I took a brief break from writing about Costa Rica over the last weekend to venture out and indulge in some backyard travel, playing tourist in Healdsburg, the town I grew up in. Of course when I was growing up in Healdsburg the town was vastly different than it is now.
The agenda was simple: Healdsburg wine tasting and then to Spoon
Bar afterwards for some light fare and cocktails. I was able to twist my mom’s arm to join me
in my wine tasting aventura and splashing through the puddles on a rainy day.
PEZZI KING
$5
Tasting Fee, waived if you buy a bottle of their wine.
Pezzi King was high on my list with memories of their
buttery chardonnay, so we went there first, walking a few blocks in the rain towards
Healdsburg’s Memorial Bridge to get there.
We started with the Sauvignon Blanc which was referred to as
“Tropical”, a welcomed word on such a rainy California day a mere two weeks
since returning from the legitimate tropical paradise of Costa Rica. We then had the Chardonnay. It had some buttery hints but was
disappointing compared to my memory of the Chardonnay I had years ago.
It turns out Jim and his wife sold the winery and
moved. I had some brief interaction with
Jim years ago and he made a lasting impression of kindness on me, plus their
Chardonnay was lovely. I was sad to
hear they no longer owned the winery. It
was even more disappointing to hear it had been bought by Wilson Winery, which
I have unfortunately heard sordid rumors about here and there never knowing
whether they were true or not but disliking the possibility.
Moving along to the reds we tried a Cabernet Sauvignon that
was lighter than most Cabernets, and several Zinfandels, which were all good.
Alexandra was the Tasting Room employee attentively pouring
for us that day and we chatted about travel, food, wine, jewelry and the uneven
wood table that gives some inebriated visitors pause.
She was the second person in recent weeks to
tell me they did not like Malta, which is surprising because so many people
don’t even know where it is let alone go there. We let her explain before telling
her we were Maltese. She was immediately
apologetic but unnecessarily so. It was
interesting to hear why she was disappointed.
As it turns out, she had gone there thinking she was going for a
tropical vacation in April and was disappointed at the lack of sandy beaches
(this is true) and that it is a “rock” (also true) without much vegetation. Once she found out we were from there, rapid
back-peddling ensued and she rushed to add that the people were really
wonderful and nice there. I thought it
was a bit funny. Malta is not known for
sandy beaches or tropical weather (you’ve got the wrong island if you are
thinking that!) but is known for many other wonderful things.
We had a chance to tell her about how Malta has some of the
world’s oldest ruins and the festivals in summer which include crazy ground
fireworks. This sparked a conversation
about various firework festivals in the world and I could feel the enthusiasm
building inside of me to do something spontaneous – like go travel to all of
the craziest fireworks in the world just for a little excitement.
Alexandra was interesting to speak with mostly because of
her travels but also in regards to jewelry.
Compliments exchanged on everyone’s rings inspired her to show us a
necklace one of her friends made that was in the shape of the molecular
structure of resveratrol, an antioxidant compound found in wine that is
beneficial for your heart and to your health and that some also believe has
anti-aging properties.
SAPPHIRE HILL
$10
Tasting Fee, waived if you buy a bottle of their wine.
We had to walk only about 30 feet to get to the next tasting
room, Sapphire Hill. There are 7 Tasting
Rooms all in the same area right next door to each other and one across the
street.
In the tasting room that day was Mary, and she started with
the Russian River Valley Chardonnay’s and said, “One is more………….tropical.”
“Everybody keeps saying tropical. Sign me up!” I said immediately ensnared by
visions of Costa Rican beaches and jungle.
Both were drinkable and the Reserve was definitely better
but neither one was astonishing.
We quickly moved on to the reds. The Russian River Valley Pinot Noirs were
also good but not impressive, but the rest of the reds we tried were, including
the Cinque Gemma, Red Cuvee.
Part of that is due to the brownie Mary brought out for us
to try with one of their Zinfandels. It
was actually a chocolate molten cake with a red raspberry jalapeño jam baked in
and homemade salted caramel sauce. It
was paired with their Zafira Zinfandel,
Rockpile Blend and wow! What an
incredible pairing!
(I took the picture of the clock for a certain friend of
mine in honor of the brownie fiasco in Costa Rica.)
We also tried a chocolate wine called Samocha that was the bomb.
My mom signed up for the Wine Club landing us some excellent
deals on the wines we bought.
Loaded up with goods (2 Tasting Rooms ended up equaling 7
bottles of wine), we went across the street to take a look at the Russian River
filling up from all of the rain.
After snapping a few photos, we made our way back, passing
by Davis Family Vineyards and their fun statue.
One of the first things you notice about Spoon Bar is its unique
waterfall sculpture made of spoons. As
we walked in we were greeted by a young hipster looking woman with red hair who
was quite sweet and helpful. We wanted
to sit in the back on the comfy couches and she gave us the tip to go to the
bar and order our drinks there to be brought to us rather than ordering them in
the lounge area to shorten the time it would take to get our drinks.
Apparently, my mom had encountered the slow drink issue on a
previous visit provoking a complaint from the person she was with. For a place like that, they should really
work out whatever service issue they have regarding drinks, especially in light
of their array of delicious cocktails on the menu.
I ordered the drinks at the bar, a Dark and Stormy for me in
honor of the kind of California day it was (Bacardi 8 year, Mount Gay Black
Barrel, Charbay Vanilla, Lime, House Ginger Beer) and a Cranberry Hibiscus
Margarita (Frida Blanco Tequila, Cranberry-Hibiscus Cordial, Lime, Orange,
Creole Bitters) for her, then made my way to the comfy lounge area. We chatted with a nice couple visiting from
San Francisco while ordering a couple of appetizers and enjoying our
cocktails. The beet boudin was the
better of the two but don’t worry – it had nothing to do with blood sausage!
After the couple left, three more people from New Jersey and
San Jose sat down and we chatted with them as though we had traveled far more
than the 3 or 4 blocks to get there than we had. The cocktail they were having was one I had
thought about ordering initially before settling on the Dark and Stormy.
I decided I had to try the Jalapeño Business Cocktail (Charbay Raspberry Vodka, Loganberry,
Lemon, Ginger, Raspberry-Jalapeño Foam).
It was so good, another was ordered to share. We also got a vegetable dish with broccolini
and a surprisingly tasty sauce made of prunes.
For dessert we, okay……… I ordered the Tropical fruit tart
(Caramelized pineapple, kiwi chips, young coconut, passion fruit, ginger crème fraiche).
Favourites of the
day:
·
Pezzi King Winery – Row 22 Reserve Zinfandel
·
Sapphire Hill Winery – Samocha
·
Spoon Bar – Jalapeño Business cocktail
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