Page 202 – Sonoma Magazine

A Day with Andrew Akufo, Founder of New Sonoma Fashion Brand Gapelii

November 2020

By Matt Villano

Andrew Akufo, and business partner Toja Hodge, have launched the fashion line Gapelii Brand, which is an acronym for Growth, Ambition, Prosperity, Elevate, Lifestyle, Innovation, and Influence. (Christopher Chung/ The Press Democrat)

It’s always been about art and design for Andrew Akufo.

One year after graduating from the University of Central Oklahoma with a bachelor’s degree in fine arts, he moved from his hometown of Oklahoma City to New Mexico to pursue a career in arts administration. He soon found a job as the head of a local cultural organization there. And five years later, he moved to Sonoma County to take over as the first executive director of the Healdsburg Center for the Arts.

During his tenure in Healdsburg, Akufo reconnected with Toja Hodge, a friend from New Mexico, and the two started talking about launching a new luxury fashion brand. They wanted the brand to be fashion-forward. They also wanted it to help create Black wealth—for themselves and for others in their respective Black communities.

So the duo joined forces and created Gapelii Brand (pronounced jap-el-lee). The name is an acronym for growth, ambition, prosperity, elevate, lifestyle, innovation, and influence.

The brand launched in August 2019. Since then, despite the pandemic, it has expanded its inventory to include t-shirts, hats, denim jackets, shoes, infant onesies, zip-up hoodies, and a women’s collection. The company also sells branded face masks.

Philanthropy is a big part of the Gapelii Brand mission; Akufo and Hodge give 10% of all proceeds to nonprofit organizations and local families who have been affected by Covid-19.

Pride is another driving force for the 31-year-old Christian. “The widely publicized deaths of African Americans such as George Floyd and Breonna Taylor have shone a spotlight on America and society’s need to support not only Black Lives Matter, but also Black businesses such as our own,” Akufo says. “I consider my current position a blessing.”

While Hodge designs the merchandise, Akufo manages operations and handles production, marketing, and customer service from his apartment in Santa Rosa.

Here’s how Andrew Akufo spends a day.

Morning

7 a.m.

I start my day by checking and responding to messages and notifications on social media. I finally get out of bed around 8 a.m., open the blinds, pray, and read chapters in my 365-day Bible lesson plan.

9 a.m.

I listen to YouTube playback videos of sports talk shows such as Undisputed with Skip and Shannon, First Take, and Jalen & Jacoby during my home workout. Around 9:30 a.m., I conduct meetings on Zoom and do a virtual interview with a Bay Area news reporter about our business.

10 a.m.

I have a brief phone call with my business partner to discuss product samples, customer questions, new promotional opportunities, and forgotten passwords. I usually eat breakfast around 11 a.m.

12 p.m.

This is my errand time- taking out the trash and recycling, checking the mailbox, and grocery shopping.

Afternoon

2 p.m.

In the afternoon I schedule social media advertising posts for Gapelii Brand on Facebook, and share posts on LinkedIn and Twitter. I also conduct Zoom meetings with my small business coach/advisor, Lance Cotrell.

4 p.m.

I follow up with photographers, models, and venues about upcoming photo shoots in Sonoma County, New Mexico, and Oklahoma. One of my favorite spots to shoot locally is Goat Rock Beach, near Jenner.

6 p.m.

This is when I check daily traffic and customer data on Gapelii Brand’s online marketplace, and review reports on subscriptions to our digital newsletter through Mailchimp. I update information on the website, add photos to our online gallery, and ensure all links and videos work.

Evening

7 p.m.

I’m winding down for the day. I review and select photos from previous photo shoots for editing and promotion. I follow-up with Toja about potential new products, supplier options, and sales in New Mexico. We also discuss new collaborations and the overall progress of shipments.

8 p.m.

I take a shower, eat dinner, and wash the dishes. I also research civil rights and social service organizations that serve families impacted by Covid-19 to receive Gapelii Brand contributions.

11 p.m.

Time to end my day. I brush my teeth, take vitamins, open the windows, pray, watch random videos on Instagram and YouTube, troll my friends on social media, and finally go to bed.

‘One Thing After Another:’ Santa Rosa Woman Helps Uninsured Residents During Pandemic

November 2020

By Megan McCrea

Yudith Vargas Dominguez is the Associate Director of Nursing at Santa Rosa Community Health. (Christopher Chung / The Press Democrat)

Long before she got her nursing degree, or even her driver’s license, Yudith Vargas was logging hours at Santa Rosa Community Health.

“I started volunteering at 14, stuffing letters, numbering charts — essentially, anything that needed to be done.”

Fast forward to 2020, and Vargas is back at SRCH, the health provider for some 50,000 uninsured and underinsured Santa Rosa residents, as the clinic’s associate director of nursing. When the pandemic hit, she pivoted from an administrative role to the front lines, running a Covid testing site and doing outreach.

Vargas and her colleagues soon noticed two disturbing trends: cases in Sonoma County were skyrocketing, and the Latinx community was hit hard, accounting for 75% of cases, despite comprising only about 27% of the population. “As we started seeing those community numbers, and ourselves reflected in them, that really had an impact on us,” Vargas says.

In the excerpts below, read some of Yudith Vargas thoughts on the Covid-19 situation in Sonoma County.

One thing after another

We’re definitely seeing our community struggling with the social determinants of health: financial stability, housing stability. When you look at somebody who may be new to this country, they’re forced, because of the high cost of living, into larger households. Also, our Latinx population sometimes doesn’t have the same benefits, whether because they’re working undocumented, or they have employers who don’t follow the law to provide sick leave. And if you’re diagnosed with Covid, you’re literally in isolation. So what incentive is there for people to stay home, with these things working against them? They’re isolated from those they love, losing income, and they might not know what they’re gonna eat the next day. It just feels like one thing after another, playing against our Latinx population.

The roots of medicine

We’re trying to get back to the roots of medicine: asking the community what they need and getting out there to reconnect and influence our comrades. Providing education to community leaders, so they can get the word out as well. The bottom line is, let’s focus on everyone wearing a mask when they’re in public. If they going to see somebody, everybody wears a mask, right? Having a risk-reduction approach. A parallel is STIs. When you tell somebody, ‘no, don’t have sex,’ we’ve seen the effects of that. What’s the risk reduction? Wear your mask. Like, wear a condom.

