5 New to Taste and Town: Tasting Rooms in Healdsburg
When you are out on the town for a favored holiday weekend or just bouncing around the plaza, you can see the bustle of Healdsburg has changed. Shiny and new, the influx in restaurants and tasting rooms gives this town some more flare to add to its charm. The newest additions welcome you to their establishments, and here, just for you, is the 5 new Healdsburg Plaza tasting room lineup:
Sip, relax, and enjoy!
1. Idlewild
One might think that with all the tasting rooms in Healdsburg the market would be too saturated to open one, especially when the product is doing well without public exposure. Idlewild is the exceptional exception, bringing more gusto and gustoso (and did I mention Italian flare?) to the Healdsburg Plaza. Sam Bilbro, a well-known lad born into the industry, founded the Idlewild label after falling in love with Piedmont varietals. Now, he crafts for our pleasure seven Italian varietals served in a neatly furnished tasting room clad in black and white. As if being invited to your neighbors living room for wine and cheese, this wine bar truly captures the homey-chic essence of Healdsburg.
Bilbro believes in letting the grapes do what they do best, conducting the winemaking process themselves, where he listens to nature and does what he’s told: the hard labor. Hence the name, idle (the winemaker) and wild (the vines of nature). Enjoy the star of the show, Nebbiolo, a sure match for any food or just as resilient on its own.
2. Breathless
It is a mantra more than a state of wonderment, though both are liable to happen at this new Healdsburg tasting room. The first impression that takes away your breath is the secret garden patio inviting you to lay upon its plush couch pillows or bask in (or indirectly to) the sun at the picnic table. This new winery was created by three sisters in tribute to their mother whose spirit character is drawn on every label as a beautiful red haired woman sitting atop a popped cork amidst the spray of bubbles. The fun-loving tasting room of bubbles only (and a moscato) reminds us not to live for every breath we take, but to live for every moment that takes our breath away. Never sweet and always fruit-forward, these bubbles certainly embody those moments. Take home the Brut which is rose-gold in color from slight skin contact giving it a bold taste of cider and pink grapefruit.
3 & 4. Sanglier and Lurton
Something old can definitely be something new, and Sanglier’s new tasting room is deserving of that recognition. From top to bottom, they have revamped the atmosphere, and I don’t know if you’ve notice yet, but wines tend to taste much more scrumptious when you are relaxing. In this roomy room you will experience a tongue-tantalizing tasting in a welcoming environment. Take two steps left and enjoy more wine! Sharing a tasting room with Sanglier, Lurton is new to town, transporting the historic art form of French winemaking to Healdsburg Avenue. In the Lurton flight lineup, their French-style California cabernets are placed alongside their Bourdeaux counterparts. Take your taste buds on a vacances with old and new world wines from Sonoma Valley to the Grand Crus of Bourdeaux.
5. Siduri
Welcoming Siduri to their newest home of Healdsburg wasn’t hard to do as their well-loved pinots and zins have made a name for themselves around these parts. Changing location was a huge step forward for this couple of wine-lovers. The large open-aired tasting room furnished with unfinished wood floors and rustic tables, gives the impression of an old saloon in the back-country. This location (formerly Partake) offered a full-fledged kitchen in which Siduri takes advantage of with their delicious snack menu. Check them out on Tuesdays for local’s night or for Happy Hour every Monday through Friday from 3-6pm. And don’t just go for the wine, they have beer on tap! Open until 8, this is your late night tasting room to finish off the day right. Don’t leave without trying their legendary Limerick Lane Zinfandel.
