If Sonoma County makes you think red, white or rosé you’re on the right track of course, but there’s lots more to it than great wine. The area has become a popular culinary getaway. This is where the tasting room attendant on your vineyard tour may be the actual winemaker. And this month visitors can discover migrating whales, and fishing fleets during the Dungeness crab season. A getaway to Sonoma is laid back, relaxed and delicious.
Here’s a quick look at just a few of things that are new in Sonoma County in December 2019.
WINERIES
Emeritus Vineyards
Mari Jones, president of Emeritus Vineyards in Sebastopol, in western Sonoma County guides a team that includes renowned winemaker David Lattin (formerly of Merus and Kuleto Estate), and acclaimed vineyard manager Kirk Lokka. Her father, legendary vintner and Emeritus founder Brice Cutrer Jones, will transition from president to chairman.
Emeritus Vineyards has been exclusively dedicated to making estate-grown Pinot Noir from its two vineyards: Hallberg Ranch in the Russian River Valley and Pinot Hill in the Sebastopol Hills since they were founded in 1999. The property has 150 acres of dry-farmed vines.
Saini Vineyards
The new tasting room at Saini Vineyards in northern Sonoma County has benefitted from four generations of wine grape-growing expertise in their craft of Zinfandel, Sauvignon Blanc, and Rosé. Great-grandfather Michele Saini arrived in the US from Italy in 1908, and in 1917 he bought a ranch in the Dry Creek Valley with his brother-in-law, producing pears, apples, prunes, and wine grapes. They bought a second ranch in Alexander Valley in 1934.
The family has built a solid reputation as grape growers with a passion for quality, selling to some of the best wineries in Sonoma County. In 2008, fourth-generation family member Mike Saini launched Saini Vineyards, making wine under his own label from grapes grown on his family’s land.
BREWERIES AND BREWPUBS
The new Parliament Brewing Company was founded in 2016 in Rohnert Park in central Sonoma County. It hosts a taproom serving a variety of small batch beers. Recent offerings have included Whatchamacallit IPA, Friend from Vermont New England Pale Ale, Berry Pie Sour, Goes Uh, Brown Cow brown ale, and a brown ale infused with coconut and chocolate.
RESTAURANTS & EATERIES
Ovello Salumeria
The owners of Ovello Salumeria in Sonoma, in eastern Sonoma County are Andrea and Doreen Marino whose new venture offers styles of salami from various Italian regions, on a property that includes a climate-controlled salumi fermenting room and a salumi aging room.
They produce Spanish and Italian hams and the shelves hold tins of Italian and Portuguese sardines and tuna, preserves and Italian hazelnuts. Chef Andrea owned his own Michelin Star restaurant in Barbaresco, Italy and bakes focaccia, pizzettes, Italian cakes and desserts. He and Doreen met in Italy and moved to the US where they got married, started a family, and began planning Salumeria Ovello.
Trattoria Roma
Trattoria Roma in Petaluma’s downtown theater district, in southern Sonoma County is a family-run operation created by Tuscany born Edward and Josephine Pizzutti, their two children Ann Marie and Tony, and Tony’s wife Rosa with a menu drawing on popular dishes from other restaurants they have owned over the years.
House-made pastas are a specialty, including daily ravioli; lasagna layered with meat sauce, mozzarella, and Parmesan; and spaghetti carbonara tumbled with pancetta, egg, Parmesan, and Pecorino Romano. Entrées include pollo piccata with chicken sautéed in lemon, caper butter, and white wine; char-grilled rib-eye steak with sautéed spinach and Gorgonzola butter; and calamari steak Doré sautéed abalone style with parsley-butter-lemon sauce. The vegetables and herbs come fresh from the Pizzutti garden.
Baker & Cook
Jen (the baker) and Nick (the cook) Demarest use local, sustainable ingredients at Baker & Cook in the Sonoma Valley, in eastern Sonoma County. The previous owners of Harvest Moon Café on the Sonoma Plaza, they are graduates of the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York.
Their breakfast menu includes biscuits and gravy with scrambled eggs, quiche, bagels with smoked salmon, and shoestring potatoes. Bruschetta, hummus and salads are on offer for lunch, as well as coffees, teas, hot chocolate, juice, seasonal smoothies, bellinis, mimosas, and wine.
Dessert choices include brioche filled doughnuts, coffeecake, gluten-free beignets, gluten-free coconut almond cake with chocolate glaze cookies, brownies, lemon bars, cakes, cheesecake, sweet and savory galettes, and scones.
Village Bakery
Owners David and Melissa Codding are bouncing back after having to close their Village Bakery in Sebastopol because of flooding last February. They have remerged with two new retail stores, both in Santa Rosa, in central Sonoma County.
The new location in the Montgomery Village Shopping Center is a retail bakery, a café, and a gluten-free baking facility with skillet dishes, sandwiches, and seasonal specials from chef Zack McClintock. The site on Sebastopol Road Santa Rosa, features breads, pastries, and coffee, with a traditional bread-baking kitchen.
Kenwood Inn
The Kenwood Inn & Spa is now offering multi-course Saturday night dinners with wine pairing, available exclusively to overnight guests of the Sonoma Valley Inn.
Chef Sam Badolato has developed a loyal following in Wine Country with his farm-to-table dinners at wineries and other venues over the years. The Saturday night feasts (a different menu each week) includes a multi-course meal and wine pairing with each course. Dinners will be offered every Saturday through March 14, 2020.