Page 6 – Sonoma Magazine

For Sonoma County Artist and Farm Owner, It’s Time ‘To Be a Little Spiky’

December 2025

By Austin Murphy

Susan Preston in her studio near her home of 50 years in the Dry Creek Valley. (John Burgess / The Press Democrat)

The woman signing books at Barndiva in Healdsburg seemed genteel and refined as she smiled and chatted with a long line of friends and admirers.

Susan Preston had, for the time being, set her spikes aside.

That is, she’d chosen to conceal certain of her wild and sharp-edged aspects — the “spikiness,” as she recently described it to her daughter Francesca — that emerge in her art.

Since the mid-1970s, Susan and her husband, Lou Preston, have run a farm and winery in Dry Creek Valley widely beloved for its Old World feel and relaxed family vibe. Preston Farm and Winery sells superb wine, olive oil, organic produce, and artisanal food products like sourdough bread.

Less well known, but no less remarkable, are the talents and oeuvre of Susan Preston, who for decades “kind of split three ways,” in her words, dividing her energies “between children, business, and the art.”

Copies of the book “In Ghost Time: The Art and Stories of Susan Preston” are available for purchase and signing during Preston’s book launch party at Barndiva in Healdsburg Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025. (Beth Schlanker / The Press Democrat)

With the September release of “In Ghost Time: The Art and Stories of Susan Preston,” her profile as a creative is on the rise. While helping grow the family business and raising daughters Maggie and Francesca — both now established artists in their own right — Susan was devouring courses at Santa Rosa Junior College, then Sonoma State University, then Mills College in Oakland, where she earned her Master of Fine Arts degree in 1996.

During that time she was honing the distinctive style on display in her new monograph.

“All the teachers told me I had my own way,” Preston recalls with a smile. “They said, ‘You’re an original.’”

“She’s always been very much her own person,” said Maggie, a photo-based artist who lives and works in Berkeley, “a little unusual, a little eccentric, and not necessarily following the traditional path.”

Art from artist Susan Preston — Artwork by Susan Preston is on display during a launch party for her book “In Ghost Time: The Art and Stories of Susan Preston” at Barndiva in Healdsburg Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025. (Beth Schlanker / The Press Democrat)

The less traveled, often fantastical path trod by Susan Preston resulted in paintings with whimsical and occasionally sinister titles, such as “Make Noise Silently,” “Oh Noodles Please Don’t Leave Me,” “A Pimp’s Tattoo,” and “We Killed the Wrong Twin.” Preston’s collage-style works feature “mysterious and idiosyncratic images” that are “a form of visual poetry and storytelling,” wrote Stephanie Hanor, Art Museum director at Mills College.

As unconventional as Preston’s art are the materials from which it’s made: brown paper bags — the kind you get in a grocery store — bees wax, black tea, rabbit skin glue, chewing gum, olive oil, and foil.

That alchemy takes place in her stand-alone, 20-by-30-foot studio just beyond the farmhouse on their verdant 125-acre spread between Dry Creek and Pena Creek. Covering the studio’s walls are drawings cut from her notebooks. No longer strong enough to push tacks into the walls to hang those sketches, she keeps a small hammer at the ready, for that purpose.

The studio is a place of “creative chaos,” says Lou, who speaks with wonderment of his wife’s process, and “all these wild and weird things in her work.”

Artist Susan Preston — Susan Preston in her studio near her home of 50 years in the Dry Creek Valley. (John Burgess / The Press Democrat)

While she used to bury larger pieces of that brown paper in the river, Susan now covers smaller squares with earth she’s loosened in front of her studio. She checks them every so often “like you would stirring a good soup,” she explains. “When the pieces are ready, I take them inside and wash them off. Subtlety is what I’m looking for. Sometimes, I pour small streams of olive oil or tea on them.”

Thus does she summon “characters and anthropomorphic animals that challenge our perceptions about what it really means to be alive,” writes Jil Hales in an essay that appears in the book.

Hales, a close friend of Preston’s, is the founder and co-owner of Barndiva, a Michelin-recommended restaurant that doubles, by day, as an art gallery and played a prominent role in the genesis of the women’s friendship.

On the day it opened in 2004, a crowd gathered outside Barndiva for an exhibit Hales had painstakingly planned. A select group of makers had been invited to showcase their wares: wine, chocolate, cured meats, and other delectables — each complemented by a piece of art that “interpreted” the edible art.

Artist Susan Preston, joined by her husband Lou, signs a copy of her book “In Ghost Time: The Art and Stories of Susan Preston” during a launch party for her book “In Ghost Time: The Art and Stories of Susan Preston” at Barndiva in Healdsburg Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025. (Beth Schlanker / The Press Democrat)

Each, that is, except the wood-fired, heritage grain loaf baked by Lou Preston, which, 10 minutes before Barndiva’s grand opening, still had no art to accompany it.

That’s when an attractive woman with “an off-kilter swagger strode in through the main door,” Hales recalls in the Barndiva blog, “carrying a full bag of flour on her shoulder.”

Susan “proceeded to bend, slash, and pour the entire sack onto the new stone floor, just below the plinth where Lou’s ‘art’ sat beneath a spotlight.”

The flour dust had yet to settle before she left, then returned with a faded blue, spindle-backed chair she placed into the flour. It was a performance piece, Hales writes, that “fully caught the zeitgeist of the exhibit and spoke eloquently of the direction we hoped to take Barndiva.” It was also a moment that left Hales convinced: “I needed to know this woman.”

Sonoma County artist Susan Preston — Artist Susan Preston speaks before a crowd during a launch party for her book “In Ghost Time: The Art and Stories of Susan Preston” at Barndiva in Healdsburg Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025. (Beth Schlanker / The Press Democrat)

The friendship that blossomed, says Hales, has “intensified the last few years.” Preston Farm works closely with Barndiva. Susan has shown her work in its studio. In addition to being wonderful and kind, Hales notes, Preston is “forthright,” and “has an honesty about her that’s rare these days.”

It was at Hales’ urging, and with her considerable help, that Preston produced “In Ghost Time,” a collection of her paintings and sketches, along with a handful of indelible stories that shed light on her artistic process and recall her free-range, almost feral upbringing in Calaveritas, California, an abandoned Gold Rush town, which gives the book its title.

I grew up in a ghost town

And played in the remains of an old Fandango house.

Two large junk heaps and a forgotten blacksmith shop.

Sections of the town were separated by barbed wire fences.

The lines in my paintings and drawings remind me of that ragged fence.

I crave a strange and crooked simplicity.

That’s an excerpt from the prologue introducing the book’s “Stories,” which recount in Preston’s spare, evocative prose what it was like to grow up in Calaveritas without her father, who moved away when she was 3, but with an extended family that provided “both freedom and protection.”

You can take the girl out of the ghost town, but as Preston recounts in the book, the characters, shapes, and materials from Calaveritas, including “an old squeaky chair, a gold mining pan, iron trivets,” and the coiled baskets of the Miwok tribe just up the road, have long insinuated themselves into her artwork, embedded themselves in her being.

From the first day they met, said Lou Preston, whose upbringing on a dairy farm outside Healdsburg was more conventional, “I’ve been envious of her growing up with this incredible, magical independence.”

“In Ghost Time” was conceived and set in motion during the Covid-19 pandemic, a frightening, uncertain period of Preston’s life.

In chronic pain while recovering from a difficult surgery, “and with the added dimensions of Covid, the political environment, and the general unknowing,” she recalled, “something disoriented me severely.”

“I became unmoored, half in this world, half in another. No one knew quite what to do about it.”

