Eve Bushman and Ed rediscovering Healdsburg and Visiting Napa for flavor, fun-loving wine adventures, and approachable luxury.
We spent Thanksgiving week wine tasting in Napa again this year, also adding in some time in Healdsburg in Sonoma County. It had been over ten years since I was in Sonoma, as Napa is my husband’s preference, but that has actually changed with this long-overdue visit for more than one reason.
For one, the downtown area is a mecca of trendy restaurants, bars, antique stores and winery tasting rooms – where most of my focus was.
For two, which I didn’t recall from before, the pricing on the wines seemed much more approachable than Napa wines.
And three (yes, there is a three), the Zinfandels I remember loving were knocked out of the park for me on this trip!
We had such a good time we added another day to our trip to explore Healdsburg a bit more. (Not to discount Napa, ever, as it’s amazing, but for now we will concentrate more on both Sonoma and Napa for our annual trip.)
Moving on, I had worked hard on our itinerary – with help from my Contributing Editor Michael Perlis and my sister in law Ann – and we visited five winery tasting rooms and one winery I had never been to before, though I was familiar with some of their wines:
Rombauer Vineyards, Chateau Buena Vista, Selby Winery, Rockpile Winery, Marietta Cellars and Michel Schlumberger Wine Estate.
Want a taste?
See all about our visits below and on my public Facebook page or Instagram.
Chateau Buena Vista – Downtown Napa
https://buenavistawinery.com/chateau-buena-vista-napa
Probably one of the most beautifully restored buildings in downtown Napa, Chateau Buena Vista is a two story tasting room with amazing furnishings as well as original structural pieces. With the assistance of Tasting Room Assistant Manager Mary Natale, we learned quite a bit about the history of Buena Vista, and for us, a different idea on wine and chocolate pairing.
The chocolate, handmade and hand decorated by Earth and Sky, was curated to match the wines in the ”Opulence Flight”. Mary explained that the fat in chocolate pairs with red wine as well as steak does – all due to the fat. The wines for each unique chocolate included a 2023 Private Reserve Pinot Noir, 2022 Valdiguie (an interesting light red that I enjoyed), 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon.
We learned a little history of both owners: the “Count of Buena Vista,” Agoston Haraszthy, who founded the winery and John-Charles Boisset who owns it to this day along with other properties in Napa and in France. And then, we noticed four wine bottles each with a different design in gold, a tribute to Haraszthy as “The Founder’s Collection”. The first named him as the “Aristocrat” as a Hungarian nobleman, the second was a nod to the time he spent as “The Sheriff” – the first for San Diego, “The Founder” of Buena Vista in 1857 and finally, his demise, eaten by a crocodile when he and his wife had left California wine country behind and traveled to Nicaragua to make rum.
Rombauer Vineyards – Napa
What a treat to travel up into the hillside and be rewarded by grand views, and even grander to taste crowd-pleasers white and red wine made by Rombauer Vineyards. Most know their Chardonnay (bought 3 from Carneros), Sauvignon Blanc (bought 3 from Sonoma County) and Cabernet Sauvignon but how about these: 2019 Le Meilleur du Chai Cabernet (dark fruit/spice), 2023 Napa Valley Merlot (dark with good fruit) or their 2023 Twin Peaks Zinfandel (rich/layered/balanced with blueberry and pepper).
We took advantage of the current one penny shipping deal and ordered a few bottles to have at home later. This was one winery I would like to visit again in the Spring so I can sit outside and take it all in again.
Selby Winery – Healdsburg
Sitting in an outdoor tasting patio, we worked our way steadily through many wines that interested us, as well as a brief introduction to owner and winemaker Susie Selby.
Wines I enjoyed (and purchased many) included their 2024 Rose of Grenache, 2024 Sauvignon Blanc (fresh and zingy), a 2024 dry Riesling (aromatic/rich/minerals), the 2022 Chardonnay (nice oak and enjoying a nice sweet spot), Dave’s Reserve Chardonnay (exceptional quality), 2019 Grenache (sweet cherry/dry/tannic), 2019 Syrah (dark fruit/tart finish), 2019 Petite Sirah (best strawberry jam notes I’ve ever had), 2021 Merlot (with some Cab Franc and had nice fruit notes), 2019 Azevedo Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon (planted near eucalyptus, needs a decant), and a 2021 old vine Zinfandel (sweet). This was another new-to-me winery and another patio tasting to enjoy again in the Spring!
