Whether you’ve packed your summer schedule full or are looking for more things to do, Sonoma County’s got you covered. But why should Wine Country’s luxury reputation get in the way of your summer fun? This summer, experience the best of Sonoma County on a budget! Click through the gallery above for ideas. Did we miss one of your favorite free or cheap things to do this summer? Let us know in the comments!
Ciao Bruto — an Italian phrase that translates to “Hello, Ugly!” — may be an unconventional name for a wine shop, but this new Healdsburg boutique is anything but typical.
Opened just off the plaza in late May, Ciao Bruto doesn’t offer a single wine from Sonoma County or even California. Instead, it spotlights organic and biodynamic wines from northern Italy’s Piedmont region. The shop also offers artisanal Italian specialty products, such as pasta, tinned seafood, and condiments.
The store’s name is not intended as an insult, explains Ciao Bruto co-owner Thomas DeBaise, but rather a tribute to the unapologetic rusticity of the Italian wines he loves.
“When you drink Italian wine it’s the exact opposite of French wine,” he says. “French wine is constant layers of refinement, but even with the most refined Italian wines, there’s always a hard edge. That’s the most charming part.”
Located next door to the Idlewild Wines tasting room, which specializes in California wines made with northern Italian grape varieties, Ciao Bruto is co-owned by Idlewild winemaker Sam Bilbro, along with DeBiase, who serves as the winery’s head of operations, and Courtney Humiston, Idlewild’s hospitality director and the former wine director at Petit Crenn in San Francisco.
The idea for Ciao Bruto grew from the trio’s deep appreciation for Italian wines and the enthusiastic demand for Idlewild’s Sunday educational tastings, which feature Italian selections that inspire Bilbro’s own winemaking. When the space next to the tasting room happened to come up for lease, it seemed like a nudge from fate, says DeBiase.
“This was something we were dreaming about doing for years before it actually happened,” he says. “We didn’t know if the shop was going to be here in Healdsburg or maybe in San Francisco, but it ended up being literally right next door.”
The shop currently carries about 250 wines and plans to double its offerings in the next couple of months. All selections are organic or biodynamic, primarily made in small quantities by winemakers who also grow their own grapes. Piedmont is the store’s main focus, but shoppers will also find selections from other Italian regions like Sicily, as well as hard-to-find Champagnes from France.
“Even though there are a lot of wineries here in Healdsburg, and we’re one of them at Idlewild, it’s kind of a wine desert,” says DeBiase. “If you want a bottle of Champagne, where do you go? You have to drive 15 miles minimum, or you go to Safeway and get whatever’s there. And for a lot of the food products, you have to go to San Francisco to get them. So there was a thirst for this and we wanted to fill the space.”
Ciao Bruto also brings in Italian artisanal food products grown and crafted on the same estates that produce many of the store’s wines, including Caravaglio capers, Il Censo pasta, and dried chickpeas from Paolo Bea. In the next month or so, once its new refrigerators arrive, the shop will begin offering grab-and-go Italian cheeses and cured meats.
While the store currently operates exclusively as a retail business, with no in-store tastings, DeBiase hopes to eventually add wine classes, pop-up dinners, and tastings with visiting Italian winemakers.
Open 11 a.m.-6 p.m. daily. 130 Plaza St., Healdsburg. 707-756-3918, ciaobruto.com
You don’t need to travel to Texas for awesome southern barbecue, because it’s right in our backyard. Hot summer weather is the siren call for some smoked meats, potato salad and a side of sauce. Check out our gallery to discover the best barbecue joints the county has to offer for the most devout meat-lovers.
There are many excellent hotels to call home during a stay in Napa Valley. But if you’d like a taste of history to pair with your cabernet, there are a handful of properties that date as far back as the mid-1800s.
Just like the historic hotels in our Sonoma County backyard, these properties have an alluring charm in addition to all of the modern conveniences you expect during a stay in Wine Country.
Click through the above gallery for five historic Wine Country hotels in Napa Valley.
Wine may have put Sonoma County on the map, but local spirit makers are gaining a foothold in Wine Country. Over the past few years, they have impressed with carefully crafted artisan spirits, one-of-a-kind cocktails and even hand sanitizers during the pandemic.
But, despite their increasing popularity, Sonoma County’s dozen or so distilleries are still having to share the spotlight with more than 425 wineries. To encourage visitors and locals to explore the spirits scene, nine distilleries have joined forces to create the Sonoma County Distillery Pass.
“There is a quality and excellence in the spirits of Sonoma County that you don’t see most places,” said Lorraine Barber, co-owner of Barber Lee Spirits in Petaluma. “We’ve all worked with each other and learned from each other for years, so any collaboration just makes sense.”
