At All Roads North, we believe that a place is nothing without its people. So often, when we ask our clients the most memorable parts of their journey, it’s not the Instagram-worthy landscape or acclaimed hotel that they mention, it’s the encounters they had along the way.  That’s why our trips are carefully designed to make those connections, providing you with an authentic and immersive experience. These experiences– whether it be with a local craftsman, musician, chef or marine biologist– are the inspiration for our Connections series, where we talk to friends of All Roads North to get an insider’s look at some of our favorite places across the U.S.

Flowers Winery

Tell us about your Healdsburg story?

Hello, I’m Chantal Forthun, winemaker for Flowers Vineyards & Winery in Healdsburg. For the past decade, I’ve had the fun privilege of making Pinot Noir and Chardonnay that amplify the wild natural spirit of the far Sonoma Coast, where our high-elevation estate vineyards are situated.

My Healdsburg story begins about 12 years ago when I was visiting friends in the area. I was immediately and indelibly struck by the bucolic beauty while driving on Eastside Road. The golden-hour sunlight was hitting the sea of undulating vineyards in the most perfect manner. I couldn’t believe how beautiful the landscape was, and how I was just discovering it for the first time! Furthering my budding love for Healdsburg was the interplay between locals and tourism — the community seemed so unified through its deep and solid roots.

What three words sum up Healdsburg for you?

Food & Wine Mecca.

What’s something that Healdsburg does better than anywhere else?

Genuine and warm hospitality and appreciation for the land, born from Healdsburg’s agrarian roots.

What major “tourist attraction” lives up to the hype?

Healdsburg Plaza – a convivial community gathering spot framed by redwoods and date palms, and flanked by some of the world’s best restaurants and wineries.

What’s your favorite neighborhood to wander?

I love the historic architecture of the homes downtown, so that’s the neighborhood I frequent the most.

Underrated in Healdsburg, overrated in Healdsburg, personal favorite, and recent discovery?

Underrated: Shopping around the Plaza. Ooh La Lux and Jam Jar are some of the sweetest boutiques that embody the Healdsburg lifestyle.

Overrated: World-class dining in our backyard means that reservations at highly rated (not overrated!) destinations such as SingleThread are hard to come by! To avoid disappointment, it’s well worth it to plan ahead and make a reservation months in advance. The beautifully curated dining experience will certainly reward your pre-planning efforts!

Personal favorites: Healdsburg Farmers’ Market (Saturday mornings!), and live music during the summer at Tuesday in the Plaza

Recent discovery: Maison Healdsburg — grower champagne at your fingertips!

Downtown Healdsburg

What’s your Sunday morning in Healdsburg?

Grab a coffee and a pastry at Quail & Condor. Take a leisurely stroll through the Plaza. Check out Little Saint Farms’ farmstand at Little Saint. Pop into Marine Layer to say hello to friends and have a splash of Chardonnay from the Sonoma Coast.

What restaurant do you take friends from out of town for dinner, a casual local’s favorite, and a weekend brunch?

Bardiva is my go-to for out-of-town  guests. The stylish barn architecture and culinary spotlight on fresh, local, and seasonal ingredients is quintessential Healdsburg.

Hands-down casual local’s favorite is Guiso Latin Fusion. This family-owned  & operated eatery is super small, with only a handful of tables. The intimate setting coupled with lively stories told by one of the servers (also the father of the chef!) makes you feel like part of the family. And, the pupusas are not to be missed.

For weekend brunch, I love The Parish Cafe — a taste of New Orleans in Sonoma County.

Sonoma Coast

Where do you go to get into nature?

There are so many great nature spots around Healdsburg, but I always gravitate toward the Sonoma Coast for its dramatic landscape and salty sea breezes. The Kortum Trail hike out to Goat Rock Beach, where the Russian River meets the Pacific Ocean, is one of my favorites. Rocky coastline meets windswept coastal forest — and seals! It’s also a hop, skip, and a jump from our coastal estate vineyards.

What trends are you noticing in Healdsburg right now?