Rockpile Winery – Healdsburg
https://rockpilevineyards.com/visit-us/
Wasn’t going to say this…but I have to admit that Rockpile was my favorite winery of the trip!
I had their wines before (thanks again to our Contributing Editor Michael Perlis) but it had been a while, long enough that I forgot how good they are. I knew one of the three winemakers, Antoine Favero, when I visited another of the Wilson Artisan Wineries, Mazzocco back in October 2014 and went crazy for all of their Zinfandel wines then.
Fast forward over ten years, and I learned that Rockpile not only benefitted from their wines made by Favero but also winemakers Diane Wilson and Chris Barrett. I bought a case of wine that included 2020 Barrel Select Cabernet Sauvignon (I would drink that right now without any cellaring), 2022 Feather Ridge Cabernet Franc (made by Favero and my favorite of the tasting), 2022 Botticelli Zinfandel (great spice), 2022 Jack’s Block Zinfandel (dark and spicy), 2023 Buffalo Hollow Pinot Noir (very big with butter notes due to malolactic fermentation), and 2024 Rose of Syrah (fresh, sweet, good to go and no acid).
Shout out to Sean M. Beehler, DTC Sales Manager, for taking awesome care of us in a lovely private tasting room. It was a leisurely tasting and I so look forward to enjoying these wines at home very soon!
Marietta Cellars – Healdsburg
https://www.mariettacellars.com/
Another winery suggested by Michael Perlis for their excellent wines is Marietta Cellars. We were lucky to visit as the tasting room had only been open for a month, though the winery has been around since 1978. Scot Bilbro, the current winemaker and owner, is the second generation to own the winery. Scot’s wife, Lisa, is credited for the artful design of the tasting room as well as some of the wine labels.
The wines we tasted included the 2023 Rosewood Field Blend (earth/red fruit/minerals), 2023 Carmine Cabernet Franc (I had to buy a couple of bottles as I loved the aromatics and berry flavors), 2022 Nadi Dry Riesling (fresh fruit/lemon/low acid), 2022 Angeli Zinfandel (sweet cherry notes), 2022 Game Trail Cabernet Sauvignon (bright fruit, I would decant), and the 2022 Gibson Block Field Blend that was predominantly Syrah (beautiful red to blue fruit).
Michel-Schlumberger Wine Estate – Dry Creek Valley
(15 minutes from downtown Healdsburg)
Another winery we drove a few minutes out of town to reach and was well worth it: Michel-Schlumberger. The grounds and building were immaculate and leant themselves well to drone photos and video. Once we entered the tasting rooms we were immediately greeted by Brennan Brown, their vivacious, intelligent and friendly Hospitality & Marketing Associate.
Brennan explained that they currently have 40 acres under vine, the estate was founded in 1979 by Jean-Jacques Michel, in 1991 Michel-Schlumberger was born. Then Brennan led us through a tasting of some seriously fun wines: a non-vintage Sparkling Rose that had been harvested in 2018 and made in the champenoise style (bruised apple/Brie on toast), 2024 Pinot Blanc (fresh lemon zest/zingy/low acid), 2019 Merlot (blue to black fruit/big/tannic/balanced/toasted oak), 2023 Zinfandel was Eddie’s favorite (good fruit/tannins/decant), 2019 Mountain Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon (top notch/tannin/Zin characteristics) and a 2019 Deux Terres red blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% Petit Verdot (outstanding and ready to drink).
Instagram accounts to follow:
Eve Bushman has a Level Two Intermediate Certification from the Wine and Spirits Education Trust (WSET), a “certification in the first globally-recognized course” as an American Wine Specialist ® from the North American Sommelier Association (NASA), Level 1 Sake Award from WSET, was the subject of a 60-minute Wine Immersion video (over 16k views), authored “Wine Etiquette for Everyone” and has served as a judge for the Proof Awards, Cellarmasters, LA Wine Competition, Long Beach Grand Cru and the Global Wine Awards. You can email [email protected] to ask a question about wine or spirits.
Rediscovering Healdsburg and Visiting Napa