The Sonoma County Distillery Pass comes in one-day, two-day and 90-day versions, with costs ranging from $39 to $99. After purchasing the pass online, a paperless pass is delivered via text and email and is ready to be used immediately. When arriving at a participating distillery, pass holders simply show the pass to redeem a tasting flight. At some of the participating distilleries, the pass unlocks additional discounts; at Spirit Works in Sebastopol, for example, pass holders also receive 15% off their bottle purchases.
As visitors return to Sonoma County, the distillery tasting pass still remains a bit of a secret, offering an opportunity to discover several distillery tasting rooms before the crowds do. It’s a chance to see a different Wine Country.
“The pass offers insight into Sonoma County’s robust craft distilling scene,” said Fred Groth, co-owner of Prohibition Spirits in Sonoma. “Including distilleries on a visit to Sonoma educates visitors on artisanal spirits and how we are all using local ingredients to create something exceptional.”
The Sonoma County Distillery Pass is valid at nine distilleries: Alley 6 Craft Distillery and Young & Yonder Spirits in Healdsburg; Sonoma Brothers Distillery in Windsor; Elk Fence Distillery in Santa Rosa; Barber Lee Spirits and Griffo Distillery & Tasting Bar in Petaluma; Prohibition Spirits Distillery and Hanson of Sonoma Distillery in Sonoma; and Spirit Works Distillery and Tasting Room in Sebastopol.
Tasting room hours vary from one location to the next; reservations are always a good idea, especially on weekends or if you are coming with a large group. Spirit tastings at Elk Fence Distillery and Sonoma Brothers Distilling are by appointment only.
For more information and to purchase a Sonoma County Distillery Pass, visit explore.sonomacounty.com (scroll down the page for distillery passes).
Those in the know have been flocking to Guerneville for years. With its relaxed vibe and primo Russian River landscape, the quirky locale knows how to capture the magic of summer in Sonoma County. But word of Guerneville’s charm seems to have gotten out.
In the past year, a plethora of hotels in this once sleepy town have undergone extensive renovations, attracting more visitors and upping the ante of what to expect during a stay along the river. Now, with the opening of Dawn Ranch, you can add yet another incentive to put a Guerneville getaway on the calendar.
Chances are you’ve driven by Dawn Ranch many times on your way to and from the river and coast — it is located just off Highway 116 and just steps away from the popular Guerneville taco truck.
The property dates back to 1905, when the Murphy family opened a resort with tent cabins and a dining hall here, catering to wealthy San Franciscans wanting to spend summers on the Russian River. The Murphy family sold the property in 1978 and it became Fife’s Resort, one of the first gay destination resorts in Sonoma County.
Rebranded yet again as Dawn Ranch in 2005, the property operated as a wedding venue and corporate retreat until the devastating flooding in February 2019 forced its closure.
After three years of renovations, Dawn Ranch finally reopened as a hotel in late April and began welcoming overnight guests in its 53 cabin-style accommodations.
“My desire is for people to come here and to just get lost on the property and to let themselves wander,” said Teach Mayer, General Manager at Dawn Ranch.
Along with highly sought-after access to the Russian River, the unique 15-acre property boasts a diverse natural landscape. Towering redwoods and giant bamboo canes mingle with persimmon, pear and plum trees. The apple trees in the orchard, located between the Russian River and Fife’s Creek, are believed to be about 120 years old. And then there’s the property’s namesake, a pair of rare dawn redwoods.
No one knows for sure how the cultivation of this unusual member of the redwood family occurred. Legend has it that Mrs. Murphy, one of the original owners of the resort property, allowed arborists working at Bohemian Grove to camp on her land for free sometime at the turn of the 20th century in exchange for them planting some of their saplings.
“Clearly, this did not happen just on its own,” said Mayer about the unusual redwoods and the fruit trees that grow on the property. “Will we ever know? Probably not. But I love that story and I love telling it.”
The redesigned cabins at Dawn Ranch are cozy yet beautifully modernized and come in a variety of configurations, ranging from one-room cabins with a private bathroom to bungalows with two bedrooms, two bathrooms and a full kitchen.
All rooms have natural cork or wood flooring, beds with fluffy down comforters, Frete towels, Le Labo bath toiletries, a Fellow tea kettle to make pour-over coffee and a small Smeg refrigerator. There are no televisions or phones, but there is Wi-Fi.
Amenities include yoga mats and blocks, bicycles, picnic blankets, Swarovski wildlife binoculars, sketch books and journals. Organized yoga classes are in the works and once summer is in full swing, the goal is to have kayaks and inner tubes ready for guests looking to splash in the river.