In it together

My dad is an essential worker, so I’ve been trying to support him and check on my family to see what they need. My partner is also a healthcare worker, so we’re in it together, literally. Still, it’s scary. One self-care thing I do is hike every weekend. Sometimes my partner comes, sometimes it’s just me and my fur child, Frosty. It helps me clear my mind. You know, turn the cell phones off, whatever I need to do to get out there and put some space between me and everything that’s going on.

Feeding resilience

During the Tubbs fire, we lost our Vista Campus, this beautiful two-story campus which served about 25,000 of our patients. We had a little playground out front, and we think some material in it shot up flames and the roof of the building caught on fire. That set off the sprinklers, which flooded the whole campus. I’ve been through that, the Kincade fire, and now this. The thing that continues to feed my resilience is our patients and our community. I come from very humble beginnings, and so do my immediate family members. I just don’t see myself doing any different work, because of the constant reminder of how important it is to do what we’re doing — to serve those who are most vulnerable during these times.

Sonoma County Artisans Nominated for Good Food Awards

November 2020

By Heather Irwin

Top Sonoma, Napa and Marin artisans have been nominated by the Good Food Awards as finalists from among nearly 2,000 cheesemakers, brewers, charcuterists, jam-makers and gourmet food producers throughout the United States.

Seismic Brewing, Bellwether Farms, Ethic Ciders and Cowgirl Creamery were among the nominees this year. Tasting panels select small-batch, sustainable and locally-made products from Maine to California each year to showcase. Though California and New York have long dominated the awards, more and more states are being represented for their outstanding regional food products including North Carolina, Utah, Nebraska and Ohio.

Good Food Award Winners will be announced on Friday, January 22, 2021 in a virtual Awards Ceremony broadcast across the country that offers a behind-the-scenes look inside kitchens and farms. A limited number of special edition Celebration Boxes featuring Award Winning treats and a limited-edition cookbook are available for pre-order.

Modern Farmhouse-Style Home Provides Fresh Start for Kenwood Family

November 2020

By Abigail Peterson

It’s time for Greg and Lindsay Hamilton to enjoy the rocking chairs on their new front porch. After all, it’s been an intense three years for the Kenwood family, who lost their home in the early hours of the 2017 wildfires and have moved four times over the course of the rebuild, which they managed themselves while working full-time and raising two young children. Not to mention their many home projects and the wine label they launched as a side business. So yes, some time spent relaxing on their porch, overlooking their small vineyard, is entirely warranted.

“As we look back ten years from now on the things the fire took from us, I think the one thing we will regret is it kind of took us away from our kids,” says Greg. “But Covid has forced us to think, ‘How do we slow down?’”

Greg and Lindsay on the porch. (Rebecca Gosselin)

Greg and Lindsay, who work from home for the same tech company, and their two kids Alba, 7, and Abhainn, 5, moved to Kenwood from Berkeley in 2016. Greg, who grew up in Scotland, met Lindsay, a native Californian, in a Glasgow pub while Lindsay was still in college, and the two married young. “I grew up in a very average suburb, with the differentiator that across the street from us was the moors— thousands of acres of open space at our disposal,” says Greg. They moved to Sonoma to give their kids that same rambling, outdoorsy childhood. “We basically ate outside every single meal for the first six months here,” laughs Lindsay.

In their new small-town life, they quickly found others who shared their family values. “The day of the fires was the Glen Ellen Village Fair,” remembers Lindsay. “We ran into all these friends there, and I was thinking, ‘We have a community. We have friends; we really know people here now.’”

Just a few hours after getting home from the fair, they looked out the window to see a huge wall of fire blowing across Adobe Canyon Road just a few hundred yards away. They quickly grabbed a few things, got the kids out of their toddler beds, then drove to a neighbor’s house to wake them up. The next morning, those same neighbors sent Lindsay and Greg a video of what remained of their property. The house and a historic water tower were gone, along with several old trees and some vines. A barn and small carriage house remained. “It was awful, but at the same time, the video was the perfect thing because we were able to just start grieving and start processing right away. So many people were in that unknown for so long, which I think has to be worse,” says Lindsay.

Friends and colleagues rallied around the family, even making a spreadsheet to organize donations of furniture and household goods. And a fellow parent at their kids’ nursery school in Sonoma, an architect named Steven Moseley, stepped forward to donate his time to design their new house. They met early on to talk over design priorities, and when they met again a week later to review the architect’s initial ideas, they realized that what he had sketched was the exact house Lindsay and Greg had roughed out in their minds. “It was amazing,” says Lindsay.

“At first, we were like ‘That’s too easy, how do we know this is the one?’ So he came up with two other ideas, and we were like ‘Nope, this is it!’”

Much of the furniture came from friends, which Lindsay says was a huge help. (Rebecca Gosselin)

Their former home had been a two-story brick Colonial. But the new home Moseley designed has a traditional farmhouse look, sitting lightly on the land next to the carriage house and barn. A large great room with a sliding glass wall out to the deck connects to the open kitchen, which has a pass-through window to an outside bar table. “The thing that we love about the farmhouse is that it’s timeless,” says Greg. “And the finishes are timeless, like the subway tile. It doesn’t look bad in houses from a hundred years ago, and it won’t look bad in this house a hundred years from now.”

Important, too, was the sustainability of the rebuild, especially to Lindsay who studied environmental science at UC Santa Cruz. They participated in PG& E’s Advanced Energy Rebuild program, which offered partial rebates for meeting energy efficiency standards with appliances and windows, extra-thick insulation, and solar panels.

It’s an easy-living home, one where the sliding window wall in the living room often remains open all day while Alba and Abhainn build massive pillow forts or have ice cream at the bar table at the passthrough. Greg can pull the kids into a late afternoon pizza project, helping them roll out dough on the kitchen island, then baking the pizzas on the grill out back. “We went in on a third of a cow with some friends, so we’ve also been eating a lot of steak.

And one of the things we want to do a lot more of together is baking,” says Greg. “We love to watch The Great British Baking Show, so lots of lemon bars and brownies, and I love pies.”

Though they’re longing to slow down, September and October will also be busy this year with harvest.

In Berkeley, they were enthusiastic home winemakers, and when they moved to Kenwood, they hoped it would be in the cards someday to launch a small family wine label. “But then after the fires, Lindsay and I were sitting there one night, and we were were just like, ‘what are we waiting for?’” explains Greg. While still settling into a temporary rental, they met with a consulting winemaker, who has helped them source grapes and find a custom crush facility in Sonoma. In the future, the couple hopes to create a small tasting room in the barn to share their wines. Says Greg: “Life can throw you a curve ball at any time, so sometimes you just have to jump in with both feet, even if you don’t know where the bottom is.”