The diaspora of talented chefs who cut their teeth at Michelin-starred restaurants going out on their own with inspiring new additions to the local culinary scene. Troubadour Bakery and Molti Amici, to name a few new greats.

We love sending clients to places that portray an authentic sense of place. How does Flowers encapsulate the Healdsburg region?

Architecturally, House of Flowers was designed as an homage to the natural landscape of the Russian River Valley, and to the wild natural elements of our coastal estate vineyards where the Russian River meets the Pacific Ocean. Our space is filled with natural materials, earthy hues, abundant natural light, and ever-present views of the surrounding redwoods, vineyards, and mountains that define our local landscape.

Experience Healdsburg with this itinerary: 

Sonoma and Mendocino: A Farm to Table Road Trip

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Our favorite properties tend to be the ones that use food and wine as a key ingredient in showcasing the beauty of the region, using seasonal, ultra-local food to bring a true taste of Northern California to the dinner table. At these properties, from Michelin-starred restaurants to family-run wineries, a strong sense of place is instilled into every dish. 

Michelin Coast-to-Table

Harbor House Inn quietly occupies a private cove about 16 miles south of the quaint town of Mendocino. Outfitted with redwood, the dining room– originally created as a showroom from the region’s logging days– overlooks the property’s gardens. Beyond that, the cove’s clear turquoise water laps at the foot of cliffs and a stunning arched rock formation commands the attention of the horizon. 

Harbor House is a small inn with only six traditional rooms in the main building and five standalone cottages for extra privacy. Those staying at the inn are privy to early access to dinner reservations, but many come just for the food. Twenty seats are available each night  Thursday through Monday for a tasting menu that typically features around 12 courses. The menu rotates nightly and is sourced locally. As many ingredients as possible are sourced straight from the garden on site, and the rest are products of local farms and ranches. Out of the 12 courses, there is typically only one land-based meat dish. The rest highlight fresh vegetables, produce and seafood. 

 “The ability to forage for seaweed, mushrooms, herbs and edible weeds in our backyard and the surrounding coast and forest has shaped the cuisine to be a true local snapshot of our area,” Chef Matthew Kammerer said.

Night after night, Harbor House plays with the ever changing flavors of the region, elevating not only delicacies like sea urchin, but also more humble items like seaweed harvested from the nearby coastline, or lace lichen plucked from overhanging trees. The creativity and vision is evident in every dish, earning the restaurant its rightful place as the only one with Michelin stars in Mendocino county. 

Small Batch Production

A hundred miles further south in Sonoma, Beltane Ranch perfectly encapsulates the magic of small-batch wine production and farming. When you step onto the property, you’re greeted first by a friendly shaggy dog (and maybe the far off bleating of the babydoll lambs), and then by the warm presence of Lauren Benward, whose family has run the ranch for six generations. 

 The property was built on a colorful, ‘Wild West’ past. In 1879, a pioneer California viticulturist and winemaker named John Drummond planted Beltane’s first official vineyard. He utilized the property’s volcanic soil to graft the old mission style grapevines to fine wine varieties, including Cabernet and Chardonnay with cuttings from the French Chateaus: Margaux, Lafitte Rothschild and the Hermitage in Bordeaux. 

In 1892, the ranch was purchased by Mary Ellen Pleasant, an abolitionist, feminist, and business magnate– unique titles for a black woman to achieve during a time of high racial prejudice. Pleasant was business-savvy and a well-connected social powerhouse– operating boarding houses, a hotel, restaurants, laundries, quicksilver mines, brothels, arranging marriages, and conducting numerous other ventures.

Today, the Beltane Ranch boasts 120 year of agriculture hospitality and remains one of Sonoma’s few small, family-run wineries. Brother and sister team Lauren and Alex Benward have expanded and diversified the property’s agricultural offerings, in addition to their wine production. New produce gardens, heirloom fruit trees, and heritage breed laying hens are just a few of the additions guests can see around the property and enjoy the fruits of in the dining room. Meals at the ranch are often exclusively fruits, veggies, olive oil and herbs grown on the property. 

