We started our day with coffee and a small, but awesome, continental breakfast at our hotel. I love this place and would definitely recommend. There was an issue with a noisy heater last night and even though I felt slightly insane explaining the issue, we now have a silent space heater and I think I’ll have an even better night’s sleep tonight. The problem is that in many ways, I’m a very sound sleeper but I am super sensitive to mechanical noises. I 100% blame my medical training and many years of pagers and the need to wake up to any sort of alert.
We went into Healdsburg and had an early lunch at Taste of Tea. It’s always a solid choice. We each had an onigiri and SMS added a small poke bowl and miso soup to his meal.
Our first winery of the day was Flowers. This was a great tasting! We started with a rose that was crisp and mineral-y. Not too sweet and really quite nice. We followed with a Chardonnay that had a bit of buttery oak notes, but a hint and not an overpowering amount. Next, we had a side by side comparison of a coastal Pinot and valley Pinot. The former was a little darker and intense, while the valley was lighter and easy drinking. The tasting was accompanied by the most delicious snack plate with carrot hummus, orange and coriander marinated Castelvetrano olives, candy cap mushroom shortbread (amazing), herby cheese curds, taro chips, breadsticks, and Marconi almonds. Yum!
On the way out, we took a picture in the hollowed out tree trunk. As we headed to our second stop, we stopped at the cutest little honey stand.
And it was so much more than honey! We ended up buying a small honey jar, fingerling limes, dried persimmons, and fig jam. I think it will all be delicious!
Our second stop was Aperture. It was a beautiful setting and we had a nice experience but the wines didn’t quite do it for me. It’s ok though! Plenty of other people like it based on the huge pickups people made while we were there. So a lot of people like it, but it wasn’t our style. Maybe we’re just not the Bordeaux style kind.
After wineries, we went to Beth’s AirBnB for leftover Thanksgiving dinner because that’s definitely what I needed. Lol. It’s nice to have leftovers but at this point, I think I’m good on Thanksgiving food for at least a year. We said our goodbyes since they’re leaving tomorrow. I think we’ll head to the coast for a hike.
Wow what a gorgeous day. Cold, but sunny is so perfect this time of year 🙂 (Also, which hotel did you stay at? I am curious!)
I’m going to write about it but Highwoods Resort. It’s amazing. 2-3 people per cabin and not very expensive. It’s rated as 2 stars but seems way nicer than that. And the people working there are so nice.
The light over the field and vineyard is so special. Looks like a fantastic day.
What a wonderful day! I love Flowers Chardonnay, but haven’t tried any of the others.