With the rush of harvest, it might be a few more weeks until there’s time to take up those rocking chairs on the front porch in earnest. But Greg and Lindsay are holding a long view, reveling in building their new life after three years of unsettledness—and thinking a lot about the concept of home. They remain reflective about what their family has been through. “It would be easy to get too caught up in the idea of ‘If only I had a perfect home, my life would be perfect.’ I think it’s a lot more complicated than that,” Greg acknowledges. “But I do feel like there is something in being able to create your own home. It’s an incredible gift. And I think we do see that future now.”

20 Best-Bet Restaurants for Thanksgiving Day in Sonoma County

November 2020

By Heather Irwin

Patio dining at the Fork Roadhouse on Bodega Ave. east of Sebastopol. (JOHN BURGESS/The Press Democrat)

How will Thanksgiving play out this year? Whether it’s turkey for one or for your social bubble friends and family, there’s no denying that local restaurants are doing it up right for the holidays. Give yourself a break and order from one of these best-bet restaurants. There are even a few dine-in (which means dine outside) options if you’re feeling hardy.

Most require ordering ahead, and this year, you can assume plenty of people will make reservations early. Most of these restaurants require orders by Nov. 20, though some allow a bit later.

Santa Rosa

Spinster Sisters: A la carte menu includes appetizers (smoked trout dip, pickled shrimp and celery, chicken liver mousse, salad) and heat-and-serve smoked turkey breast, wild mushroom stuffing, squash and root vegetable gratin, cream of celeriac soup, mashed potatoes, gravy, harissa-roasted Brussels sprouts, baked green beans with crispy shallots, rolls, cranberry citrus chutney, pumpkin or pecan pie, apple crisp and dark chocolate budino with caramel and whipped cream. Order at thespinstersisters.com or at 707-528-7100. 401 S A St.

Stark’s: Two options, pickup or takeout. To-go dinner for two includes creamy tomato soup, arugula and endive salad, roasted turkey, herb-crusted prime rib, brioche bread pudding, roasted carrots, whipped potatoes, caramelized Brussels sprouts and gravy, $78. Add bread with garlic dill butter, pumpkin cream cheese pie or spiced apple cake. Order by Nov. 23. Or dine at the Thanksgiving backyard pop-up, all you can eat, $49 per person, three courses. Continuous service of prime rib and turkey, appetizers and dessert. 521 Adams St. Reservations required, starkrestaurants.com.

John Ash & Co.: Pickup-only menu includes endive salad with blue cheese, orange-glazed rainbow carrots, whipped potatoes, giblet dressing, herb-brined turkey and gravy, cranberry sauce, Parker House rolls and pumpkin pie. Call 707-527-7687 to order. 4330 Barnes Road.

Healdsburg

Mateo’s Cocina Latina: Patio dining or takeout with several a la carte options. Dungeness crab salad, turkey pot pie, baked delicata squash with pomegranate and pumpkin spice queso Napolitano. Reservations at 707-433-1520 or exploretock.com/mateoscocinalatina. Orders must be received by Nov. 23. 214 Healdsburg Ave.

Barndiva: Ready to cook meal includes butternut squash soup with honey-poached cranberries and toasted pumpkin seeds, pasture raised organic turkey with lemon herbed turkey gravy, classic bread stuffing, cranberry jam, apple cider braised greens, pumpkin pie with chantilly cream, parsnip poundcake with pomegranate glaze. Details at barndiva.com.

Kenwood

Tips Roadside: Smoked turkey or prime rib, gravy, smashed Yukon potatoes, herbed stuffing, orange-cranberry compote, kale and sweet potatoes, biscuits with apple butter and caramel apple, pecan or pumpkin pie. Serves 4, $130, tipsroadside.com to order. Orders must be received by Nov. 23. Delivery within 7 miles, 8445 Sonoma Hwy.

Petaluma

Seared: All-inclusive dinner to go of spinach salad, creme fraiche mashed potatoes, cornbread and chorizo stuffing, roasted carrots, green bean casserole, black pepper-crusted turkey, Parker House rolls and pumpkin cheesecake. Order online at petalumaseared.com. 170 Petaluma Blvd. N.

Brass Spatula Catering: Choice of heat-and-eat roasted turkey breast with gravy or orange-glazed ham, plus traditional stuffing or sausage and cranberry stuffing, mashed potatoes, green beans and mushrooms, Brussels sprouts with fig glaze, corn and Cheddar pudding and a mini pumpkin or caramel apple pie. Dinner for two to eight people, 707-569-4468.

Rohnert Park

Sally Tomatoes: Pickup or delivery meals include roasted turkey with roasted shallot and sherry gravy, cornbread stuffing, Brussels sprouts, sweet potato casserole, cranberry chutney and pumpkin cheesecake. Order by Nov. 20, $17.50 per person, four-person minimum. Call 707-665-9472 to order. 1100 Valley House Drive.

Sebastopol

Pascaline: A la carte items include everything but the turkey (including some turkey alternatives): garnet yam and cranberry salad, beet salad, pear and Gorgonzola salad, potato and leek soup, Parker House rolls, buttermilk biscuits, potato gratin, chestnut stuffing, cranberry sauce, salmon en croute, braised shortribs, chicken fricassee, bourbon pecan tart. “Morning after” breakfast includes a dozen mini breakfast pastries. Order at pascaline-preorder.com, 4522 Gravenstein Hwy.

Fork Roadhouse: Open on Thanksgiving. Bubbles, brews and beats with DJ Bear and plenty of tasty goodness from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Reservations required, 707-634-7575. 9890 Bodega Hwy.

West County & Coast
Dinucci’s: Full menu includes antipasti plate, minestrone soup, green salad or Waldorf salad, pasta with bolognese and roasted turkey with stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, candied yams and cranberry sauce. Dine in or takeout. Call (707) 876-3260 to order.

Need to bring a dish? Here are two options:

Tilted Platter: Instagram-worthy platters of cheese, charcuterie, nuts, fruits, veggies and crackers, for delivery. Sommelier Kerri Cook will make your plate special. Visit thetiltedplatter.com or call 707-292-4636.

Zoftig Eatery: French apple, pumpkin or coconut cream pies. Order by Nov. 20. zoftigeatery.com. 57 Montgomery Drive, Santa Rosa.