Forage for Your Own Wild Ingredients

One night by the fire at The Inn at Newport Ranch, I sat sipping a candy cap-infused old fashioned. On the plate in front of me, were the crumbs of a delicious hors d’oeuvre: a petite wild mushroom pastry. The next morning– clearly riding something of a mushroom craving– I would order a mushroom omelet. All of these refreshments were fueled by the fungi that I had the opportunity to forage earlier that day in the surrounding redwood forest. With an expert guide at the lead, we had set out on an ATV tour to see the property, plant redwood seedlings and forage the fruits of the forest. From fresh bay leaves to redwood sorrel, we filled our wicker baskets with wild ingredients for the kitchen. 

Every evening, a three-course, seasonally-inspired dinner is served by the crackling fireplace in the main lodge’s dining room. Depending on what’s in season (or whatever the foraging baskets brought in that day), the menu could include anything from fresh abalone and oysters to honey glazed smoked duck with Mendocino mushrooms to a blood orange tart with toasted meringue. It’s more than just a meal; food is one of the most immersive experiences the property is able to use to share the diverse beauty of the surrounding land and sea.

Ready for your own culinary journey through Northern California?

See this sample itinerary: Sonoma and Mendocino: A Farm to Table Road Trip

The post Wild, Local Food Rules NorCal’s Culinary Scene appeared first on All Roads North.

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Three of our favorite wineries, Beltane Ranch, Flowers Winery and Belden Barns; are all boutique operations in the Sonoma area, run by tight-knit teams. These small batch productions are intimately connected to the land, and committed to sustainable farming. 

All Roads North spoke with the people behind them to share the joys and challenges of the harvest season at their properties:

Flowers Winery

Harvest Memories

Beltane Ranch has been in the hands of Lauren Benward’s family for six generations. Having grown up at the winery with her brother Alex, she has a lifetime of harvest memories to share.

“Harvest was always the most exciting time of year,” Benward said. “It’s the culmination of a year’s worth of work. It means long days getting dirty with a spirited team to bring in all the fruit. The smells, sounds and feels of harvest are unforgettable. It’s ripe, sticky, dusty and wonderful. My favorite is the spirit of the crew and the tacos when we are done.”

At Beltane, the harvest season usually begins in late August for the Sauvignon Blanc, then carries into September for the Rosé, and October for the reds. Alex leads harvest operations, picking everything at night to retain the quality of the grapes. 

Harvest at Beltane Ranch

“My kids get so excited they actually put themselves to bed early on harvest nights so they can get up and help,” Benward said. “A skilled group of men and women will pick through the night and then my brother will haul the fruit in multiple loads to the winery at sunrise. At the winery, we will watch it go to press or de-stem and taste the free run juice with our winemaker.”

Flowers Winery winemaker Chantal Forthun cites harvest time as one that intimately connects the team to the land.

“Rising to the challenge – literally climbing to elevations of 1,400-1,800 feet perched high above the fog line – our team enjoys the ultimate harvest payoff: a soaring view of the craggy coastline below, and beguiling maritime breezes wafting through the coastal forests,” Forthun said. “Standing amidst the elements in our estate vineyards, our winemaking team is viscerally connected to the birthplace of our coastal Pinot Noir and Chardonnay and inspired to craft a 2022 vintage reflective of time and place.”

The Challenges of Harvest Season

Belden Barns Harvest

Although certainly a celebratory and joyous time, the harvest season is also full of challenges and tough work. 

“Harvesting the extreme terroir of the Sonoma Coast is no small feat,” Chantal said of Flowers Winery. “The steep slopes of our estate vineyards require our team to farm every vine by hand. In blocks of our Camp Meeting Ridge and Sea View Ridge vineyards, our team members are even required to wear soccer cleats to keep their footing…it’s wilderness winemaking.”

Nate Belden, co-founder of Belden Barns along with his wife Lauren Belden, spoke about the challenges of long work hours during the night.