This “time of madness,” she said, was worse for her loved ones than herself.

Hales, who described Preston’s condition as “a perfect physical and psychological storm that jumbled her signposts and signals,” came up with the idea that helped Preston find her way back to lucidity.

She encouraged her friend to assemble a monograph of her art and stories. “And for some reason,” Preston recounted, “that was the first idea that stuck, and gave me purpose.”

It took two years, but she regained her health and started painting again.

Susan Cuneo and Lou Preston went on their first date in 1973, having been introduced by Barden Stevenot, a visionary grapegrower who would later be credited with bringing the wine industry to Calaveras County. On this day, he was showing Lou a piece of land in Dry Creek Valley that held promise as a vineyard.

Stevenot brought along his friend from the Gold Rush region, Susan, who at the time was teaching at a tiny Graton elementary school.

Sonoma County artist Susan Preston and her husband Lou — Susan Preston and her husband Lou have spent 50 years together in their Dry Creek Valley home. (John Burgess / The Press Democrat)

Lou remembers Stevenot showing up “with this gorgeous and smart lady who arrived to walk around the property in the shortest skirt I’d seen in a long time.” She was also barefoot.

He was also taken with Susan’s intellectual range. “She was very literate in a way that I wasn’t.”

And so she remains, says Lou, who now finds himself wondering, “If we live long enough, can I catch up? And I’ve kind of decided I probably won’t.”

Not long after that first date, Susan brought her new beau to Calaveritas, about 5 miles east of San Andreas, “to stomp grapes in the stonewalled winery under my family home.”

On long walks to the barn late at night, she recounts in the book, “I turned cartwheels for him in the moonlight.”

A year after that first date, they were married in Calaveritas. Stevenot was Lou’s best man.

After the couple launched their business, Susan would make frequent trips to the vest-pocket post office in Geyserville, where there was always a line, she remembers.

artist Susan Preston's art sketch book — The book “In Ghost Time: The Art and Stories of Susan Preston” sits on display during Preston’s book launch party at Barndiva in Healdsburg Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025. (Beth Schlanker / The Press Democrat)

While waiting, she would turn her attention to the posters of the FBI’s “Most Wanted” fugitives. “They were a marvel,” she says. Studying their photos, admiring the cleverness of their aliases — she was especially taken with one Dwight Orlando Birdsong — Susan conjured fictitious backstories for them. Before long, she recalls, she was writing “poems and tiny stories” about them.

“In a sense some of these outlaws became my people.”

The tales of those outlaws, accompanied by her sketches, grew into a series of pieces she showed at the Southern Exposure Art Gallery in San Francisco in the early 2000s.

They also comprise “Part Three” of “In Ghost Time,” titled “The Criminal in Each of Us,” which begins with a kind of free-verse statement of her purpose:

I want to make real things, primitive, direct and concrete — like statues

Who live outside the Law.

I want to make a roomful of anarchists, who live below the earth, with

No remorse.

Artist Susan Preston speaks before a crowd during a launch party for her book “In Ghost Time: The Art and Stories of Susan Preston” at Barndiva in Healdsburg Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025. (Beth Schlanker / The Press Democrat)

While raising her daughters, Preston put her life as an artist on hold. She waited until Maggie, her youngest, was in kindergarten before enrolling in art classes at the junior college.

“I would take one or two courses each semester,” recalls Susan, who was constantly checking art history books out of various libraries. Strewn about the house, those tomes were picked up and perused by Maggie and Francesca, who themselves gravitated, not surprisingly, to the arts.

So obsessed was Susan with painting, she says, that she had occasional pangs of guilt “that I wasn’t giving them enough attention” — a notion Maggie dismissed by telling her mother, “If you’d given us too much attention, we wouldn’t have been able to find our own way.”

Francesca, a poet, essayist, artist, and editor based in Petaluma, contributed “Lean In Closer,” an essay accompanying the fourth and final section of “In Ghost Time,” a crazy quilt of drawings and musings collected and curated from the dozens of journals her mother kept over nearly 40 years.

Art by artist Susan Preston — Artwork by Susan Preston hangs on the wall during a launch party for her book “In Ghost Time: The Art and Stories of Susan Preston” at Barndiva in Healdsburg Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025. (Beth Schlanker / The Press Democrat)

Those journals and notebooks contained “words, patterns, unanswerable questions, cross-outs, lines from poems — all dancing around and within those fabulous faces,” Francesca recalls in her essay.

The notebooks could be found throughout the Preston household, “all over the place, like turkey feathers after a dust-up. Sometimes they were left open. If I came across one, I would gaze at it like a lost sibling.”

The drawings in those notebooks, which evoke the illustrations of New Yorker cartoonist Maira Kalman, were often rough drafts, precursors of the mature works that came later. Susan’s hope is that other artists might look at the sketches “and understand how my mind works when I’m figuring out what art to do.”

To look carefully at some of those drawings, she said, is to see “exactly where my thinking was.”

Artwork by artist Susan Preston — Artwork by Susan Preston is on display during a launch party for her book “In Ghost Time: The Art and Stories of Susan Preston” at Barndiva in Healdsburg Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025. (Beth Schlanker / The Press Democrat)

In a Q&A with her mother that appeared on the website Fuji Hub in February 2025, Francesca wrote that although Susan “did normal things like pack lunches and look for ticks in our hair, she was also growing into her real life as an artist, a painter, an inward-outward thinker. By the time I was 20 she had made her way to the prestigious MFA program in painting at Mills College, under the mentorship of master Hung Liu.”

Liu, one of the first Chinese artists to establish a successful career in the United States, died in 2021 of pancreatic cancer, two months before the opening of a major exhibition of her work at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C.

A few months before her death, Liu had been planning an exhibit honoring women artists she’d mentored during her two decades at Mills. Thirteen of those former students were chosen to have their work showcased at the exhibit, Susan Preston among them.

One of the questions Francesca posed to her mother concerned a sketch gleaned from one of those journals. Beside a drawing of a gazing woman is the sentence “Put a little anger in your sugar bowl.”

Asked to explain, Susan replied, “Well, I think that as a woman I don’t want to be walked over. One of the ways we can keep that from happening is to be a little spiky. Pretend you’ve got spikes all over you. I mean, you don’t have to be that way all of the time. But like how animals can change form when they need to? Like that.”

Or like the spiked plant she mentions early in her book:

I live in a place called dry creek

Where stinging nettle grows unbidden

Along the ruffian water

Before a rain I might bury a drawing down

Under the black dirt

Near my studio door or take a painting to the river

To bury it by placing rocks on its face

When I return to collect the pieces I feel like a mother rescuing her child.

Star Wars Meets Wine Country at TOWN Dinner Series in Healdsburg

December 2025

By Dana Rebmann

Sommeliers taste wines in a blind tasting competition during the Blind Bottle Bash at Flambeaux Wine in Healdsburg. (Courtesy of TOWN)

With fire dancers, a gospel choir and a drone light show, the TOWN dinner series — short for Traveling Off-Season For Wine Night — has, in just two years, turned the traditional wine dinner model upside down.

Now, its co-founders, Arthur Murray, co-owner of Flambeaux Wine, and Alexander Harris (who goes by A3l3xzand3r), co-owner of The Harris Gallery Art & Wine Collection, are using their creative approach to foster relationships among small, family-owned wineries in Sonoma County.

On Dec. 4, the inaugural Blind Bottle Bash took place at Flambeaux Wine in Healdsburg. Wax-sealed invitations were hand-delivered to nearly 30 family-owned wineries and sommeliers. Unlike TOWN dinners, no tickets were sold and the public wasn’t invited. But don’t mistake this for a typical industry party.