Glen Ellen & Sonoma

by Kathleen Hill

Layla at MacArthur Place: A dine-in (outdoors) meal offers first course choices of Brussels sprouts Caesar salad, butternut squash soup, or a spinach and walnut salad. Main course choices include roasted turkey breast and leg with croissant stuffing, sweet potato, Pacific Sea bass; housemade radiator with Butternut squash, vadouvan curry and pepitas; or an 8-ounce Creekstone prime filet mignon ($15 extra) with whipped potato, broccolini and steak sauce. Desserts bring pumpkin pie, apple galette or budno with biscotti. $85 adults, $35 children. Add black truffles to any dish $35, wine pairings $45. Reserve at 933-3198. macarthurplace.com.

Delicious Dish: Lauren’s Cotner’s Delicious Dish offers a takeout Thanksgiving dinner including roast turkey breast with green onion cream gravy, mashed potatoes, apple and sage sausage stuffing, sweet potatoes, pear cranberry sauce, and a red leaf lettuce with red endive salad with persimmons and pomegranate. Green bean casserole with mushrooms and French fried onion strings, Brioche dinner rolls, extra cranberry sauce and gravy, and dessert are all extra. Order by Nov. 20. $120 for two with leftovers or for four. Order: 721-4231 or deliciousdishsf.com.

El Dorado Kitchen: A three course prix fixe dine-in (outdoors) on the patio includes a gulf prawn cocktail, Caesar salad, pumpkin soup, fork belly al pastor, a crab cake and ceviche with avocado mousse. Main course choices include turkey with potato and purée, Brussels sprouts; potato gnocchi with Maine lobster; roasted eggplant with farro, zucchini and beans, shaved coconut radishes, and kale; salmon with bacon lardons and sunchoke purée, or a short rib with carrot ginger purée, plus desserts. $65. Reserve at 996-3030.

The first course of EDK’s Thanksgiving takeout dinner will be mixed greens with apples, beets, Cotija cheese, pickled red onions, pepitas, and sherry vinaigrette. For the second course you have a choice of roosted free-range turkey with potato purée, brioche stuffing, Brussels sprouts, sage gravy, and cranberry compote or salmon with all of the same sides. And finally apple cranberry crumble, oat streusel, and vanilla ice cream. EDK staff has not decided whether to serve onsite as of press time. $65. Order to-go at 996-3030. 405 First St. W., Sonoma.

Depot Hotel: Gia Ghilarducci will provide Thanksgiving dinner to enjoy on her patio around the pool or for takeout. First course is a butternut squash bisque, a harvest salad with local lettuces, apples, Marcona almonds and Point Reyes Blue Cheese. Entrée choices include Mary’s Free range turkey with sage stuffing, mashed potatoes, green peas, turkey gravy and cranberry-orange relish; poached filet of salmon, with a savory wild mushroom tarte; spinach and ricotta ravioli, or Berkshire pork chops with sweet potatoes, leeks, and braised cabbage. Dessert offers Scandia cheesecake, pumpkin pie or a chocolate torte with Valrhona ganache, vegetarian soup available. $60 adults for four courses, $25 children 5 to 12 years. Seatings every half hour, noon to 7 p.m. Reservations at 938-2980. For takeout call before Saturday, Nov. 21 to order and get your pick up time.

Girl & the Fig: These dinners come in a box to be heated at home and include roasted turkey breast with turkey confit, cornbread pudding, fall squash, mashed potatoes, braised greens, mashed yams with candied walnuts, and a kale and Brussels sprouts Caesar salad. Or cedar plank salmon with roasted carrots, braised greens, mashed yams, and the salad. Or wild mushroom and sunchoke ragout (vegetarian and vegan), roasted carrots, fall squash, braised greens, mashed yams, and the salad. Desserts and more of sides cost extra. Dinners $100 to $120. Serves two with leftovers or four people. Order by Nov. 22. Pick up at Girl & the Fig or Fig Café in Glen Ellen. Order at https://2020figthanksgiving.square.site/. 933-3000.

Glen Ellen Star: Ari Weisswasser is preparing Thanksgiving dinners for pick up for a minimum of eight people per order. On the menu: chicory salad with honey crisp apple, pecans and Roquefort dressing; spatchcocked whole Willy Bird turkey and gravy; buttermilk mashed potatoes, sourdough mushroom stuffing, cranberry-orange sauce, caramelized Brussels sprouts with brown sugar bacon marmalade, all followed by pumpkin pie with housemade vanilla maple Bourbon ice cream. $55 per person. Pre-order between 4:30 to 8:30 p.m. until sold out. Order at glenellenstar.com.

Suncraft Fine Foods: Sunshine Radtke and her Suncraft Foods will deliver your Thanksgiving dinner with a wide range of choices, listed a la carte but at reasonable prices. Entrées include herb roasted turkey breast or breast and leg quarter combo, or a vegetarian stuffed acorn squash. Appetizer selections range from artisan cheese, charcuterie and fruit plats, stuffed crmini mushrooms, cranberry brie bites, Parmesan spinach dip bites, or caramelized onion and brie swirls.

Sides, which come in varied sizes, include mashed potatoes with turkey or vegetarian mushroom gravy, organic green beans with mixed mushrooms and crispy onions, organic baked yams and apples, savory bread stuffing with mushrooms, creamy baked mac ‘n’ cheese, or organic whole berry cranberry sauce with orange zest.

Desserts tempt with organic spiced rum pumpkin pie, apple galette, and a cran-raspbery cream cheese galette. Prices vary by item number to be served. For prices go to sunshinefinefoods.com or email feast@sunshinefinefoods.com or text 343-6016 by Thursday, Nov. 19 for delivery on Wednesday, Nov. 25.

Wit & Wisdom: The new Michael Mina outpost at the Lodge at Sonoma introduces a three-course dine-in (outside) Thanksgiving dinner. First course choices include their fabulous King crab an endive Caesar, Cioppino, marinated baby beets or sweet potato agnolotti. The second course offers heritage turkey breast with parsnip purée, cornbread stuffing and turkey drippings gravy, Wagyu beef New York strip with mashed potatoes and creamed spinach, King salmon with farro and wild mushrooms, or lobster pot pie. Sides can include Brussels sprouts, green bean casserole or pomme. Desert brings a chocolate bar, a pumpkin hand pie, or oatmeal cookie Sundae. $75.

Wit & Wisdom has added a take-and-bake turkey dinner with brined turkey with sides to reheat including mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce, soup, and dessert. Serves four to six people. $225. Order a info@witandwisdomsonoma.com. Pick up Wednesday, Nov. 25 from noon to 4 p.m. or Thursday, Nov. 26 from 9 to 11 a.m.