“We pick in the middle of the night, often starting at 10pm or as late as 3am, and finishing as the sun is rising,” Belden said. “It is a crazy site that looks like a UFO landing, with a large light boom extended off the back of a tractor that pulls large bins. 

Belden Barns Night Harvest

We pick at night for a couple of reasons – One, all of our picking is done by hand. It’s easier on those of us doing the work to be in the cool of the night rather than the heat of the day. Two, we want to get our grapes into the winery in good condition. Cooler temperatures reduce unwanted microbial activity and the grapes are structurally in better shape when the vines have had a chance to recover from the heat of the day.  

This practice does take a toll on sleep and most of us laugh with hindsight later in the winter at those instances when our tempers were artificially short due to harvest sleep schedules. It’s a congenial industry and everyone knows at the end of the day that all intentions are pointed to creating amazing wines know matter how crabby we may have been at certain moments.”

Welcoming Guests

The Beltane Ranch sheep and their minder

Beltane Ranch prides itself on providing unique guest experiences at any time of the year, but the harvest provides extra special opportunities for visitors. 

“One of the most rewarding things about harvest time is that you can really taste the flavor profile of a wine at harvest time,” Benward said. “One of my favorite things is to take guests into the vineyard as harvest approaches and sample the grapes, test the sugar with a refractometer, taste them compared to previous vintages. We are super proud of shaping our wines in the vineyard and there is nothing like tasting them on the soil that grows them. I think it really makes for a deeper understanding of the fruit and the farming behind it.

Guests also love to visit the sheep who roam through our vineyard munching the weeds and fertilizing as they go. They are part of our regenerative farming that has allowed us to farm without spraying any kind of herbicide and build the health of our soil, vines and ecosystem. And they are adorable!”

Belden Barns Grape Stomp

Belden Barns invites guests into their harvest season with a special annual celebration.

“Our happiest memories during harvest usually come during our annual Grape Stomp,” Belden said. “This is a public event where visitors get out into the field to pick grapes and bring them back to dump into a large bin. Those that want to take their shoes off and stomp grapes with their bare feet. This is the one time during the season when we take time to reflect on all the work that leads up to harvest. Lauren and I give a speech of gratitude and take the ceremonial first plunge into the grapes and then ‘release the hounds’ for folks to have fun.”

Related Itinerary:

Sonoma and Mendocino – A Farm to Table Road Trip

This luxury food and wine vacation to Sonoma and Mendocino is a true ‘Farm to Table’ odyssey. Not only will you stay in style at award-winning boutique inns and enjoy mouth-watering culinary delights at some of California’s most highly regarded restaurants, but you’ll also harvest, forage and catch the fruits of the region yourself, as you spend time with local producers, ranchers, and chefs.

The post All Hands on Deck for Harvest Season in Sonoma appeared first on All Roads North.

A Legacy of Stories

Mary Ellen Pleasant

Beltane Ranch is a 105-acre winery, sustainable farm and historic inn set in the hills north of Sonoma Valley. Nested on a hillside overlooking valleys of oak trees, vineyards and open fields, the land is host to centuries of historic tales.

“The people before us left a legacy of stories,” Lauren Benward, Beltane Ranch Vice President and family member, said. “It doesn’t feel like just a plot land.. It feels like something bigger.”

Mary Ellen Pleasant was one of the first notable figures connected with the property. As a Black woman in the 1890’s, she defied all odds to become a wealthy power mogul, successful business owner and civil rights leader. Benward said she sued the San Francisco Streetcar Company for not letting black people ride in the 1870’s– a move that was ahead of her time. 

It was Pleasant who selected the site for the house that is today’s bed and breakfast at Beltane Ranch. Because of her, the inn is considered a historic landmark to this day. In the 1960’s, Benward’s grandmother had the house restored room by room with modern comforts, but most of the architectural detail remains.

“This was [Pleasant’s] vision,” Benward said. “The construction and architecture is inspired by her roots outside New Orleans and you can really feel that and experience that when you stay here.”

