HEALDSBURG, SONOMA COUNTY GIRLS’ GETAWAY WINE TASTING WEEKEND

Last month I spent a fun wine tasting weekend in the picturesque town of Healdsburg, located in the heart of Sonoma County – California’s wine country.

Healdsburg is a small, tourist-oriented town with great shops and restaurants. If you are staying in downtown Healdsburg you can walk to everything and you are just a short drive to all the incredible nearby wineries on Westside Road.

This was my first time in Sonoma County and after having the best weekend with two of my girlfriends I fell in love with the area! Here are my suggestions for how to have the perfect girls getaway’ wine tasting weekend in Healdsburg, Sonoma County.

Table of Contents hide

GETTING TO HEALDSBURG, SONOMA COUNTY

WINE TASTING IN HEALDSBURG – DAY 1

Winery 1: Willams Selyem

Winery 2: Flowers

Winery 3: TWOMEY

WINE TASTING & SHOPPING IN HEALDSBURG – DAY 2

Breakfast in Healdsburg

Shopping In Healdsburg

Winery 1: Rochioli

Winery 2: Landmark Vineyards

Wine Bar: Flight Deck

DINING IN HEALDSBURG

Barndiva

Bravas

Campo Fina

HEALDSBURG TIPS FROM A WINE AFICIONADO

BRANDLESS ECO LUGGAGE

Book Your Stay In Healdsburg, Sonoma County

GETTING TO HEALDSBURG, SONOMA COUNTY

Sonoma County is conveniently located about 50 miles north of San Francisco International airport, so if you are flying in from a different country it would be best for you to fly into SF. But if you are flying into Healdsburg from within the United States I highly recommend flying into Santa Rosa Airport.

I flew from LAX to Santa Rosa Airport which was a quick 1.5hr flight and then it was just a 15-minute drive to downtown Healdsburg.

WINE TASTING IN HEALDSBURG – DAY 1

My friends and I arrived at Santa Rosa airport around 11am, dropped our bags at our accommodations in downtown Healdsburg and went straight to wine tasting on Westside Road. This is where many of the best wineries are located.

While Westside Road is close to Healdsburg, you still need to take an Uber or book a driver in advance. We ended up taking Uber and paying our driver extra to stay with us for the day and take us from winery to winery which worked out great.

Winery 1: Willams Selyem

Our first stop was Williams Selyem Winery. You have to be a list member to have a tasting at Williams Selyem Winery and tastings are by appointment only and must be booked in advance.

My friend Erin was a member here so she set up a tasting for us. I tasted a lot of wine during our two days in Sonoma County and this wine was my favorite. I loved their pinot noir so much that I bought a couple of bottles and had them shipped to my house.

3 women standing in front of vineyard with wine glasses

Winery 2: Flowers

Our second wine tasting stop was Flowers Winery. I had tried Flowers’ pinot noir before and loved it, but this was my first time trying their rosé wine which was delicious and a nice treat as they offer you welcome glass upon arrival.

This tasting room and garden called “House Of Flowers” is stunning and was by far the most unique and beautiful winery we visited. While they take walk-ins on a limited basis, reservations are required to have a full wine tasting experience here.

We called on our way here and were able to accommodate us, but because we didn’t have a reservation in advance we were not able to get any snacks or light bites with our tasting. This was a bit of a rookie move on our part as we did not have lunch, so by the bottom of our wine glasses here we started to feel a bit tipsy and starving. So, I would strongly suggest booking a reservation well in advance here and asking if you can pre-order some food or snacks.

Wine glasses on wooden table with chairs and garden in the background

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Winery 3: TWOMEY

TWOMEY is a great, laid back winery on Westside Road. This was the perfect third and final stop on our first day of wine tasting.

The TWOMEY tasting room has pretty views of their vineyard, is open till 5pm and reservations are not required. And they had breadsticks which literally saved us after hours of wine tasting with not a single bite of food!

WINE TASTING & SHOPPING IN HEALDSBURG – DAY 2

Breakfast in Healdsburg

We had breakfast at Oakville Grocery every morning and loved it! They have great healthy breakfast options plus good coffee and lattes, and lots of snack foods as well as a nice deli section where you can find tasty lunch options.