Visit Sonoma County’s Historic Vineyards Through 20 Stunning Photographs

November 2020

By Stacy Briscoe

Gnarled vine from a Monte Rosso vineyard above the Valley of the Moon as zinfandel marbles through veraison, 2020. (Kent Porter / The Press Democrat)

Can a vineyard have a soul? For the growers and winemakers who work with Sonoma’s old vines, the answer is yes, it most definitely can. Enduring for generations, our historic vineyards convey a solidity and timelessness that reassures in this moment of uncertainty.

Photographer Kent Porter and writer Stacy Briscoe open a window into the beauty of the old-vine harvest and introduce us to a grassroots group of locals whose stewardship protects this rare and highly prized crop. Click through the above slideshow for photos.

Winemaker Morgan Twain-Peterson of Bedrock Wine Co. has a deep obsession with Sonoma’s gnarliest oldvine vineyards. “These vines have survived two world wars, Prohibition, the change of consumer taste — and they’re still in the ground,” he says with a reverence he comes by honestly, having grown up in a prominent winemaking family. (As the story goes, he made his first wine, a Pinot Noir, at the tender age of 5.)

At a time when many aspects of our lives seem to be in a holding pattern due to circumstances beyond our control, these old vines represent a timelessness that comforts and reassures. Twain-Peterson calls their enduring nature a “Darwinian survival mechanism.” From a grower’s perspective, he explains, there are fundamental reasons these plants thrive: their root structures are deeper, the vines less susceptible to climactic changes, pests, and viruses.

“But I think the reason old vines do so well here is tradition,” he says.

Down a small lane near what is now Valley of the Moon Winery, Twain-Peterson’s 152-acre Bedrock Vineyard represents a chance for the winemaker to follow in the footsteps of history, quite literally. The vineyard was first planted in the 1850s by William Tecumseh Sherman and Joseph “Fighting Joe” Hooker, who both went on to prominent military careers during the Civil War. The vineyard was replanted in 1888 after an epidemic of phylloxera wiped out the original plantings. It’s these same 130-year-old vines that go into Twain-Peterson’s award-winning Bedrock Heritage wines.

Winemaker Mike Officer of Carlisle Winery & Vineyards shares those deep roots, living in the Russian River Valley among 11.2 acres of vines that are nearly a hundred years old. “I like history, genealogy, the people of the past. I like old things,” he laughs. He sources the fruit for his wines from several different historic vineyards around the county, but names Russian River Valley as the area of Sonoma with the most historic plantings and calls his neighborhood, the Piner-Olivet area, old vine “ground zero.”

In 2006 a number of vineyards in the Piner-Olivet area were sold to a private real estate investment firm, which ripped out the vines and re-planted with more profitable Pinot Noir. Officer was heartbroken; he had long-term relationships with many of the vineyards that were ripped out. “Twenty-two acres of beautiful old vines that created wonderful wine, just gone in one day,” Officer recalls. “And even though it was on a path I traveled at least several times a week, I had to take a detour — for many years — because I couldn’t even look at it.”

Officer’s heartbreak and his passion for old-vine vineyards were the impetus for the founding of the Historic Vineyard Society, a grassroots collective of growers and winemakers who protect these vines and promote the use of their fruit. “We were seeing this [ripping out of old vineyards] all over the place,” says Bedrock’s Twain-Peterson, who also helped found the group. “We were losing rare resources without any idea how much we were losing.”

The society started by establishing a registry of historic vineyards and has moved into promotion, hosting tastings of old-vine wines. To be included in the registry, a vineyard has to have been planted more than 50 years ago. At least a third of the vines must be traceable back to the original planting date.

“It’s all stewardship. That’s the difference with historic vineyards,” says Jake Bilbro, owner of Limerick Lane Cellars and a fourth generation Sonoma grower and winemaker. He lives with his family in a home built in 1910, the same year his vines were planted. Bilbro produces Zinfandel and Rhône-style wines from the original plantings and says he’s reached a level of “intune- ship” with both the land and the legacy it holds. “Our vintages are chapters in a story, and it’s a real romance novel,” he says.

Bilbro, too, attributes the success of Sonoma’s old vines to tradition and family. “Vines are resilient and can grow in different conditions, but they won’t unless a family can take care of them and keep the lineage going.”

April Nalle of Nalle Winery in the Dry Creek Valley, Thursday, July 30, 2020. (Kent Porter / The Press Democrat) 2020 — April Nalle of Nalle Winery in the Dry Creek Valley, Thursday, July 30, 2020. (Kent Porter / The Press Democrat)

April and Andrew Nalle are caretakers of a Dry Creek Valley vineyard that dates back to the 1880s and has been farmed by their family for five generations, beginning with Andrew’s great-great-grandparents in 1917. “We care so deeply about how the wine tastes. If the flavors don’t match what our family has always stood for, that would be hard to live with,” says April, a viticulturist. She lovingly refers to the taste as “zin-berry” — low alcohol, high acid, and fresh fruit in balance with the full-bodied old-vine Zinfandel. It’s a style of winemaking that necessitates an early harvest and a light touch with the fruit.

“How we make the wine off these vines is something that’s been carried through for generations,” she explains. “Thinking how these vines have been here for 100 years, about the people who made the wine, drank the wine, and shared the wine over family dinners — and being able to continue that tradition — that’s what gives these wines a sense of place.”

Gnarled vine from a Monte Rosso vineyard above the Valley of the Moon as zinfandel marbles through veraison. (Kent Porter / The Press Democrat) 2020 — Gnarled vine from a Monte Rosso vineyard above the Valley of the Moon as zinfandel marbles through veraison. (Kent Porter / The Press Democrat)

One of the few grapes with red juice, an alicante is squeezed to show its true color. (Kent Porter / The Press Democrat) 2020 — One of the few grapes with red juice, an alicante is squeezed to show its true color. (Kent Porter / The Press Democrat)

Taste Sonoma County’s Old Vines

The Historic Vineyard Society’s website, historicvineyardsociety.org,
maintains descriptions of Sonoma’s historic vineyards.