Six Generations of Family Ownership

After Mary Ellen Pleasant, there were a couple different families that owned the property before Benward’s family came into the picture. Lauren Benward’s great-great aunt and uncle bought the land during the Great Depression and, because they had no children, it was passed down through Benward’s great-grandmother’s family. 

The women in the family tended to run the show– each generation wielding their own talents and ideas to improve Beltane Ranch. Benward said her great-great aunt had a green thumb in the garden and a soft spot for the animals. Meanwhile, Benward’s grandmother, who was a single mom, had the vision to restore the house and open it as a bed and breakfast. And it was Benward’s mother who wanted to get back into the wine industry– an operation that had been in the area in the late 1800’s, but was on the back burner. 

While Benward and her brother Alex were growing up on the winery, their grandmother continued to run the inn while their mom oversaw the vineyards.

“We grew up always helping in the vineyard, gardening and serving people,” Benward said. “The crossover between agriculture and hospitality is what the property’s always been and what we know as a family.”

After spending their childhood at Beltane Ranch, both of the siblings felt they needed to stretch their wings. They left home for college, then for the beginning stages of their careers– gaining some outside experience and fresh perspective before deciding to return to Beltane Ranch.

Upon their return, Benward and her brother saw an opportunity for a new approach at the winery. They decided to create their own wine (rather than selling their grapes to other vintners) and have a hand in the winemaking process from soil to glass.

Regenerative and Small-Scale Farming 

Beltane Ranch follows a sustainable farming model– something that comes hand in hand with their respect for the land and its stories.

“You don’t really own this property or this story. It’s so much bigger than who we are, so we just get to play a role in stewarding it for the time being,” Benward said.

Benward said that their business shines best when they’re able to combine all three of the property’s elements: wine, food and hospitality. Guests enjoy food grown on property paired with the wine grown in their vineyard. The scraps may then go to compost for other crops or perhaps to feed the chickens that provide fresh eggs for the next meal. 

“What’s beautiful is how it’s all intertwined,” Benward said. “It really wouldn’t be the same if all the pieces, like dining and hospitality, were pulled apart. That’s a real focus for us… shortening the cycles and tying them together.”

Benward said the family took inspiration from a trip to Portugal and Morocco in 2019. In some of the ancient olive groves they visited, old world farming techniques were still very much at play; there were even some places where donkeys were being used for farming.

“There’s so much wisdom in age old farming- non commercial, nonindustrial, farming by hand,” Benward said. ”I’m really inspired by places that are doing things in the old world ways.”

As a small property, Beltane Ranch will never be able to compete with high-production, commercial wineries in terms of operations. Rather, where they excel is taking it slow. Honoring the sense of history and intrinsic value of the land. Paying individualized attention to each guest and to each crop of grapes. 

In fact, Benward said her favorite part of the job is creating new and unique ways for visitors to experience the property based on their interests. 

“For example, our group today was more focused on how we’re using the babydoll sheep for weed reduction in the vineyard,” Benward said. “We have this sweet baby lamb and they got to bottle feed the lamb. Then we tasted the wine from that vineyard block, that part of the vineyard where the sheep are. So we tie it all together.”

All photos courtesy of Beltane Ranch.

Itineraries

Let us plan your dream California wine country trip. For more inspiration, check out these sample itineraries:

Napa and Sonoma In Style

Couple’s California: A Refined Luxury Road Trip

Sonoma and Mendocino: A Farm to Table Road Trip

The post Female Leadership and Regenerative Farming at Sonoma’s Beltane Ranch appeared first on All Roads North.