TOWN invitations — Nearly 30 wineries and sommeliers received wax-sealed invitations for TOWN’s Blind Bottle Bash at Flambeaux Wine in Healdsburg. (Courtesy of TOWN)

“It’s supposed to be a community and this is how they used to do it, I’m told,” said Murray, who estimated he had never met about half of the Blind Bottle Bash attendees. “I want us all to get to know each other. There’s a synergy here. I think if we stand together as small, really good wineries, we can succeed. No one comes to Wine Country to taste at one place.”

In true TOWN fashion, the evening had a lively theme. A life-size animated Darth Vader, Stormtrooper and Chewbacca greeted guests; the TOWN duo has a soft spot for Star Wars. Each of the 20 wineries was asked to bring a red and a white wine of any vintage or varietal for a friendly blind tasting competition. That’s where an A-list of sommeliers dressed in Jedi robes came into play.

Sommeliers gather for TOWN's Blind Bottle Bash at Flambeaux Wine in Healdsburg — Sommeliers gather for the Blind Bottle Bash at Flambeaux Wine in Healdsburg. (Courtesy of TOWN)

Sommeliers in attendance included Ryan Knowles and Adrienne Harkey (Maison Healdsburg); Jon Macklem (Dry Creek Kitchen); Jared Hooper (Mayacama); James Spain (Beckon and Major Tom restaurants in Denver, formerly SingleThread); Laurel Livezey (Little Saint); Shelley Lindgren (San Francisco’s A16); as well as radio and television personality Ziggy Eschliman.

As the sommeliers sipped and swirled, they enjoyed a rare chance to relax, chat, and in some cases, meet for the first time.

“Events like this remind me of why I love being part of the Sonoma winemaking community. Even though people often assume that winery owners all know each other, the truth is that we’re usually so focused on harvest, hospitality and our own vineyards that we don’t get many chances to just connect,” said Justin Plott, direct-to-consumer manager at Thomas George Estates. “I definitely met several winemakers/owners I hadn’t crossed paths with before and it was refreshing to talk shop in a relaxed setting rather than during the chaos of the season.”

Sommeliers gather around a fire pit during the Blind Bottle Bash at Flambeaux Wine in Healdsburg. (Courtesy of TOWN)

Shelly Rafanelli of A. Rafanelli Winery said she enjoyed catching up with other vintners so much that by the end of the night, she realized she’d only taken one picture. “It was just a really fun night. To get out and talk to other vintners and other winery people; the camaraderie is really nice.”

Narrowing the winery invite list was no easy task. TOWN’s general guidelines followed a rule of 10: wineries within 10 miles of Healdsburg city limits, in business for 10 years and producing 10 thousand cases or less. Participating wineries included Aldina Vineyards, Anthill Farms, Aperture Cellars, A. Rafanelli, Bacigalupi, Bella Vineyards + Wine Caves, Croix Estate Winery, Flambeaux Wine, Gros Ventre Cellars, Lambert Bridge, Leo Steen Wines, Limerick Lane, Papapietro Perry, Porter Creek Vineyards, Quivira Vineyards, Robert Young, Smith Story Wine Cellars, The Harris Gallery Art & Wine Collection, Thomas George Estates and Unti Vineyards.

A table holding wine and glasses at the Blind Bottle Bash at Flambeaux Wine in Healdsburg. (Courtesy of TOWN) — A table holding wine bottles and glasses at TOWN’s Blind Bottle Bash at Flambeaux Wine in Healdsburg. (Courtesy of TOWN)

TOWN's Blind Bottle Bash at Flambeaux Wine in Healdsburg — Sommeliers participated in a blind tasting competition at the Blind Bottle Bash at Flambeaux Wine in Healdsburg. (Courtesy of TOWN)

“Familiar faces, long-overdue introductions and conversations we’ve all been too busy to have in-person,” said Alison Smith Story, co-founder of Smith Story Wine Cellars, summing up the event. “Hearing how everyone is navigating this year and tasting each other’s wines was the highlight.”

Thomas George Estates won top honors in both the red and white wine categories. Gros Ventre Cellars took second in the white category after a tiebreaking vote and A. Rafanelli placed second in the red category. Papapietro Perry took third in both categories. Along with a pair of lightsabers to be returned next year when Thomas George defends its titles, the winery has been invited to be a 2026 TOWN dinner series partner.

Harris and Murray promised more theatrics and unexpected guest appearances for the upcoming TOWN dinner series, and next year’s Blind Bottle Bash is already the talk of the town. Some members of the Jedi Sommelier Council have even requested Sith robes. From the silver screen to Wine Country, the sky’s the limit with the TOWN duo.

A Knights Valley Ranch Raises Wagyu for Exclusive List of Chefs

December 2025

By John Beck

Rancher William Densberger feeds his herd of 100% Japanese Wagyu cattle Wednesday, Oct. 6, 2025, on a ranch owned by Adam Gordon at the base of Mount St. Helena in the Alexander Valley. (John Burgess / The Press Democrat)

Not long after Adam Gordon opens the gate to his cow pasture, a bow-legged calf trots toward him, pausing to cock its head, ear tag wagging, before awkwardly circling back to its mother.

All around, Knights Valley resonates like a quiet spell. Aside from towering ridgetop oaks and vast farmlands and vineyards, the first thing you notice is a lingering silence.

“You can hear yourself think out here,” says Gordon, surrounded by a docile herd of 100% champion Wagyu cattle near a cluster of oak trees. “You can breathe again.”

With no shops or restaurants or hotels, the tiny valley is known more as a passage between Healdsburg and Calistoga than a destination. It’s where the road finally straightens after winding through sharp turns from either direction.

In the distance, wildfire smoke rings Mount St. Helena, a reminder of the flames that raced through Knights Valley back in 2019. It’s also a lesson in how cattle grazing can create essential fire breaks. “Grazing reduces the fuel load,” he says. “Our cows mimic what bison once did, keeping grasslands in balance.”

An Ohio native who made his mark in the New York City real estate market, Gordon likes to say, “I’m the least likely rancher you know.”

Instead of boots and Wranglers, he’s wearing Hokas with purple socks and running shorts after a long Sunday morning walk.

Together with his wife, Kristina O’Neal, who designs the interiors of world-class restaurants, they found Shangri-La in one of the last remote corners of Sonoma County. Knights Valley is where they escape the fast-paced hustle of Manhattan, if only for a few months of the year.

Fifteen years ago, when they bought the 227-acre spread, they christened it Ghost Donkey Ranch after seeing “spectral and elusive” wild donkeys wander onto the ranch and then disappear, apparently refugees from an old rescue farm.

They set out to design and build their own house, and in keeping with the ranch theme, they adopted a pair of pet donkeys, Sugimoto and Jinx, who occasionally hang out in their living room and live year-round on the property.

It’s a familiar story — wealthy outsiders discover Sonoma County and put down roots — or at least buy a second or third home. But what sets Gordon and O’Neal apart is how they connected with the land and the local culinary scene.

“I knew we didn’t want to plant a vineyard,” says Gordon, wary of contributing to the glut and monoculture of grapes in Northern California.

Rancher William Densberger feeds the herd of 100% Japanese Wagyu cattle as the sun rises on the Knights Valley ranch east of Healdsburg. (John Burgess / The Press Democrat)

A well-studied environmentalist who dreamed of being a marine biologist as a kid — breeding fish in seven aquariums in his bedroom and later serving on the director’s council of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography — Gordon is a strong believer that cattle play an important role in the greater ecosystem around them. “They aerate soil with their hooves, fertilize with manure, stimulate plant growth by grazing. Managed right, cattle restore more than they take. They’re not an imposition; they’re continuity.”

