Category: Food + Drink

Top 100 Wines: Introduction

Sonoma can grow just about any wine grape — And does. With its incomparable range of wine types and styles, There’s no reason to look elsewhere for a great bottle. Here are our favorites from 2015, each one Sonoma-grown. by Linda Murphy with Virginie Boone Wine tasting is no different than movie watching. Neither is […]

Top 100 Wines: Methodology

Methodology: It’s a tough job. Really. With more than 400 Sonoma wineries producing thousands of different bottlings each year, how did we settle on 2015’s best? It took lots of tasting, and retasting, and assistance from the judges at The Press Democrat 2015 North Coast Wine Challenge, to come up with 100 great wines sure to please all palates and […]

Top 100 Wines: Sauvignon Blanc

Dry Creek Vineyard 2014 Sonoma County Fumé Blanc $14 Its oh-so-friendly price and wide availability belies its greatness. When young, this Sauvignon Blanc has effusive floral, citrus and fennel aromas, succulent lemon-lime, grapefruit and pleasantly grassy flavors, with a lingering finish. With age, it becomes a multidimensional wonder. (LM) Gary Farrell Vineyards & Winery 2014 Russian River Selection Russian River Valley Sauvignon […]

Where to Eat Right Now: November 2015

Sonoma offers a wealth of great dining options, but where to eat now — as in, right now? These eateries offer haute to casual cuisine and everything in between. Amy’s Kitchen The “healthy” fast-food alternative created by Andy and Rachel Berliner of frozen-food giant Amy’s Kitchen is focused on an all-vegetarian (plus vegan and gluten-free) menu […]
Photo by Erik Castro

New Coffee Sensation: Phin Bar

After moving from San Francisco to Santa Rosa last year, Hoang Cao and Paula Cruz-Cao couldn’t find the strong iced coffee drinks they craved. They experimented with brewing Vietnamese iced coffee at home, and Hoang, who is first-generation Vietnamese-American, was struck by inspiration: Why not make condensed milk instead of using canned? No surprise, the […]
Solbar Wine

2016 Michelin Star San Francisco Bay Area announcements

The 2016 Michelin Stars for the Bay Area have been announced. While there have been many additions and cuts from the list in the Bay Area, the wine country has big news: we’re safe. All wine country restaurants kept their stars. The wine county restaurants with Michelin Stars are: Three Stars: French Laundry and The […]

Sonoma’s Best Fall Hard Ciders

  Sonoma County is known primarily for its wine, but it also has a ripe history of orchards. As early as ten years ago, a drive through the county’s orchards would’ve resulted in not-so-attractive photos of apples rotting on the ground. These days, the orchards have been rejuvenated through ciderists making popular hard ciders. Check […]