Shopping In Healdsburg

Healdsburg has a lot of cute boutiques so I suggest spending a few hours shopping here. If you head to the main square and walk around you will find chic clothing stores, little antique shops, restaurants and coffee shops all around the downtown area. My friend Misha and I spent several hours walking and shopping around town which was a great way to get some exercise before more wine tasting!

Bartender pouring white wine into glass at bar

Winery 1: Rochioli

We got a late start wine tasting on our second day and went to Rochiolo on Westside Road around 3:30pm without a reservation. Unfortunately, reservations are required here so they turned us away but we were able to check out the tasting room which is lovely and has gorgeous views of their vineyards. So if you want to do a tasting here be sure to book in advance!

Winery 2: Landmark Vineyards

Landmark Vineyards is right next door to Rochioli and has a lovely tasting room. No reservation required at Landmark Vineyards and they are open till 5pm, so luckily we were able to walk over to this winery and still enjoy a fun wine tasting experience here.

The woman pouring our wine here was so sweet and accommodating and very knowledgable about wine. She explained to us that drinking water, while you are wine tasting, ruins the flavor of the wine. So instead of drinking sips of water during your wine tasting, wait till after your wine tasting is over and then hydrate with water!

Woman holding glass of white wine in tasting room

Wine Bar: Flight Deck

All of the wine tasting rooms in the Healdsburg area close by 5 pm, but if you are still in the mood to taste more wine after hours head to a wine bar in downtown Healdsburg!

After wine tasting at Landmark we went to Flight Deck wine bar in Healdsburg. I loved the atmosphere but the wine was not amazing. Check out my tips from a wine aficionado below for an alternate wine bar to go to in Healdsburg.

DINING IN HEALDSBURG

Barndiva

Barndiva is a farm-to-fork upscale restaurant offering American cuisine in stylish, barnlike surroundings with a spacious garden patio. The food is excellent here and so is the wine and the unique, charming ambiance!

Bravas

The tapas at Bravas were excellent and they had a selection of great meat, vegetarian, and vegan options. I loved the hip decor and indoor/outdoor spaces and their sangria is meant to be very good!

Campo Fina

Campo Fina is a stylish Italian restaurant offering wood-fired pizza and small plates. They also have a large covered patio and a bocce court.

We ate dinner here on our last night in Healdsburg and loved it. I suggest sitting on the back patio, ordering pizza and wine and playing bocce ball – the perfect way to end a fun wine tasting weekend!

Be sure to check our 5 Must Do’s In Healdsburg article for more fun activities in Healdsburg, and our guide on Wine Tasting in Napa Valley.

HEALDSBURG TIPS FROM A WINE AFICIONADO

One of my friends, Erin Hlynsky, the owner and CEO of VinleyMarket.com loves Healdsburg and has been visiting this town for years. She inspired us to do this girls’ getaway wine tasting weekend and planned it, so I wanted to share some of her tips from years of visiting Sonoma County.

Erin says, “The splurge will be accommodations around the town square, which can be pricey unless you score a reasonable Airbnb. However, it’s worth it if you consider the following itinerary:

Rent bikes or Uber-hop between wineries on Westside Road that leads out of town. When plotting your route, you’ll want to make sure you loop over to Eastside Road to head back to Healdsburg.
You’ll be in the heart of Russian River Valley with storied wineries that are famous for making some of the world’s best Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes. There are unassuming roads that lead off to beautiful lakes in the center of the loop. Check those out!
Stop for pictures on the rusty red bridge that is on your route. Come back into town and finish at Siduri tasting room before heading to dinner somewhere fun like Bravas Tapas or Campo Fina!

Arista has incredible Pinot Noir in a nice tasting room setting. Gary Farrell has amazing Chardonnay and an even better view of the Russian River Valley that you enjoy through a seated tasting. Definitely make appointments to visit each winery in advance.”

BRANDLESS ECO LUGGAGE

For this wine tasting weekend in Healdsburg, I took my new Brandless carry-on suitcase and got a ton of compliments on it! I love this luggage, not only because it is lightweight and well designed but because it was made with sustainability in mind. With every carry-on case made 20 plastic bottles are prevented from entering landfills and our oceans! I’ll raise a glass of wine to that!

Have you been to Healdsburg or somewhere else in Sonoma County? If you have any tips or questions please leave these in the comments below.

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We Are Travel Girls Co-Founder Vanessa Rivers of GlitterandMud.com
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