He was inspired by a conversation with SingleThread chef Kyle Connaughton, a family friend ever since O’Neal’s firm AvroKO designed the interior of the three-star Michelin restaurant in Healdsburg. Connaughton described how nearly every ingredient he brings into his kitchen is harvested within a roughly 40-mile radius — except some fish and prized A5 (the highest grade) Wagyu beef flown in at least every other week from Japan. Connaughton had sampled American Wagyu beef, but it wasn’t up to his standards. He also couldn’t trust that it was always 100% Wagyu.

“I was struck when Kyle told me (American) Wagyu felt inconsistent, too rich and fatty, more lardo than beef, and that what he wanted was something leaner, something you could serve as a main portion instead of a tiny sashimi-sized bite,” remembers Gordon, who doesn’t consider himself a big beef eater.

Knights Valley Wagyu cattle — A herd of 100% Japanese Wagyu cattle Wednesday, Oct. 6, 2025, on a ranch owned by Adam Gordon at the base of Mount St. Helena in the Alexander Valley. (John Burgess / The Press Democrat)

“That challenge stayed with me. I began researching, and over time grew convinced that with the right land, genetics, and care — and by letting our cattle roam freely — we could create a happier herd and a more consistent, flavorful product.”

Gordon approached local fourth-generation rancher, Will Densberger, who had been leasing property at Ghost Donkey Ranch to raise Black Angus, and together they founded Knights Valley Wagyu in 2018, starting with 100% full-blood champion genetics.

“The vision was simple,” Gordon says. “Raise the very best Wagyu we could, and share it only with chefs we admired, within bicycling distance of the ranch.”

Alex Fuentes, Head Chef of Special Projects, uses Knights Valley Wagyu beef three ways at SingleThread in Healdsburg, September 19, 2025. (John Burgess / The Press Democrat) — Alex Fuentes, Head Chef of Special Projects, uses Knights Valley Wagyu beef three ways at SingleThread in Healdsburg, Sept. 19, 2025. (John Burgess / The Press Democrat)

Starting with Connaughton, they assembled an all-star coterie of local chefs, including Matthew Kammerer at Harbor House Inn in Elk, Sean and Melissa McGaughey at Troubadour Bread and Bistro in Healdsburg, Elliot Bell at Charlie’s in St. Helena, and David Hopps at Izakaya Gama in Point Arena. Instead of working with celebrity chefs who lend their names to countless franchise operations, he says, “I wanted to work with chefs who still work in their own kitchens. These are chefs who have devoted their lives to their craft, and we want to help them. We want to restore that relationship with the local food community.”

The exclusive invitation to experiment with local Wagyu was irresistible. Wagyu has always carried a certain mystique, an edible status symbol with A5 Wagyu on the same level as caviar and truffles, selling for as high as several hundred dollars for a 6-ounce cut. The first taste is often a near-religious experience. Sean McGaughey’s initiation was a slice of Miyazaki A5 at a Charlie Trotter restaurant in Las Vegas.

“I remember how two or three bites in, it gets your cheeks watering and endorphins going, and your smile happens just because of the caveman in you,” says the Troubadour chef.

Then there’s the buttery, textural mouth feel that comes from super-rich intramuscular fat that marbles like no other beef in the world.”

Alex Fuentes, Head Chef of Special Projects, sears the Knights Valley Wagyu over coals at SingleThread in Healdsburg, Sept. 19, 2025. (John Burgess / The Press Democrat)

Alex Fuentes, Head Chef of Special Projects, uses Knights Valley Wagyu beef three ways at SingleThread in Healdsburg, Sept. 19, 2025. (John Burgess / The Press Democrat)

“I feel like the term ‘melt in your mouth’ gets thrown around a lot in the culinary scene, and it’s very rare that it actually melts in your mouth,” says Hopps, who found it to be accurate when he first tasted Wagyu at a sushi restaurant in Salt Lake City. “It’s just so tender because the way the beef is marbled. It’s like chewing on butter almost.”

Part of the exclusivity is by design. The history of Wagyu beef runs deep in Japan, going back thousands of years to original bloodlines. The word “Wagyu” literally means “Japanese cow.”

By 1910, the country’s government had banned cross-breeding with Wagyu. Since 1966, the “Wagyu Olympics” has been held every five years to decide champion cattle based on genetics and meat quality. In 1997, Japan finally banned the export of Wagyu cattle, declaring it a national treasure. Since then, there have been cautionary tales about Wagyu semen smugglers, black-market egg and embryo sales, and knockoff crossbred beef trying to pass as 100% Wagyu. In America, Australia, and New Zealand, Wagyu has been raised with varying success.

At Knights Valley, Gordon consulted a Wagyu nutritionist from Texas, who helped them start with 10 full-blood heifers, 10 full-blood yearling steers, and a young bull. For Densberger, who had never raised Wagyu cattle, the holistic approach was an extension of what he learned from his grandfather, who ran cattle on the St. Helena’s Connolly Polled Hereford Ranch, where Will was born.

“My grandfather didn’t own a horse and didn’t throw a rope. Everything was done super-stress-free,” says Densberger, who also works in real estate, selling larger ranches, vineyards, and farms.

With the Knights Valley Wagyu, Densberger applies the same methods. “I don’t throw a rope either. I don’t own a hot shot. I don’t ever try to introduce stress to the cattle because they’re much more difficult to handle, and the adrenaline runs through their system. I don’t think it is particularly healthy, especially for cattle that we’re going to be consuming at some point.”

In Japan, where land is limited, Wagyu are more likely to be penned or restricted in tight spaces for most of their lives, rather than roaming wide-open spaces. They’re often fed a heavy grain diet to boost fat content. In Knights Valley, Wagyu cows are grass-fed, with a small herd of around 80 roaming freely across more than 200 acres.

Five years ago, after the first of the Knights Valley herd was harvested, SingleThread held a blind Wagyu beef tasting for a handful of chefs. Connaughton fired up the whole hearth on a Saturday morning as the rest of the staff prepped for dinner that night. The contenders included Wagyu beef raised in Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and two American offerings — Knights Valley Wagyu and Snake River Farms Wagyu from Idaho. They sampled all rib-eyes, looking closely at different slices, the various marbling, and talking about texture and mouth feel.

By the end, the decision was unanimous, Gordon says. “All the chefs preferred all of our cuts.”

It might not go down as the Judgment of Healdsburg, but it was definitely a sign they were on to something. For Connaughton, Knights Valley Wagyu cuts were leaner, less fatty, and more distinctive. “The flavor is so much higher, the beautiful beef flavor that really comes with the grass feeding,” he says. “I think that is the true flavor of the animal. And then you obviously notice that it’s still quite rich and marbled.”

SingleThread in Healdsburg uses Knights Valley Wagyu beef in a skewer, broth and main dish Sept. 19, 2025. (John Burgess / The Press Democrat)

For guests accustomed to the super-rich, “melt in your mouth” experience of A5 Wagyu, the locally raised version is a different experience and requires some education. “If you tell someone this is 100% Wagyu and you stop there, and they have experiences with it, they’ll say, ‘But this is not very good beef. This is not rich, melt-in-my-mouth, fatty A5 goodness.’ So, it’s our job to tell the story properly and accurately,” says Connaughton. “And I find when I talk to guests and I say, ‘This is what we do, and this is what the result is,’ and then they have it in a dish, they’re like, ‘Oh, I love that. That was really delicious, but it wasn’t so greasy and rich.’”

