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Monday: Healdsburg, Sonoma County

When I picked a B&B in Healdsburg (which is the north end of Sonoma), I didn't even realize what a cool little city it is. In Napa, you have big wineries lining Rte 29, which means driving. In downtown Healdsburg there are a ton of winery tasting rooms all within walking distance of our inn. So, we spent all day Monday on foot and visited several:

• Seghesio - Mostly known for their Zinfandel's, they also had a nice Pinot Noir, and a white they called "Arneis" which we liked.
• Thumbprint Cellars - Definitely the coolest tasting room lounge in Healdsburg. It looks like a trendy martini bar working a day job. The guy we spoke with had lived in Portland (Maine) and asked if the Friendly Toast was still in Portsmouth (and if he lived there now, I'm sure he would hang at the Red Door). We liked their Carignane Rouge, Cabernet Sauvignon and Viognier and joined their wine club since its the only way for us to get their wines, and it was pretty reasonably priced.
• Suncé - The Thumbprint guys suggest we visit Sunce, which is a little off the beaten path down a side street. Along with Thumbprint, we found this to be one of the most friendly places we visited. We enjoyed the Late Harvest Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Barbera (which was unlike anything I had tasted before).
• Sandwiches from Oakville Grocery (considerably less crazy than the one in Napa).
• Rosenblum - Honestly by this point we were a little tired of tasting, especially Zins, which Rosenblum seems to focus on, so we skipped right to the Chocolate Zinfandel Port which everyone in the tasting room was clamoring for. They actually added "chocolate essence" to the port. Very different, not really a nice standalone sipping port, but great with a chocolately dessert.
• Selby Winery - Another one the Thumbprint guys told us to visit, but alas, it was late in the day. Notable at Selby were the 5 or 6 letters from the White House Head Usher informing them that Selby was served at this-or-that function to the President and so-and-so dignitary, along with a menu. Pretty neat. If it's good enough for the President... wait, Is the head usher a political appointee, or does he actually know what he's doing? We liked their Pinot Noir, but that was about all we could muster. I probably would have liked more earlier in the day

All in all, we did a lot of tasting and felt like we got try some great wines we would never have access to otherwise. And we were still able to walk home, although we stopped at Flying Goat Coffee on the way for a cookie and shot of caffeine.

For dinner we ate at Zin (also walking distance). We first stopped in at Cyrus again for a drink at the bar. Scott Beattie (see below), was behind the bar. I told him we came all the way from NH for his cocktails -- although my wife says I sounded too much like a stalker -- but I figure a guy gets national press he wants to know people read it. I had a gin martini of his suggestion (Millers gin) and the wife had another Iranian Jaya (the one with chile peppers). One other thing we noted: Every single member of the waitstaff who came into the bar recognized us and took the time to say something or welcome us back. It reminded us how excellent the service had been the previous night, and we were very impressed that even staff who hadn't actually served us recognized us.

With only time to quickly down one cocktail, we stumbled over to Zin for dinner, where their signature appetizer of deep fried green beans with mango-cilantro dipping sauce was a real treat. I don't know why McDonalds isn't serving these instead of fries.