RUSSIAN RIVER VALLEY

CARLISLE VINEYARDS
Planted: 1927
To try: Carlisle Winery & Vineyard
2018 “Piner-Olivet Ranches”
Zinfandel, $38

JACKASS HILL VINEYARD
Planted: 1880s
To try: Martinelli 2015 Jackass Hill
Muscat Alexandria, $32 for 375 ml

PAPERA RANCH
Planted: 1934
To try: Williams Selyem 2018
Papera Vineyard Zinfandel, $65

SONOMA VALLEY

BEDROCK VINEYARD
Planted: 1888
To try: Bedrock Wine Co. 2018
“The Bedrock Heritage,” $45

LIMERICK LANE VINEYARD
Planted: 1910
To try: Limerick Lane Cellars 2018
“1910 Block” Zinfandel, $65

OLD HILL RANCH
Planted: 1880s
To try: Bucklin Old Hill Ranch 2018
Ancient Grenache, $40

MONTECILLO VINEYARD
Planted: 1960s
To try: Arnot-Roberts 2017
Montecillo Vineyard Cabernet
Sauvignon, $90

MOON MOUNTAIN

MONTE ROSSO VINEYARD
Planted: 1886
To try: Louis M. Martini 2017
Gnarly Vine Zinfandel, $75

ALEXANDER VALLEY

SEGHESIO HOME RANCH
Planted: 1895
To try: Seghesio Family Vineyards
2017 Home Ranch Zinfandel, $60

DRY CREEK VALLEY

LYTTON ESTATE
Planted: 1900s
To try: Ridge 2017 Lytton Springs
Red Blend, $45

HENDERLONG NALLE VINEYARD
Planted: 1927
To try: Nalle Winery 2018 Estate
Old Vine Zin, $48

Santa Rosa Artist Pays Tribute to Essential Workers

November 2020

By Dan Taylor

Artist John Deckert works on a painting of a pair of firefighters, at his home in Santa Rosa on Thursday, April 23, 2020. Deckert is making small paintings of essential workers, performing their duties during the shelter in place. (Christopher Chung / The Press Democrat)

We’ve all seen paintings of heroes — generals on horseback, soldiers in battle raising the flag — but how often have you seen an ambulance driver or a letter carrier exalted through portraiture? Not often.

John Deckert decided to do something about that.

Deckert, 72, who lives in Santa Rosa’s Rincon Valley, is a professional artist as well as a longtime Marine reservist with 35 paintings in the permanent collection of the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Quantico, Virginia.

Since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, Deckert has been focused on a series of oil portraits that celebrate those whose work must continue despite Covid-19 — EMTs in an ambulance, a tree-trimming crew, his UPS delivery driver. More recently, he’s been working on portraits created from selfie photographs given to him by a dozen emergency-room nurses at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital. “I’m a painter, so my way of saying thanks is to do a painting,” Deckert explains.

One of Deckert’s subjects is his former mail carrier, Ronald Crawley. “He photographed me at his mailbox and told me he was doing paintings of people still doing their jobs during the coronavirus. People think we’re heroes, or something special, but I was just grateful to still be working,” says Crawley, who recently retired. “I think his project is pretty cool, something that will be remembered for a long time to come.”

From Aztec Mocha to Swedish Fika: The Best Hot Drinks in Sonoma County

November 2020

By Sonoma Magazine Staff

An Aztec hot chocolate at Plank Coffee in Cloverdale. (Beth Schlanker/The Press Democrat)

The days are getting colder here in Sonoma County. While we may not have to shovel snow from our driveways to get to work, a cup filled with warmth is still a welcome way to start the day — or pick me up in the afternoon. From caffeinated to sweet beverages, click through the gallery for 15 satisfyingly warm and cozy drinks in Sonoma County.

Thanks a latte for reading! Let us know (in the comments below) your favorite place to grab a warm drink in Sonoma County.

Recently Opened Healdsburg Farm Retreat Offers Luxe Getaway

November 2020

By Jess Lander

At NewTree Ranch in Healdsburg. (Courtesy of NewTree Ranch)

Editor’s Note: Travel, dining and wine tasting can be complicated right now. Use our inspirational ideas to plan ahead for your next outing, be it this week or next year.

How many times have you gone on vacation only to return home feeling, well, like you needed another vacation?

Finding the time and place to relax is more important than ever. But getting away from it all can prove a challenge—especially right now. Amid coronavirus concerns and restrictions, US travelers are finding new ways to unwind by seeking out getaways that offer “fresh air, bucolic scenery, and ample room for physical distancing,” according to Business Insider. Unique accommodations such as treehouses and airstreams are growing in popularity, along with the latest travel trend: farm stays.

A recently opened property in Healdsburg, NewTree Ranch, is tapping into these travel trends by offering guests a breath of fresh air, plenty of space to roam and an opportunity to connect with the land.

Wellness with a twist

Less than 15 minutes from downtown Healdsburg, yet far away from the crowds, the secluded NewTree Ranch bills itself as a wellness retreat. But, unlike other wellness retreats, which tend to be heavily regimented, it puts the guests in charge of their experience.

If you want to spend your stay working remotely, lounging by the pool, and going for the occasional walk, you can do so. But if you would like a more immersive experience—connecting with nature, unleashing your creativity, unblocking your emotions, or confronting traumas, fears and anxieties—then this can be arranged, too.

The biodynamic farm at NewTree Ranch in Healdsburg. (Jess Lander / Sonoma Magazine)

NewTree Ranch’s particular approach to wellness is based on the idea that, by disconnecting with the outside world and reconnecting with ourselves, we can shift our perspective and achieve a more relaxed state of being. Co-founder and CEO Edward Newell experienced this for himself when he gave up a busy career in the corporate world to start this Healdsburg retreat. He says he used to work constantly, taking more than a dozen flights each month and spending most night in hotels, working until he went to bed.

“Now I’m relaxed all the time,” said Newell, noting how he used to seek out something like a massage in order to unwind. “Relaxed is a state of being, but we grow up thinking it’s something to be provided externally,” he added.

A ranch of one’s own

Another aspect that makes NewTree Ranch stand out from other retreats is the amount of privacy it provides to its guests. There’s only one guest accommodation on the property—The Ranch Estate, which sleeps 8. If you book a stay (minimum stay is four nights), you’ll have the 120-acre property all to yourself—sharing space only with the owners and the staff, plus a few animals. All of this comes at a price, of course: $4000 per night for the ranch estate.

The ranch estate has four bedrooms and bathrooms, a large living room with fireplace, a spacious kitchen, a formal dining room, and numerous light-filled nooks to relax in, including an outdoor lounge area with a fire pit, dining table and a solar-heated pool. Guests also have access to a glamping safari tent, complete with a hot tub on the deck.

