I think you may have heard of this small little town in the middle of Sonoma County named Healdsburg? They are on every magazine’s top 10 list to visit for many different reasons! We have fallen in love with Healdsburg for the food, wine, and beer of course, but the locals seem to always make our trip that much more special.
Sunday morning we started our drive to Geyserville, CA to begin our day off right at The Francis Ford Coppola Winery. We didn’t plan on wine tasting for the day but planned a day at the pool! That’s right Coppola Winery in Geyserville has a pool that includes table service. The staff is amazing and gives wonderful service, the food was delicious, and they have a full bar! What more can you ask for when it’s 90 degrees out and you’re at a winery with a pool. You can also rent cabins for your friends and families to enjoy a little luxury while at the pool. Check out their website for more information!
We stayed at the pool until about 3pm. We then headed into Healdsburg to check into our hotel and get cleaned up for dinner. We always stay at the h2hotel which is located walking distance from the square and is the sister hotel of the Hotel Healdsburg. We love the h2hotel because they have the best beds and we actually sleep through the night when we are in a hotel! Shocking I know. They also have smart TV’s in every room so you can get your Netflix on after a wild night out. We are hooked on Stranger Things! If you’re an 80’s child you will love this show! Check it out. The h2hotel also gives you tons of snacks and sparkling water (which we all know I love my bubbly water) in your room so you can stay well hydrated and full throughout your visit. All and all it’s probably the best hotel we have stayed at in this area by far!
After we had checked into the hotel and freshened up for the night, it was time to find a new place to have dinner in the square. For years now we have been walking by this Mediterranean restaurant called Taverna Sofia. We looked at each other and said “let’s try this, we have been wanting to go here for years but just haven’t been adventurous enough.” So we did! Look at us doing things o
utside of our comfort zone! We walked in and immediatley felt like we were in Greece. We sat outside on the patio and the amazing waiter greated us with such a friendly smile, menus, and some humor! We were excited to see what was next. The waiter walked us through the menu and gave us some great tips on what to order because we were newbies to Mediterranean food. As an appetizer we ordered the Mezze Plate which did not dissapoint! As you all know we love Rose right now so we paired our dinner with the Kelley and Youngs Rose! For dinner I had the Gyro with their homemade french fries and Dustin had the Moussaka. Both were very delicious and we finished both of our plates! We finished dinner off with Greek Coffee which hit the spot and gave a second wind to start out the night!
After dinner we decided we wanted to walk a little so we explored the square a bit. We wandered into Duke’s Spirited Cocktails. So glad that we did. 
Duke’s is a new cocktail bar that just opened a few weeks ago! We recognized a few of the people that worked there from our time at the Spoonbar which is in the h2hotel. Duke’s is a joint venture with past employees that will last a lifetime in Healdsburg! This place was booming with business and the owners were all behind the bar. I had the Root 116 which is shown here. Made with Benham’s Gin, Apple, Lager Reduction, Ginger, Coriander, and Lemon. It was delicious. Dustin had the Siren which was made with Vida Mezcal, Cucumber, Lime, Lemongrass, Jalapeño, Bergamot, Rao Ram. One of the owner’s favorites! We can’t wait to come back and hang out again soon! Cheers to success. We always have to visit Bergamot Alley which is right on Healdsburg Avenue. They always have the best lo
cal beer on draft, from Moonlight to Henhouse! They even had Modern Times on draft when we were in this weekend. European Wines, and Champagnes are Kevin’s specialities. Small bites on the menu include grilled cheese, kettle chips, and much more! Check out their website for a detailed menu. Bergamot Alley always has great live music which includes blue grass, folk, and if there is no live music, they are playing your favorite vinyl records! Great record collection from all over the bay area! We have met so many great locals at Bergamot Alley who have always made us feel at home. A lot of industry people come and grab a night cap here after their shifts. We love talking with them and hearing their diverese experience and knowledge around Sonoma County and other places. We actually had an intelligent Pokemon conversation with a few the other night and really enjoyed it! Cheers to getting people out and about into the world!
The next day we checked out of our hotel around 10am and decided to drive to Santa Rosa to check out The Last Record Store! One of the best, most organzied Vinyl collections in the area. We scored a few albums from Van Halen, Waylon Jennings, Motley Crue, Taj Mahal, and Queen. We will be back to see what you got next time we are in the area! Now we were off to Russian River Brewing to fill our growlers and grab some Pliny the Elder and Blind Pig in bottles! Always a great time talking with the bartenders there and we love the Pliny Bites! We waited to eat so we could try a new place out in Geyserville.
We started to get hungry for lunch, so we left Russian River Brewing and headed towards Geyserville, CA! One of our amazing followers on Facebook told us about a great lunch spot there and said we had to check it out! We were sold on Italian, pizza, and amazingness, so we found our way to Diavola Pizzeria in a very small town called Geyserville! W
e walked in and were greeted with a friendly smile. Our server showed us to our patio table through a very cute alley way filled with hanging laundry and beautiful flowers! The patio ambiance was amazing, romantic, and more than we could ask for! Our waitress was very helpful with the menu and the daily specials. We decided to share the dry creek farms peach salad which included Arugula, Crispy Prosciutto, Goat Cheese, Candied Walnuts & Moscatel Vinaigrette. This was very delicious. We also decided to share the pizza special of the day which included fresh seasonal veggies. We loved everything! Diavola Pizzeria is a great stop for amazing food, atmosphere, and culture!
Before we headed home we walked next door to Pech Merle Winery (pesh-mael) to share a tasting. When you walk inside your eyes start wandering around at the amazing design decor they have in the tasting room. They have many different seating areas to make your fr
iends and family very comfortable. Surf boards to row boats, and an old Harley Davidson motocycle from 1908 are some of the highlights of their tasting room! They have great patio seating too! We were able to go right up to the bar to talk and discuss the wines with them. We loved the 2012 Russian River Pinot Noir! They sell wine by the glass too!
Ramazzotti Wines was a must for us because V. Sattui does a Ramazzotti Zinfadel that we love. We had to stop in and share a tasting of the actual Ramazzotti Winery! The owner, Norma was there pouring wines which is always a nice treat for us. She was very friendly and engaging with us and enjoyed telling about the wines, their family history, and the vineyard lifestyle! It was an absolute pleasure! On top of that we loved their wine! Our two favorites were the Cabernet Franc, and the Grenache Noir. Everything was amazing so it was hard to choose what to come home with. We will definelty be back to enjoy and explore more of Geyserville next time we come through. Thank you for a great weekend Healdsburg! Cheers to the week and enjoying what you do in life!
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