Seven years after launching, Gordon and Densberger aren’t looking to scale much further beyond 20 mother cows. One-to-two animals are harvested each month and are shared among the chefs who each receive designated cuts. At SingleThread, Connaughton often grills rib cuts simply in the hearth, sometimes braising short ribs and roasting the marrow as part of a rice porridge. Other times, he’ll use the tenderloin for a Wagyu shabu-shabu hot pot, the thin slices of beef cooked in boiling broth at the table. At Troubadour, McGaughey gets three cases a month of mostly top, bottom, and eye rounds from the legs, roasting the meat for two days to make roast beef sandwiches, sometimes topped off with a banh mi garnish, other times serving it Chicago Italian beef-style. At Izakaya Gama, Hopps gets mostly organs, like hearts and tongues, that he grills on bamboo skewers over a high heat Kushiyaki-style, serving them with Karashi mustard. Leaving nothing to waste, he uses the bones to make a gyukotsu ramen broth.

Adam Gordon walks the pasture on his ranch at the base of Mount St. Helena in Knights Valley. The herd of full-blooded Wagyu cattle are grass fed but get supplemental feed during the dry summer months. (John Troxell) — Adam Gordon walks the pasture on his ranch at the base of Mount St. Helena in Knights Valley. (John Troxell)

Near the end of his walk around the ranch, Gordon points out recent owl and otter sightings, and where his pet donkeys live year-round, then starts to think about what awaits him when he returns to New York. His business partner, Robert De Niro, is currently filming “Meet the Fockers 4” at Wildflower Studios. The state-of-the-art film complex in Queens is a project Gordon collaborated on from concept to completion as managing partner at Wildflower Ltd. The company, which also creates e-commerce logistics centers and EV charging stations, has a solar footprint generating 1.2 million kilowatt-hours of power annually.

For a kid who grew up in Dayton, Ohio, interning at the Audubon Center in middle school, and later working at a museum of natural history — it’s been quite a journey.

When people find out “the least likely rancher” they know is raising American Wagyu, they often ask to try a cut. “One of my oldest friends just texted me. He’s like, ‘I’m in the Hamptons, would you send me some Wagyu?’ I said, no, you have to come out and visit.”

Gordon points out it’s not a mail-order company and was never intended to be. “Every day we have to support our local chefs,” he says.

So when De Niro asked for a taste not long ago, he didn’t consider making an exception?

“No. Because if you open the door a crack, then everybody wants in.”

Century-Old Pick’s Drive-in Prepares for Reopening in Cloverdale

December 2025

By Heather Irwin

Pick’s Roadside, the iconic Cloverdale burger spot, reopens in January 2026. (Pick’s Roadside)

The century-old Pick’s Drive-In, a Cloverdale landmark for generations, will reopen in mid-January after months of renovation by Anidel Hospitality, the Sonoma-based company founded by entrepreneur Chris Fanini. The group specializes in breathing new life into historic properties, including the Sonoma Cheese Factory and Lake Tahoe’s Chambers Landing.

Often cited as the oldest drive-in in California, Pick’s — soon to be renamed Pick’s Roadside — traces its roots to the early 1920s. It originally opened in 1923 as Reed and Bell’s Root Beer Stand, a regional franchisee of A&W Root Beer, founded by Lewis Reed and H.C. Bell. In the early 1950s, Mayo and Johnie Mae Pickard purchased the roadside stand and renamed it Pick’s Drive-In.

While the paper trail gets a little fuzzy when it comes to Pick’s claim as the “oldest,” there’s no doubt about its century-long evolution from roadside pit stop to full-fledged drive-in, serving burgers, fries and frosty mugs to generations of farmers, families and travelers.

Pick's Drive-in — Burgers, shakes and Cokes are the staples at Pick’s Drive-in, downtown Cloverdale Tuesday, June 14, 2022. The Cloverdale landmark will reopen in January 2026 as Pick’s Roadside. (Chad Surmick / The Press Democrat)

The new menu will stick closely to the classics — burgers, milkshakes, root beer floats and fries. But this being Sonoma County, burgers will be made with premium Wagyu beef and optional ingredient upgrades will be available. The drink list will include a curated selection of wine and beer. Maybe most importantly, Pick’s much-loved red relish is making a return.

“Our goal was to create the best burger in Sonoma County,” said Anidel managing director John Wittig.

When the business was put up for sale in 2024, its future was uncertain. Anidel Hospitality saw an opportunity to revive, rather than raze, a piece of Cloverdale’s history.

“Pick’s has always been more than just a restaurant,” said Amber Lanier, a fifth-generation Cloverdale resident and general manager of Pick’s Roadside, in a June interview. “It’s a gathering spot, a piece of history and a place that has shaped the memories of so many in Cloverdale.”

Amber Lanier, a fifth-generation Cloverdale resident and general manager of Pick's Roadside. The iconic Cloverdale burger spot reopens in January 2026. (Pick's Roadside) — Amber Lanier, a fifth-generation Cloverdale resident and general manager of Pick’s Roadside. The iconic Cloverdale burger spot reopens in January 2026. (Pick’s Roadside)

This may be just the beginning of Anidel Hospitality’s focus on historic Cloverdale projects, according to Wittig.

“We want an active role in the revitalization of Cloverdale. We have a couple of businesses in mind,” he said. The company has already revived Sonoma’s historic Cheese Factory and purchased Sonoma’s Best Modern Mercantile from embattled developer Ken Mattson.

“The majority of investors don’t want the complexity of these historical buildings — and we have experience handling them. We see so much opportunity here,” said Wittig.

Cloverdale, a town of nearly 9,000, has shared the fate of many highway bypass communities, slipping off the radar after Highway 101 was rerouted in the 1990s. The old Redwood Highway once ran through the heart of downtown, delivering a steady stream of travelers to local shops and restaurants before traffic sped past instead.

More details on Pick’s planned Jan. 10 opening are expected soon.

Failla Wines Showcases the Best of Sonoma in the Heart of Napa Valley

December 2025

By Tina Caputo

The Failla Wines tasting room in a cottage on 11 acres Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025 along the Silverado Trail north of St. Helena. (John Burgess / The Press Democrat)

What’s a Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir and Chardonnay specialist doing holed up in an old hunting cabin along Napa Valley’s Silverado Trail? Is it infiltration into enemy territory? An effort to provide visitors with palate cleansers between big Napa Cabs? There’s no need to question Failla’s motivation — just sit back and enjoy their beautifully made, cool-climate wines.

The story

Founder and winemaker Ehren Jordan, a Pittsburgh native, didn’t grow up in a wine-drinking family. His vinous path began unexpectedly during his college years at George Washington University in D.C., where he studied art history and took a job stocking shelves at a wine-and-spirits shop — mainly for the beer discounts. That gig led to a post-graduation role with a Denver wine distributor, and later to Il Poggio restaurant in Aspen. His enthusiasm for wine quickly propelled him to the position of restaurant manager and wine buyer.

A nudge from an Aspen friend steered Jordan toward a summer job as a tour guide at Joseph Phelps Vineyards, where he soon worked his way into the cellar. Looking to deepen his production skills, he then headed to France’s Rhône Valley to work with renowned winemaker Jean-Luc Columbo.

The Failla Wines tasting room has a cozy feeling with isolated tasting rooms Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025, along the Silverado Trail north of St. Helena. (John Burgess / The Press Democrat)

When Jordan returned to California in 1994, his former Phelps boss, Bruce Neyers, tapped him to be the founding winemaker at Neyers Vineyards. Though Jordan worked for free, he received a stake in the business. He also did side work for Helen Turley and bonded with her brother, Larry, who recruited Jordan to lead winemaking at Turley Wine Cellars in 1996. Around the same time, Jordan purchased a Sonoma Coast property near Cazadero and planted it to Syrah, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.