The onsite Agriculture Public House restaurant is open to guests and to the public for happy hour and dinner, Thursday through Saturday. The menu features dishes like roasted mussels with chorizo tomato broth, and beet salad topped with goat cheese and pistachios. Patio seating comes with a view of the redwood-shaded cabins but be sure to pop inside the restaurant to see the black and white property photos from years past that adorn the walls.
Rates at Dawn Ranch start at $275, plus a resort fee equivalent to 10% of the cost of a guest’s stay before taxes. Click through the above gallery for a peek at Dawn Ranch, along with some of our favorite things to do in Guerneville.
16467 California 116, Guerneville, 707-869-0656, dawnranch.com
The recent opening of Crooked Goat’s Petaluma Taproom at 110 Howard St. is big news. But wait, there’s more.
Acme Burger has taken over a former gas station on the same property with plans for a collaborative effort, providing food for the taproom and operating independently. After all, what goes better with some dank IPAs than a cheeseburger?
While Acme is under construction, food trucks like Holy Chile Mole, Reggae Rasta Styles and Jam’s Joy Bungalow will keep drinkers fed. Expect a late-summer or early-fall opening.
110 Howard St., Petaluma, crookedgoatbrewing.com
Find more quick-bite dining news at BiteClub Eats.
Is Sonoma County in the midst of a barbecue tsunami?
Maybe it’s more like a gentle wave, but we’re bracing ourselves for not only the new Everett & Jones Barbecue spot at Graton Resort and Casino later this summer, but a pop-up barbecue at Cornerstone Sonoma (23570 Arnold Drive, Sonoma) from former Horn Barbecue chef Oscar Gomez. His Primal Cuts BBQ is a weekend-only summer series from noon to 3 p.m. featuring beef brisket, turkey breast, pulled pork, housemade sausage links and other smoky goodness.
A part of the Sonoma’s Best Hospitality Group (which includes Folktable, Sonoma Cheese Factory, Cornerstone and Ramekins), Primal Cuts also can be found at Sonoma’s Tuesday Night Market (5 to 8 p.m.) and on a specialty platter at Folktable. More details at primalcutsmeats.com.
After a lengthy renovation, Sonoma’s Kivelstadt Cellars has reopened with Chef Jennifer McMurry (formerly of Dillon Beach Coastal Kitchen and Viola Restaurant) at the helm.
Located at the intersection of Highway 12 and Broadway in Schellville, just south of Sonoma, the once-rundown eatery has been transformed into a sprawling wine garden, restaurant and showcase for its namesake winery. “Hidden gem” is definitely apropos for this secret Sonoma County experience where kids can roam, dogs have their own menu and there’s a tasting lounge for lip-smacking summer sippers like KC Labs Gravignon Blanc, made with sauvignon blanc and Gravenstein apples; Sparkling Chenin Blanc (light and bubbly); and Twice Removed Rosé.
The snobbiness has been decanted from these wines, and they’re a great match for McMurry’s airy, seasonal menu with burrata and sugar snap peas ($17); peach and corn salsa ($14) that was a standout at Dillon Beach; peach and mozzarella sandwich with bacon ($19); or the weekend brunch board ($17) with avocado, egg salad, hummus and grilled toast from Santa Rosa’s Goguette bakery. Vegan sweet potato tacos dorado ($17) and a mushroom Cubano sandwich ($18) satisfy meatless diners.
Kivelstadt Cellars originally opened in February 2020 with Chef Oscar Bendeck, the executive chef of Sonoma Raceway. It closed in April for renovations. Open 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday and Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
22900 Broadway, Sonoma, 707-938-7001, kivelstadtcellars.com
Long summer days provide bonus time to get outside and enjoy the miles and miles of trails in Sonoma County. Our scenic stretch of Wine Country offers a number of parks, preserves and open spaces to roam, but if you have mobility concerns, it can sometimes be difficult to find accessible trails.
These 10 local parks feature paved, packed gravel, or compact soil ADA accessible trails. Did we miss one of your favorites? Let us know in the comments. Click through the above gallery for a peek at the parks.
The park’s main path, the Valley of the Moon trail, is paved and ADA accessible. The 1.2-mile trail stretches through the center of the park from Highway 12 to Arnold Drive. There are a handful of picnic tables and conveniently placed benches along the way in case you want to linger.
The Sonoma Valley Regional Park is open daily, 8 a.m. to sunset. Dogs are allowed on leash. Parking is $7; free for Sonoma County Regional Parks members.
13630 Highway 12, Glen Ellen, 707-539-8092, parks.sonomacounty.ca.gov
From the parking area, it’s less than a mile stroll to the beach along a paved, ADA-accessible trail that provides stunning views of the town of Gualala. Dogs are allowed on leash.
