A Visit to Healdsburg

By Paul Franson

From what was once a quiet farm town, Healdsburg has evolved into Sonoma County's prime upscale tourist destination. Where the downtown once boasted hardware and furniture stores and clothing shops, almost all of the retailers there today sell chic versions of these products – plus art -- and the town includes some of Wine Country's most acclaimed restaurants and lodgings.

At first look, downtown Healdsburg looks a lot like Sonoma: it's an attractive town surrounding a lovely plaza. You'll soon notice, however, that its plaza is much smaller, and rather than dating to the Catholic missionaries, it was donated to the town by its founder, Harmon Heald i n 1857.

Heald dedicated the acre of land for a village green, a town square and a community plaza. It doesn't contain any buildings like Sonoma's, just an old gazebo which is now being replaced. The village green is now known as Plaza Park, and it remains the heart of Healdsburg. It is the site for many festivals and fairs as well as being a favorite place for residents to relax.

Surrounding the plaza and extending down side streets are many stores, restaurants, inns – and seemingly innumerable winetasting venues. Actually, there are only about 20 – plus the Bear Republic Brewing Co., home of excellent microbrews and hearty pub grub.

The concentration of winery tasting rooms results not only from Healdsburg's popularity with visitors, but also the town's being the center of where three major wine regions converge. The Russian River Valley, Dry Creek Valley and Alexander valley radiate from the town, and many wineries that can't or don't have their own tasting rooms have tasting facilities in Healdsburg.

Most of the buildings surrounding the Healdsburg plaza have been there a long time, and contribute to its charm and beauty. On the west side, however, lies the relatively new Hotel Healdsburg, a first-class modern inn that also hosts Charlie Palmer's Dry Creek Kitchen, one of the area's top restaurants. Though modern, the hotel complements the rest of the square, and fills what was long an ugly emptiness.

Also on the plaza is the fancy Inn on the Plaza, and only a block or so away are the luxury Les Mars Hotel and Duchamp Hotel. Many other hotels and inns offer accommodations in Healdsburg, from the modest L&M Motel and a Best Western to luxurious B&Bs. There are also a few spas.

Once in Healdsburg, the prime attractions are shopping, eating and wine tasting. The shops sell mostly luxury and designer goods; the Healdsburg visitors' bureau kindly provides a map that highlights the shops (as well as another showing the restaurants and winetasting locations), but it's easy to find all within a few blocks around the square. That's one of the big attractions of staying downtown, of course, for it's easy to walk everywhere in this compact town.

One of the most interesting shops is Seasons of the Vineyard, which is owned by Rhonda Carano of Ferrari-Carano Winery, who personally helps select the attractive merchandise.

Art is another big attraction in Healdsburg, which may have more art galleries per capita than any town outside Carmel. More than a dozen grace downtown, many offering fine art, others more popular creations. Many wine tasting locations and restaurants feature de facto galleries as well.

Of course, almost everyone who visits Healdsburg enjoys tasting wine. Though there are a hundred wineries within a few miles, it's very tempting to start your winetasting around the Healdsburg plaza. Notable sites include Gallo's only tasting room – you can't visit the huge nearby winery itself unless you're in the trade or attending a special function. There is also a tasting room for the large Kendall-Jackson Winery.

Other than those, the best bet is probably to just wander around, following you fancy. Some to note are funky Toad Hollow, which doesn't take itself too seriously, Jess Jackson and Barbara Banke's La Crema Winery and Rosenblum Cellars, which makes wine from the nearby vineyards at its winery on Alameda Island in San Francisco Bay.

It should be noted that Healdsburg also has wine bars and establishments that pour wines from a variety of wineries as well as those that are run by single wine companies. Most restaurants offer extensive selections of wines-by-the-glass both with their meals and at their bars, and most naturally focus on local wines. This appropriate chauvinism – “Why drink Napa wines when you're visiting Sonoma?” – extends to the Dry Creek Kitchen restaurant, which doesn't charge corkage on local wines.

And speaking of food, no one should go hungry in Healdsburg – unless they forget their credit cards. Even then, some eateries serve inexpensive food to locals, notably those specializing in pizza, burgers, Mexican and Chinese food.

Plaza Farms is an interesting venue that combines shops specializing in local goods with winetasting and an Italian deli. Other lunchtime favorites include delis like the Oakville Grocery, popular Willi's Seafood & Raw Bar, and modest French cafés like Restaurant Charcuterie or Costeaux French Bakery & Café.

For dinner, Cena Luna Italian restaurant and Manzanita are local favorites, or you can move upscale to Bistro Ralph, the Dry Creek Kitchen or even to Cyrus, a restaurant often compared to the famed French Laundry in Napa Valley.

Wherever you want to dine, however, be sure to make reservations. Your concierge can probably help, but if you want to eat at Cyrus, be sure to plan ahead – or stay at the hosting Les Mars Hotel.

And don't forget that there's plenty to see on the outskirts of Healdsburg, too. The most obvious is the 100 plus wineries within a few miles, and the historic Simi Winery just north of downtown is certainly a prime attraction. Be sure to take the tour of the 125-year-old winery before tasting the wines.

One great way to visit nearby wineries is by bicycle—just don't taste too many wines! You can see a good bit of Dry Creek Valley and its comfortable wineries within only 12 miles, or tour the whole 25-mile valley. There's only one store in the valley, but it's a perfect stop for lunch. Likewise, canoeing and kayaking is popular on the Russian River, which passes through south Healdsburg. There are also plenty of places nearby to hike.

A visit to Healdsburg will quickly demonstrate why it's become one of wine country's favorite destinations. You can see a lot in a day, but you could easily spend a week enjoying all of its pleasures.