In 1998, Jordan and his wife Anne-Marie Failla (pronounced FAY-lah) launched their own label — initially called Failla-Jordan — focused on cool-climate wines. Jordan sold his stake in Neyers in 2003 to build a winery in St. Helena, just a five-minute drive from Turley, where he originally made the Failla wines, and near his home in Calistoga. The tasting room opened in 2010.

The Failla Wines tasting room has a cozy feeling with isolated tasting rooms Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025 along the Silverado Trail north of St. Helena. (John Burgess / The Press Democrat) — The Failla Wines tasting room has a cozy feeling with isolated tasting rooms Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025, along the Silverado Trail north of St. Helena. (John Burgess / The Press Democrat)

The vibe

The Failla tasting room is set inside a cozy cabin built in 1920, previously owned by Napa Valley chef Cindy Pawlcyn, of Mustard’s fame. The place is cozy and homey, with knotted-wood walls and ceilings, and a stone hearth decorated with antlers. Tastings take place in a couple of living room seating areas (if you’d like a pretty view of a Zinfandel vineyard, request a spot near the front window). There’s also casual outdoor seating on the front porch and in Adirondack chairs under some redwoods on the front lawn.

On the palate

Though Jordan tends to stick with a handful of grape varieties, he loves to experiment with different site expressions based on climates and soil types. His winemaking vessels of choice tend to be egg-shaped concrete fermenters and neutral oak, so fruit and place take the lead.

The 2023 Jurassic Park Chenin Blanc from Santa Ynez Valley ($45), fermented in concrete, is a crisp and lovely wine with lively acidity and notes of green apple and citrus. The 2023 Olivia Sonoma Coast Chardonnay ($48) has fresh, lemony aromas and tropical fruit flavors. With bright aromas of red fruits — think raspberries — the 2023 Lola Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir ($48) is a juicy wine with a medium body and pencil shaving notes.

The Failla Wines tasting room features small batch Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Syrah Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025, along the Silverado Trail north of St. Helena. (John Burgess / The Press Democrat)

For a unique experience Failla Wines offers tastings in the cave Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025 along the Silverado Trail north of St. Helena. (John Burgess / The Press Democrat) — For a unique experience Failla Wines offers tastings in the cave Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025, along the Silverado Trail north of St. Helena. (John Burgess / The Press Democrat)

Tastings range from $65 for a seated tasting in the lodge to $90 for a cave tasting to $150 for a library tasting of selections from the winery’s private cellar, with vintages dating back to 1998.

Beyond the bottle

If you haven’t yet made it to the Julia Child exhibit at the Napa Valley Museum of Arts & Culture — also known as “The MAC” — you still have until March 2026 to check it out. The playful, interactive showing even includes faux simmering pots that exude simulated aromas from Julia’s signature recipes when you lift the lids.

Failla Wines is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily by appointment. 3530 Silverado Trail N., St. Helena, 707-963-0530, faillawines.com

Tina Caputo is a wine, food, and travel journalist who contributes to Sonoma magazine, SevenFifty Daily, Visit California, Northern California Public Media, KQED, and more. Follow her on Bluesky at @winebroad.bsky.social, view her website at tinacaputo.com, and email her story ideas at tina@caputocontent.com.

Where To Dine Out on Christmas in Sonoma and Napa

December 2025

By Heather Irwin

A wall full of nutcrackers on display over customers at Costeaux French Bakery in Healdsburg on Tuesday, December 9, 2025. (Christopher Chung/The Press Democrat)

Looking for places to dine out in Sonoma and Napa counties on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day? We’ve gathered a few favorite spots, plus preholiday events like the Tinsel Takeover with holiday-themed cocktails at Santa Rosa’s Iron & Vine; Miracle and Sippin’ Santa pop-ups; and holiday teas at Hotel Healdsburg.

Santa Rosa

Lazeaway Club at Flamingo Resort: Christmas Eve prix fixe dinner from 5-9 p.m. Menu selections include celery apple consommé, seared day boat scallop with pancetta, vanilla-brined pork chop with sweet potato confit, braised short rib with jasmine rice congee, and chocolate ganache tart with sour cherry glaze. $138 per person, prepaid. Tickets available on OpenTable. The Lazeaway Club also hosts Sippin’ Santa, a tiki-inspired holiday cocktail pop-up, through Jan. 6. 2777 Fourth St., Santa Rosa, 707-510-4533, lazeawayclub.com

Iron & Vine: Through Dec. 30, the Bennett Valley Golf Club restaurant is transformed with Christmas decor for its Tinsel Takeover, featuring holiday-themed cocktails like the Mistletoe Martini and Elfin’ Eggnog. Reservations are suggested but not required. 3330 Yulupa Ave., Santa Rosa, 707-528-3673, bennettvalleygolf.com/tinsel-takeover

Beer Baron: Miracle Holiday pop-up with festive decor, specialty cocktails and fun. 614 Fourth St., Santa Rosa, 707-757-9294, beerbaronsr.com

John Ash at the Vinarosa Resort: The restaurant will serve a four-course Christmas Eve dinner from 5-9 p.m. and Christmas brunch from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., led by executive chef Sergio Howland. The menu highlights estate-grown squash, Dungeness crab, halibut, Point Reyes cheese and Sonoma-raised duck. $145 per person. Reservations via OpenTable. 4330 Barnes Road, Santa Rosa, 707-575-7350, vinarosaresort.com/dining/john-ash

Miracle’s Christmas Cricket cocktail at Brewsters Beer Garden in Petaluma. (Melissa Horn)

Petaluma

Seared: Christmas Eve dinner is available by reservation from 3:30-8 p.m., with an à la carte menu of starters, salads, and mains such as short ribs, flat iron steak, prawn and lobster risotto, and halibut. Salad and dessert are included with entrées. 170 Petaluma Blvd. N., Petaluma, 707-762-5997, petalumaseared.com

Della Fattoria: Christmas specials include bûche de Noël, panettone, Christmas cookies, dinner rolls, and Gateau Basque cranberry-vanilla cake. Preorders are available for pickup on Dec. 24. 143 Petaluma Blvd. N., Petaluma, 707-763-0161, dellafattoria.com

Miracle at Brewsters: The annual Santa-themed pop-up returns with festive decor and classic holiday cocktails, including boozy eggnog and hot buttered rum. 229 Water St., Petaluma, 707-981-8330, brewstersbeergarden.com

Boat Shack at Nick’s Cove decorated for Christmas — The newly reopened Boat Shack at Nick’s Cove in Marshall on Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025. (Christopher Chung/The Press Democrat)

Sonoma Coast

Nick’s Cove: Along with its new boathouse debut on the pier, the restaurant offers a rotating mussel selection inspired by global flavors from Dec. 8 to Jan. 4 and is open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Christmas Eve. 23240 Highway 1, Marshall, 415-663-1033, nickscove.com

Rohnert Park

Waterhawk Lake Club: Miracle holiday pop-up with festive decor, specialty cocktails and fun. 5000 Roberts Lake Road, Rohnert Park, 707-355-4219, thewaterhawk.com

Glen Ellen

Songbird Parlour: Early Christmas Eve dinner seating runs from noon to 5 p.m., featuring local ingredients in dishes such as kampachi crudo, orange-braised pork belly, pan-roasted steelhead, ricotta-lemon gnudi, duck breast, and filet mignon. Reservations required. 13740 Arnold Drive, Glen Ellen, 707-996-2301, songbirdparlour.com

