are open 7 days a week, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Enoteca open 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., excluding major holidays.

We were in the Healdsburg main street/park area around 5pm on a Tuesday afternoon. There was a small farmers market happening while we were there. We bought some local peaches and enjoyed them in the park before moving on. Once again a very relaxed atmosphere.

About half an hour drive or so west from Healdsburg was one of the main attractions of the area for us. We were very keen to see the massive Redwood trees and we weren't disappointed. They kept going up and up and up. Lovely relaxed area. Free to park and walk in. Easy walks within although there were more challenging trails for those with time and energy. You could drive in but that cost money and there was a nice little souvenier shop/visitors centre at the entrance. We spent 2-3 hours here but could have seen some sights in less than half an hour or had an entire day.

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I wasn't too interested in stopping by this place but I thought I'd give it a chance. I should have followed my immediate instincts. This place is owned by the actor, Raymond Burr, who has been in some television shows such as Perry Mason and Ironside. The wine is mediocre. There is so much better wine in this region that unless you want to check out all the Raymond Burr memorabilia, you should skip this one.

Opened Daily 11am-5pm

Kendall Jackson consistantly makes great wine. But sometimes you can't get those special varietals in your local supermarket so it's worthwhile to check out the tasting room. I know I've said this before but I'll post it again here because it's relative - we usually just drink red wine. But in this tasting room we sampled some Grand Reserve Chardonnay and you know what? It was fantastic! Bought a couple bottles. I plan to give a bottle to my boss for his next birthday. He likes the Chardonnays and I'm sure he'll be pleased with this one.

Open daily 10am to 5pm in Healdsburg Square.

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The setting is not too idyllic like some of the wineries in this area. And if you run out of ideas on where to stop, then stop here. The wine is okay. I wouldn't buy it to haul home as it's available in our local grocery and wine stores.

Opened daily 10:30am-4:30pm.

What can I say, elegant tasting room but nothing special about their wines. We even tasted a Pinot Reserve that just didn't do anything for us. I like that you can select your own wine flight for the cost of the tasting. But other than that I would have prefered to have something else. So, you're in Healdsburg Square - go to Souverain's, La Crema's and Rosemblum Celler's tasting rooms instead.

Opened daily 11am-7pm Healdsburg Square.