Cellphone service is spotty at the ranch and while the estate does have wifi, this is the only place where guests can get a good signal. Newell mentioned that a few guests have requested to have the internet turned off from Saturday to Sunday noon. “People love that,” he said, “(they) really notice how they connect more (with each other) in those 24 hours.”

A cold plunge

NewTree Ranch offers an array of wellness experiences—some included, some for an additional cost.

It’s up to each guest to tailor their stay according to their own interest, and comfort level. Some visitors might play things simple—collecting eggs from the lively chicken coop, taking a plant-based cooking class, or spending time with the two Scottish Highlander cows, Kathy and Eddie, a spirited donkey named Fuzzy, and other animals that reside on the ranch. Others might dive deeper, booking experiences such as the “lakeside sound journey” with Tibetan singing bowls, or challenge themselves by spending an afternoon learning breathing techniques—part of what’s called the Wim Hof Method—before taking a dip in a bathtub filled with ice water.

The lakeside sound journey experience at NewTree Ranch in Healdsburg. (Jess Lander / Sonoma Magazine)

Ice bath for Wim Hof Experience at NewTree Ranch in Healdsburg. (Jess Lander / Sonoma Magazine)

Each experience at NewTree Ranch is intended to provide a fresh perspective and healing to the participant. The sound journey, for example, aims to “align and restore energy fields, and release tension or stress,” while the Wim Hof experience allows participants to “reconnect with the body’s inner wisdom.” The Wim Hof Method instructor at NewTree Ranch, Chuck McGee, says that the ice bath part of the experience is intended to train the body to better handle stress, pain and difficult circumstances.

While the idea of being submerged in ice water may seem extreme and anxiety inducing, Wim Hof—a Dutch extreme athlete—has attracted millions of followers worldwide, who swear his method has cured everything from depression to diabetes.

Farm-to-table for real

Newell, who lives on the ranch, wants to show people where their food is coming from and guests can expect the real-deal farm-to-table experience.

The plant-based culinary program at NewTree Ranch is led by chef Matteo Silverman, who sources ingredients for his dishes from the onsite biodynamic farm. Guests pay extra for these meals and can choose from a variety of board options ranging from $50 to $110 per person, per day.

Radish ravioli and quinoa sushi at NewTree Ranch in Healdsburg. (Jess Lander / Sonoma Magazine)

Veggie pizza at NewTree Ranch in Healdsburg. (Jess Lander / Sonoma Magazine)

The menu at NewTree Ranch changes with the seasons. On a recent visit, dishes included welcome crudités with creamy eggplant baba ganoush and dried apples with walnut butter; whole spelt pizza topped with shishitocini (shishito peppers pickled like pepperoncini) and fresh-picked veggies for dinner; pink ravioli made from two slices of watermelon radish stuffed with thyme-scented cashew cheese and topped with a Thai basil puree; and chia seed pudding or a savory autumn vegetable frittata for breakfast. Most meals are paired with fresh juices, like honeydew and melon, watermelon lime agua fresca, or a verbena cucumber refresher.

If guests would prefer to cook their own meals, they can do so in the ranch house’s expansive kitchen, making use of fresh ingredients from the farm or bringing their own produce.

3600 Wallace Creek Road, Healdsburg, 707-433-9643, newtreeranch.com

5 Eco-Friendly Sonoma Wineries You Should Know

November 2020

By Linda Murphy

Outdoor tasting at Anaba Wines in Sonoma. (Courtesy of Anaba Wines)

Sonoma wineries increasingly employ environmentally ethical practices to their businesses, not only to produce better wines but to take care of the land for future generations, lower carbon footprints, preserve natural habitats, reduce or eliminate the use of harmful herbicides and pesticides and sustain agricultural businesses for the long term.

There are many ways wineries and growers approach the challenge and many organizations and certification boards that give their blessings to “green” wine making and grape growing. In 2014, Sonoma County Winegrowers committed to becoming the most sustainable winegrowing region in the world. The organization claims that 99% of the vineyard acreage in the county now has been certified sustainable by a third-party program.

But “sustainable” is subjective, not just in Sonoma, but throughout the world. In its broadest definition, it means an entity has developed practices that are environmentally friendly, socially responsible and economically viable. Organic farming enters the sustainability picture by specifically banning the use of synthetic pesticides and herbicides in agriculture. Biodynamic farming has been called “organics on steroids,” with the addition of natural compost applications, farm-animal waste used as fertilizers and even planting by the lunar cycle.

Benziger Family Winery in Glen Ellen has been the leader in Sonoma County biodynamic farming for two decades, encouraging a healthy ecosystem. Santa Rosa’s Kendall-Jackson, one of California’s largest wine producers, is a winner of the California Green Medal Leader Award for its many sustainability programs. Silver Oak Alexander Valley earned global recognition in 2017 for its Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum status, making it the first commercial winery in the world to attain the green-building program’s highest recognition for new construction.

But these aren’t the only Sonoma wineries making big moves to do the right thing for the land, vines, wines, employees and neighbors. Here are five others to know and visit now. Note that their coronavirus-related protocols require appointment-only visits, outdoor service and masks worn except when seated.

Anaba Wines

In 2009, this Sonoma Valley winery became the first in Northern California to use wind to help power operations. Owner John T. Sweazey installed a 45-foot Skystream wind turbine on the Carneros property, allowing the anabatic winds from San Pablo Bay and the Pacific Ocean turn the turbine’s rotors and produce electricity. An electric car charging station was added in 2015, for use by tasting room guests and staff, and solar panels are being installed. “By the end of 2020, we plan to be producing more power than we use, between wind and solar sources," Anaba Brand Manager Molly Lomenzo said.

Sweazey’s son, John Michael, now runs the winery, and Katy Wilson is the winemaker. Burgundian and Rhone Valley varieties are the focus here: chardonnays, pinot noirs, viogniers and syrahs that are elegant, refined and energetic. Grapes from the estate J McK Vineyard are joined by fruit from vineyards such as Bismark, Dutton Ranch, Landa, Sangiacomo Roberts Road and Wildcat Mountain, giving Wilson diversity and depth in her winemaking options.

Anaba’s new Vintners House tasting room is open 10:30 a.m. – 5 p.m. Thursday – Monday.