Layla at MacArthur Place will offer Christmas dinner, including Parker House rolls — Parker House rolls in a skillet, served with chicken drippings, at Layla restaurant in MacArthur Place Hotel in Sonoma on Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2019. (Alvin Jornada / The Press Democrat)

Sonoma

Layla at MacArthur Place: Christmas dinner features a three-course prix fixe menu with options including butternut squash soup, Dungeness crab cake, roasted Liberty duck, delicata squash polenta, braised beef short rib and a trio of holiday desserts. $120 per person, with optional wine pairings for $55. Prepaid reservations required. 29 E. MacArthur St., Sonoma, 707-938-2929, macarthurplace.com

Santé: A three-course prix fixe Christmas dinner includes a family-style starter with caviar and blinis, followed by choices like roasted chestnut soup, smoked ham, lamb chops, butternut squash ravioli and family-style sides, and finishes with eggnog cheesecake or warm apple toffee pudding. $125 per adult, $39 per child. Reservations available on OpenTable. 100 Boyes Blvd., Sonoma, 707-938-9000, fairmont-sonoma.com

Sebastopol

Portico: Italian-style Christmas Eve dinner with antipasti, duck ragù with polenta, and chocolate walnut cake for dessert. $70 per person. 110 N. Main St., Sebastopol, 707-888-9136, porticosocialfood.com

Patisserie Angelica: Holiday high tea is served from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. Reservations required. The bakery also offers holiday desserts like bûche de Noël, an almond Christmas cake, and mini Christmas tree cakes. Open Christmas Eve. 6821 Laguna Park Way, Sebastopol, 707-827-7998, patisserieangelica.com

Patisserie Angelica's holiday high tea — Patisserie Angelica’s holiday high tea is served from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. (John Burgess / The Press Democrat, file)

Holiday Tea at Dry Creek Kitchen in Hotel Healdsburg. People of all ages are welcome to join the restaurant for a festive afternoon of tea, cocktails, housemade pastries, finger sandwiches and other holiday fare. (Hotel Healdsburg)

Healdsburg

Dry Creek Kitchen: Holiday tea service is offered from 1-2:30 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays through Dec. 21, featuring teas, custom cocktails, housemade pastries, finger sandwiches and seasonal bites. $85 per person for tea and food, $98 with wine or cocktail pairings, $49 for children under 12. 317 Healdsburg Ave., Healdsburg, 707-431-0330, drycreekkitchen.com

Folia: The new Charlie Palmer restaurant at Appellation Healdsburg is open on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. The regular $85 prix fixe menu will be offered, along with a 14-ounce roasted prime rib with horseradish, au jus, black truffle and roasted garlic for an additional $20. 101 Dovetail Lane, Healdsburg, 707-723-2130, foliabarandkitchen.com

Spoonbar: Celebrate the 12 Days of Christmas Cocktails from Dec. 11 to 24, with a new holiday-themed cocktail each day. Low- and no-alcohol options are available. 219 Healdsburg Ave., Healdsburg, 707-433-7222, spoonbar.com

Costeaux French Bakery: Kids can visit Santa from 9-11 a.m. on Dec. 20. The bakery also features its holiday Nutcracker collection, as well as cookies and seasonal sweets. 417 Healdsburg Ave., Healdsburg, 707-433-1913, costeaux.com

Costeaux French Bakery wall of nutcrackers — A wall full of nutcrackers on display over customers at Costeaux French Bakery in Healdsburg on Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025. (Christopher Chung / The Press Democrat)

A nutcracker ornament hangs on a Christmas tree at the entrance of Costeaux French Bakery — A nutcracker ornament hangs on a tree at the entrance of Costeaux French Bakery in Healdsburg on Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025. (Christopher Chung / The Press Democrat)

Napa Valley

Bear at Stanly Ranch: Christmas Eve dinner features festive dishes at $165 per person, with optional $95 wine pairings. Christmas Day brings a holiday twist on the restaurant’s farm-to-table menu with a special à la carte brunch. 200 Stanly Crossroad, Napa, 707-699-6250, auberge.com/stanly-ranch

Silverado Resort: Hanukkah specials at the Grill include matzo ball soup and braised lamb with roasted potatoes through Dec. 22. Christmas pickup dinners are available by preorder for Dec. 24. 600 Atlas Peak Road, Napa, 707-760-4834, silveradoresort.com

Bardessono: Christmas brunch and dinner menus include Dungeness crab tart, roasted beef tenderloin, Yukon Gold pavé, winter mushrooms, truffle, cabernet jus and classic holiday desserts. 6526 Yount St., Yountville, 707-204-6000, bardessono.com

Mendocino

Little River Inn: Christmas dinner on the Mendocino coast features an à la carte menu with locally foraged mushroom bisque, clam chowder, duck cassoulet, prime rib, candy cap mushroom eggnog and brown butter pumpkin cake. Reservations available on Tock. 7901 Highway 1, Little River, 707-937-5942, littleriverinn.com

Find Unique Gifts at These Sonoma County Boutiques for a Very Vintage Holiday

December 2025

By Sonoma Magazine Staff

Various vintage and modern holiday-themed decor, trinkets and home goods at Mavis & Mavis in Cloverdale. (John Burgess / Sonoma Magazine)

When it comes to sustainable gifting, what’s old is new again. Sonoma County is brimming with beautifully curated vintage boutiques and dealers with a keen eye for one-of-a-kind treasures perfect for giving, decorating, and wearing this holiday season.

Here are some of our favorite places for quirky, nostalgic, and cool finds, where the joy of discovery is around every corner.

By the team of Isabel Beer, Jennifer Graue, Emma Molloy, Melanie Nguyen, Carey Sweet, and Matt Villano.

Cloverdale

Mavis & Mavis

Erin and Lyle Mewes ran out of room in their home for their beloved antiques and vintage goods, but rather than give up going to flea markets and antique sales — one of their favorite pastimes — the Cloverdale couple last year opened a store instead. Mavis & Mavis (the store’s name is a phonetic pronunciation of the couple’s German last name) isn’t filled with only oldies but goodies, though; rather, it’s a home goods and gift store that reflects their personal style, which Erin describes as “a love of antiques with a modern twist.”

Among new artisan goods, such as locally made candles and hand-forged cheese knives, shoppers might also find antique olive-picking baskets, chapati rollers from India, and remnants of 100-year-old Turkish rugs that have been repurposed into runners, floor mats, and pillows — perfect for gifting or a home decor refresh. “We have made an effort to normalize giving vintage,” says Erin. Their top seller is a “blind date with a book” — a vintage book wrapped in a brown paper with a bare description of the book’s genre. “I’m a huge reader. I love finding first edition and out-of-print books,” she says. “Finding the right person for them is such an amazing gift.” 117 N. Cloverdale Blvd., Cloverdale. 707-955-6766, erinmavis.com/mavismavis

Erin and Lyle Mewes of Mavis & Mavis — Erin and Lyle Mewes (pronounced Mavis), owners of Mavis & Mavis, and unique gift shop Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2025, in Cloverdale. (John Burgess / Press Democrat)

Favorite Things with Erin & Lyle Mewes of Mavis & Mavis

Holiday Traditions

Erin: The tree lighting in the plaza in Healdsburg. I just love the tradition of all of the shops being open, everyone in town flooding the square, the countdown to the tree being lit. It just feels like Stars Hollow (from “Gilmore Girls”). It reminds me of Christmases raising kids which I think are the most magical Christmases you have. Now we’re big fans of the Geyserville Tractor Parade. It’s just classic small town.

