World-class wine, stunning scenery and farm-to-table dining are just some of Sonoma County’s many drawcards. As a group of Travel Associates advisors recently discovered, there’s something to tempt your taste buds at any time of day.
Breakfast
For the perfect start to your day, head to the Big Bottom Market in Guernville. This rustic-style cafe serves craft coffee alongside their speciality biscuits. In America, biscuits are part scone, part cake, part bread and the perfect way to start a day. Fluffy, light and delicious the ones served here are so good they’ve been endorsed by Oprah Winfrey herself. If you love them too, you can buy your own mix or a cookbook of recipes to take home!
Lunch
Equally good for lunch or dinner, the Wild Goat Bistro in Petaluma is packed with rustic charm. Choose from small or large plates, salads, sandwiches and delicious Neapolitan-style pizzas, all made with fresh, local farm-to-table ingredients. The menu boasts a great selection of gluten-free and vegan dishes, plus a range of local wines, of course. Our advisors recommend the Four Cheese, Fig and Pig pizza and suggest that the Kung Pao brussels sprouts will change your opinion of this much maligned vegetable.
Dinner
Overlooking the Courthouse Square in Santa Rosa, the Perch & Plow is an airy restaurant and cocktail bar serving delicious locally inspired dished. Along with taste bud tempters such as tuna poke and baked brie, you will find crowd pleasers such as hanger steak and California sea bass. Be sure to sample the flight of cocktails, which are every bit as delicious as they are colourful. Or choose your favourite from the enticing drinks list.
Sip & Cycle
What better way to while away an afternoon in wine country than on a sip & cycle tour. Enjoy a leisurely bike ride through the vineyards, stopping to indulge in delicious local wines along the way. Our advisors were thoroughly entertained by the histories of Buena Vista Winery and Bartholomew Estate Vineyards and Winery. At Buena Vista, a visit to the Blending Seminar Cave lets you taste and adjust proportions to create the perfect wine for your palate, which you can then bottle with a personalised label and take home.
Where to stay
Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn
From the champagne served on arrival to the sumptuous a la carte breakfasts, this historic property will surprise and delight. Suites are an excellent choice here as they feature a sitting area around an open fireplace and a Jacuzzi in the middle of the room. It’s the kind of hotel you could visit at various times of the year and get a different experience each time, with fire pits to keep you warm outside in winter and big sun umbrellas to keep you cool in summer. At 3,700 square metres, the hotel also boasts the biggest and best spa in the area. Built around a natural hot spring, it’s the perfect place to unwind for a day.
Are you ready to book your next Sonoma County getaway? Speak with our experienced travel advisors on 13 70 71 or enquire online here.