62 Bonneau Road, Sonoma, 707-346-5207, anabawines.com

In 2009, Anaba Wines became the first winery in Northern California to utilize wind to help power operations. (Los Heffernans Photography)

Nalle Winery

Forty-some years ago, Doug and Lee Nalle wanted a cave for the Dry Creek Valley winery they were building on land owned by Lee’s family, the Henderlongs, since the 1920s. The property was planted to zinfandel, and many of the vines remain today. But the site wasn’t conducive to digging a wine cave, so the Nalles did the next best thing — they covered their ground-level, Quonset hut-style winery with dirt 3 to 6 feet thick, planted 300 rosemary plants to keep the soil in place and voila, they had an above-ground cave which kept a constant cool temperature without using any energy.

As a bonus, the rosemary blooms invited busy bees — and still do — which assist in the pollination of non-grape plants (grapevines are self-pollinating) that add nitrogen and nutrients to the soil. Bees also protect beneficial insects from the destructive ones.

From the start, the Nalles stuck to their mantra of making zinfandels that were balanced and fresh-tasting, with the grape’s signature intense berry/cherry fruit character, yet without high alcohol and sweetness. Now the couple’s son, Andrew Nalle, and his wife, April, handle the winemaking and viticulture while upholding the original Nalle style. Their Estate Old Vine Zinfandel comes from the dry-farmed (no irrigation), head-trained vines. The Dry Creek Valley Classic Zinfandel is a blend of estate and neighboring vines. Both clock in at just 13.9% alcohol.

Over time, the Nalle family added sauvignon blanc, sparkling chardonnay, pinot noir and cabernet sauvignon to their lineup, all in small quantities and available only at the winery and a handful of restaurants. Taste these beauties and some history at the oddball, ahead-of-its-time eco-friendly winery, open 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

2383 Dry Creek Road, Healdsburg, 707-433-1040, nallewinery.com

Outdoor tasting at Nalle Winery in Healdsburg. (Heidi Adler)

Quivira Vineyards

Organic farming is but one of many ecologically sound steps this Dry Creek Valley winery takes in the production of its wines. Winemaker Hugh Chappelle has a gift for producing vibrant sauvignon blanc — as many as four different bottlings in a given vintage — and rousing zinfandels. Grenache and other Rhone Valley varietals are other specialties.

On the ranch, composting of winery pomace (leftover grape skins and seeds) and estate livestock manure adds nutrients to the soils, as do cover crops in the gardens and vineyards. Creeks and riparian corridors that run through the property enhance diversity; ongoing restoration of Wine Creek allows coho salmon and steelhead trout to thrive during spawning season. All vineyard preparation materials are grown on the estate. Nine breeds of chickens, fed from the garden waste, produce eggs, and beehives encourage pollination of produce grown in the raised garden beds and elsewhere on the property. A solar electric system has supplied more than half of Quivira’s energy needs since 2005, a prescient move that is increasingly being replicated by other wineries.

Olive oils and jams made from estate-grown berries, peaches and Meyer lemons are sold in the tasting room, open 11 a.m. – 4 p.m. Thursday – Monday. The Classic Tasting includes five wines; the Estate Tasting offers six wines, served with charcuterie and other bites.

4900 West Dry Creek Road, Healdsburg, 707-395-3929, quivirawine.com

Ridge Lytton Springs

Old-vine zinfandel is the raison d’être at Ridge Lytton Springs, the Sonoma outpost of Ridge Vineyards in the Santa Cruz Mountains — maker of one of the world’s most respected cabernet sauvignons, Ridge Monte Bello.

The zins from Ridge Lytton Springs — more than a dozen of them from grapes grown throughout the state but weighted toward Alexander, Dry Creek and Sonoma valleys — are equally admired. They are remarkably balanced, without an alcoholic fruit bomb among them, and have a reputation for aging beautifully. John Olney makes the wines at Ridge’s eco-sustainable winery on Lytton Springs Road, located between Healdsburg and Geyserville.

The facility is built of straw bales and vineyard clay and is primarily solar-powered. Ridge is the largest grower of organically certified grapes in Sonoma County, and all the vineyards it farms are certified sustainable by Fish Friendly Farming. Composted pomace and neighbors’ horse manure are added to the vineyards. Cover crops are grown in each block, insectories are maintained, sensors indicate when to irrigate vines in order to save water and gray water from the property is recycled and can be used for irrigation. Bird boxes and raptor roosts encourage the presence of flying bug and rodent eaters.

In addition, Ridge lists on its labels all ingredients used in the production of each wine. On the label for the 2018 Pagani Ranch Sonoma Valley Zinfandel: “Hand-harvested grapes, indigenous yeast, naturally occurring malolactic bacteria, oak from barrel aging, SO2.” And nothing else.

Taste single-vineyard, zinfandel-based wines such as Geyserville, Lytton Springs and Pagani at the Outdoor Terrace tasting, 11 a.m. – 4 p.m. Thursday – Monday. It’s a seated experience that might also include petite sirah, carignane, mataro (mourvedre) and if one is lucky, a Ridge cabernet sauvignon.

650 Lytton Springs Road, Healdsburg, 408-867-3233, ridgewine.com/visit/lytton-springs

Truett-Hurst/VML Winery

Paul Dolan, who sparked Fetzer Vineyards’ massive move to organically farmed grapevines starting two decades ago, retired from the Mendocino County company in 2004 and embarked on several wine-based projects, among them Truett-Hurst in Sonoma’s Dry Creek Valley. The estate, certified for both its organic and biodynamic farming practices, ticks all the sustainability boxes for what a winery can do to care for its vines and environment.

At Truett-Hurst, biodynamic farming includes organic practices and treats the farm as a self-contained and self-sustaining organism capable of creating and maintaining its own vitality. Hedgerows and other plants create safe homes for beneficial bugs that prey on those that damage grapevines and other plants. Compost, made onsite from pomace and cow manure, adds fertility to the soils. Crimson clover, purple vetch, bell beans, peas and oats are grown in the vineyard rows; they pull carbon from the air and send it through the plants’ roots into the ground and feed grazing goats and sheep during the dormant season. Their droppings become nutrient-rich fertilizer.

According to Dolan, Truett-Hurst also works with government agencies to restore the portion of Dry Creek that flows through the estate.

Winemaker Ross Reedy bottles an array of wines, including sauvignon blanc, chardonnay, pinot noir, zinfandel, merlot and cabernet sauvignon. He also guides winemaking for sister brand VML, which excels in sauvignon blanc, chardonnay and pinot noir. Both brands are poured at the tasting room, which is open 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. daily for by-the-glass and bottle sales (no tastings). Picnicking is encouraged, with the purchase of wine.

5610 Dry Creek Road, Healdsburg, 707-433-9545, truetthurstwinery.com