Shopping day bites

Lyle: When we are in Petaluma we love to go to Stockhome. In Geyserville we go to Corner Project. We love it. They always know who you are and what they turn out of that little, tiny kitchen is unbelievable. It’s tucked away and excellent food. And they have music on Saturday nights which is always fun.

Favorite vintage gift

Lyle: For my birthday one year Erin got me a program from the 1973 World Tattoo Exhibition in San Francisco. On the cover was artwork from a famous tattoo artist, Lyle Tuttle, which is my first name as well. I loved it. I actually got the artwork on my arm.

Guerneville

Emerald Era

Michelle Morales and her husband, Benjamin Miles, traded in the dazzling lights and blustery winters of the Windy City for the small-town charm of Guerneville nearly two years ago. She left behind a career as a music teacher to pursue her love of vintage clothing, which started at a young age. “It began, I would say, with the nostalgic feeling of old cinema,” says Morales, noting her parents introduced her to classic Hollywood films at the local video store. “I just became enamored with the covers of these films and I would pick out a few every time and just immerse myself in that.”

Today, Morales runs an online shop, Emerald Era, out of her small home studio. The vintage clothing she curates exudes Hollywood glamour inspired by starlets of the silver screen like Marlene Dietrich and Audrey Hepburn. Morales travels to some of the world’s most fashionable cities to seek out timeless styles for her themed capsule collections. Her holiday collection ranges from a casual green and red plaid shirtdress to New Year’s Eve party-perfect frocks like a 1940s purple crushed-velvet dress. To complete the look, Emerald Era also stocks purses, jewelry, shoes, and accessories, such as a black velvet purse adorned with beaded Christmas trees. emeralderavintage.com

Duncans Mills

Revolution Vinyl & Vintage

In the historic 1877 Victorian burg of Duncans Mills, this particularly nostalgic destination is a salute to times gone by when music lovers would gather around a record player and really listen, pore over liner notes together, and embrace the authentic, sometimes slightly scratchy sounds of an album. Shop owner Tommy Bannister is all about such throwbacks, with his collections that span a gently loved 1968 Vanilla Fudge album (“Season of the Witch!”), and a sexy 1959 German Normande Electra AM/FM/SW tube radio with a rare satellite extension speaker.

Rare Albums, Magazines and vintage stereo equipment at Revolution Vinyl in Duncans Mills. (John Burgess / The Press Democrat)

“I studied art, history, and anthropology, and previously ran an antique store, so have always loved vintage,” he says. Bannister is a rock star himself, partnering with his neighbor Sophie’s Cellars (a rustic bungalow tasting room showcasing limited production bottlings from across Sonoma County), for monthly Soup, Wine, and Funk parties sharing — well, soup and wine — while “DJ Tommy B” spins his favorite deep cuts. “I curate all my items, from records to stereos,” he says. “A lot of it just finds me, organically.” Shoppers can make a day of it in Duncans Mills. The postage stamp-sized village on the banks of the Russian River is jam-packed with treasures, spilling out of some two dozen unique cottage shops and art galleries set around communal gardens. 25171 Highway 116, Duncans Mills. 707-721-2358, duncansmillsvillage.com

Petaluma

Jess Brown

At first glance, Jess Brown looks like a clothing boutique — and it is one, featuring classic wardrobe pieces from designer Jess Brown, but a closer peek reveals a collection of carefully curated vintage treasures woven throughout: a Swedish butterfly wall tapestry, a set of Japanese sauce dishes, and a collection of antique Japanese trunks called tansu. They blend seamlessly with the timeless quality of her clothing and handpicked new art and ceramics pieces.

There’s an air of days gone by in the quilts and rag dolls Brown makes with fabric scraps from her clothing line. The rag dolls, an item that became so popular they landed Brown in the pages of “Martha Stewart Living” and on the “Today Show,” are no longer her focus, but she makes custom orders on request. Brown considers her shop an extension of her home, filled with all her favorite things. That includes a midcentury modern living area in the front so customers can hang out and chat. Brown especially loves seeing new friendships forged there. “I have this perfect balance of all the things I enjoy and a space that helps customers see what it might look like to live with things that are meant to endure the test of time.” 144 Petaluma Blvd. N., Petaluma. 707-782-3290, jessbrowndesign.com

Celebrate at Jess Brown with a winter community art show and concert by Bela Haye & Sloan Irving from 6-9 p.m., Dec. 13.

Favorite Things with Jess Brown of Jess Brown Designs

Favorite vintage gift

My daughter turned 27 on Aug. 27 and her name is Stella Brown and I found a thimble from the 1600s — a silver thimble, engraved SB. I had it made into a pendant for her. It’s my favorite thing I’ve ever found or given. It made me go out of my mind that it even existed.

Holiday traditions

I like intimate events a lot. On Dec. 13 we’re hosting a concert. That is going to be a beautiful December event. I like intimate gatherings that are not fussy, that make you want to get dressed up a little bit, but not stuffy or formal.

Finding peace in the busy season

I go almost every day to a thrift store or every weekend to a flea market. For me it’s a really meditative process to wander through open marketplaces. That’s refreshing to me. The best way for me to unwind is in my backyard with a cup of tea.

Healdsburg

Hudson Street Vintage

For years, the east side of Healdsburg has been known for its tasting rooms and access to the Russian River. Now, with the opening in July of Hudson Street Vintage in the Old Roma Station building, it’s easy to while away an afternoon sipping and shopping away from the hustle and bustle of the nearby square. Owner Constance Brown is no stranger to the world of rare and retro finds; she opened Healdsburg Vintage in 2009 and sold it to Modern Antiquarium in 2016.

All told, the new shop represents her fifth collective. “I couldn’t stay away,” she jokes. “I like this business too much.” Options at the newest store, which features 13 vendors, are eclectic. For those already looking forward to Country Summer, Western Sky Vintage curates a collection of previously loved cowboy boots and Western shirts. Fiori, run by fifth-generation Healdsburger Dawna Hoskins, celebrates the 1970s with Eames chairs and throwback housewares.

Perhaps the best part about shopping at Hudson Street Vintage: the neighborhood vibe. Every Wednesday at Fogbelt Brewing Company is Neighborhood Night with $10 cheese pizzas, and on Sundays at Emmitt-Scorsone Wines across the street, chef Mateo Granados cooks up a brunch featuring ingredients grown in the on-site garden. Tasting rooms at Old Roma Station are open by appointment and for walk-ins, as well. 51 Front St., Healdsburg. 707-387-2243, Instagram.com/hudsonstreetvintage

Sebastopol

Hero

Owners Bart Levine and Sally Hurd have such a passion for sustainability that they point out they’ve been together for 49 years. The husband-and-wife duo love to collect antiques, plus build their own custom contemporary furniture, then design client homes around an increasingly fashionable concept — vintage meets modern. Whether new or old, “we demand quality and timeless pieces,” Levine says. “Every piece has a story,” he says of the 17th to 19th century pieces and ’40s to ’60s retro enchantments at their Sebastopol store. “And our own works will last a lifetime, actually even longer.”

One petite chandelier is an elegant ball of crystal flowers that looks both modern and old-school elegant at the same time — it turns out it is indeed antique, with a Gatsby flair. Many of Hero’s larger vintage items come stamped with a maker’s mark, but so do smaller gifts like a leather driving cap, worthy of handing down through future generations. “We don’t want things to be disposable,” says Hurd. “And it’s wonderful to see so many younger people embracing that idea these days.” 6791 Sebastopol Ave., Suite 160, Sebastopol. 415-366-5886, herocalifornia.com, Instagram.com/hero_california