The park is open daily, 8 a.m. to sunset (6 a.m. to sunset during the summer). Bathrooms are available near the parking lot and close to the beach access. Parking is $7; free for Sonoma County Regional Parks members.
42401 Coast Highway 1, Gualala, 707-785-2377, parks.sonomacounty.ca.gov
Cloverdale River Park boasts a paved one-mile trail that runs along the banks of the Russian River. The multi-use trail is open to walkers, cyclists and equestrians. It begins at the McCray Road parking area and runs about a mile before connecting to a city trail at First Street.
Cloverdale River Park is open daily, 7 a.m. to sunset. Dogs are allowed on leash. Parking is $7; free for Sonoma County Regional Parks members.
31820 McCray Road, Cloverdale, 707-433-1625, parks.sonomacounty.ca.gov
The paved Spring Lake Loop offers an easy, but scenic trip around the lake. The popular 2.3-mile loop is wide and ADA accessible, however there are some steep grades on the loop trail at the dam locations.
Spring Lake Regional Park is open daily, 7 a.m. to sunset. There are a few restrooms located along the Spring Lake Loop. Dogs on leash are welcome. Parking is $7; free for Sonoma County Regional Parks members.
North Entrance: 393 Violetti Road, Santa Rosa. South Entrance: 5585 Newanga Avenue, Santa Rosa, 707-539-8092, parks.sonomacounty.ca.gov
Named after Joe Rodota, the first director of Sonoma County Regional Parks, this 8.5-mile paved, trail connects downtown Santa Rosa and Sebastopol. The Joe Rodota Trail and the West County Regional Trail are situated alongside land that was once the Petaluma and Santa Rosa Railway.
Open sunrise to sunset. No entrance or parking fee.
Santa Rosa and Sebastopol, 707-433-1625, parks.sonomacounty.ca.gov
The West County Regional Trail is mostly paved and stretches 5.5 miles, but only specific sections are accessible.
Starting at the parking area at the end of Sebastopol Road going west to Sebastopol, there is about a 3.5-mile accessible segment of trail. (There are a couple of road crossings without truncated domes or tactile paving, but reportedly only the Llano Road crossing presents a real challenge for mobility impaired individuals.) Accessible parking is available.
At Graton Road, there is .7 miles of accessible trail heading north, and at Ross Station Road the trail going south is accessible for about 1 mile. Accessible parking is available at both locations.
Other sections, including Occidental Road to Grey Street, are accessible but parking is not available.
Open sunrise to sunset. No entrance or parking fee.
Sebastopol, Graton and Forestville, 707-433-1625, parks.sonomacounty.ca.gov
There are three accessible trails in Armstrong Redwoods State Natural Reserve in Guerneville: the Armstrong Nature Trail, the Discovery Trail, and the Pioneer Trail. The paths consist of compacted soil. Accessible parking is located at Burbank Circle and Colonel Armstrong Tree parking areas within the park.
The park is open daily, 8 a.m. to one hour after sunset. Parking is $10; free for California Explorer Annual Pass and Golden Poppy Annual Pass holders. There is no fee to enter the park on foot or bicycle. One-day fee waivers are available for those in need of financial assistance.
17000 Armstrong Woods Road, Guerneville. 707-869-2015, parks.ca.gov, stewardscr.org
The Creekside Nature Trail runs a bit less than a half-mile along the banks of Sonoma Creek. Made of compacted aggregate, the generally flat trail has an armored crossing that can present challenges.
The Meadow Trail is a fire/service road that is described as generally accessible for about three-quarters of a mile, however loose gravel can limit accessibility for users.
The park is open daily, 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Entry fee is $10; $49 for an annual day use parking pass that’s also valid at Jack London State Historical Park.
2605 Adobe Canyon Road, Kenwood, 707-833-5712, parks.ca.gov, sugarloafpark.org
If you’re looking for a trail without crowds, the Coastal Prairie Trail is a good bet. The gravel and boardwalk trail connects the Bodega Bay Community Center and 18-foot Children’s Bell Tower honoring Nicholas Green to Keefe Avenue near Salmon Creek.
Open sunrise to sunset; parking and entrance are free.
2255 Highway 1, Bodega Bay, 707-875-3540, parks.sonomacounty.ca.gov
Stretching just shy of two miles, the Bodega Head Nature Trail in Sonoma Coast State Park is constructed of compacted aggregate and is generally flat. It boasts stellar views of the Pacific Ocean and Bodega Bay.
Open sunrise to sunset; parking and entrance are free.
3799 Westshore Road, Bodega Bay, 707-875-3483, parks.ca.gov