Donum

Richard Hudson – Love Me, 2016, Photo by Gregory Gorman

No list of the most beautiful wineries in California would be complete without the Donum Estate. The winery was born out of two of founder Anne Moller-Racke’s greatest passions: art and wine. The estate is filled with incredible art and sculptures by world-renowned artists such as Ai Wei Wei and Keith Haring, Richard Hudson, Zhan Wang and Yue Minjun. Strolling the picturesque vineyard of this famous California winery is sure to stoke your passion for both.

thedonumestate.com

Promontory

Promontory Winery, Photography by Olaf Beckmann and Matt Morris

Gorgeous natural views? Check. A sprawling, pastoral estate? Check. Warm, wooden interiors, inviting tasting spaces and the world-class wine to make it all worth it? Check, check and check. Nestled in wooded foothills with less than 10% of the land under vine, the rugged Promontory sits amongst rocky outcroppings secluded in the Oakville canyon. Enjoy one of Promontory’s famous Cabernet blends while gazing out at the rolling hills of Napa Valley that stretch out below you, and soak in the flavors of wine shaped by the whims of the land. 

promontory.wine

Fantesca

Fantesca Wine Cave

Fantesca may be best known for it’s superstar cult winemaker Heidi Barrett, but one thing visitors are sure to remember is the idyllic backdrop of their wine-tasting. Set atop a ridge line above the valley, Fantesca is quintessential Napa in private style. The rolling vineyards drop off to views of the nearby Napa hills, yet secluded atop the property you’ll feel in a world all to yourself. A tasting here, coupled with a visit to their iconic cliffside cellar, will stand as a highlight of any Napa Valley road trip.

fantesca.com

Kenzo Estate

Kenzo Estate

Only 150 of Kenzo Estate’s 3,800 acres are planted, protecting the serene natural elements of the undisturbed landscape surrounding the vineyard. Spring fed reservoirs, untouched forests, and roaming wildlife just beyond sight infuse the property with a sense of Yūgen, a Japanese concept on the profundity and subtlety of natural beauty. This Japanese sensibility is present all over the estate, founded by business mogul Kenzo Tsujimoto. With impeccable wine by Heidi Barrett, and the 1-star Michelin restaurant in downtown Napa, Tsujimoto spared no expense or effort to make Kenzo Estate one of the region’s best names in wine.

kenzoestate.com

Scribe

Scribe Winery, Photo by Stephanie Rudy

Brothers Andrew and Adam Mariani place a great emphasis on their Sonoma vineyard’s natural beauty. Scribe focuses on getting visitors out of the traditional tasting room and into the environment that produces their incredible wines. Tastes are held in the gardens and picnics are held beneath the boughs of trees, both with great views of the vines and palms that line the property. The brothers’ philosophy is a connection between people and place, and their wines the agent for that connective experience. With such an outstanding location, Scribe is certainly a place worth connecting to.

scribewinery.com

Flowers

Flowers Winery, Photo by Douglas Friedman

Flowers Winery embraces the beauty of the far west Sonoma Coast and creates wine with a true sense of place. Located less than two miles away from the Pacific Ocean, yet standing at high levels of elevation, the drastic contrasts of the Flowers location makes it more than scenically stunning… it’s also what impresses their wine with its unique character. The stark hillside exposures, fog-filled mornings and sunny days combine to create risky, yet rewarding, conditions for vineyards. The winery uses biodynamic and organic practices, working with the elements rather than against them. 

flowerswinery.com

Belden Barns

Belden Barns Estate, Photo by Adam Decker

This family-friendly, small-batch vineyard in the Sonoma Hills is the perfect spot for those who’d like to appreciate some outstanding wine without leaving the kids behind. Beyond the yearly excitement of the annual Grape Stomp event, there’s corn hole and even a scavenger hunt available for the kids (acorns and corks being a few items on the hunt list). The property, with its valley-wide vistas and 1870s-era agricultural buildings carries a sense of history. It’s been home to many different ventures, from a dairy farm to a prune orchard to a rural retreat with a stagecoach stop. Based on the belief that wine is best enjoyed with good food, Belden Barns has always closely partnered with Kibo Farm, a small, family farm that supplies many of the premier restaurants in the area.

beldenbarns.com

Itineraries

Let us plan your dream California wine country trip. For more inspiration, check out these sample itineraries:

Napa and Sonoma In Style

Couple’s California: A Refined Luxury Road Trip

Sonoma and Mendocino: A Farm to Table Road Trip

For more luxury California road trip ideas, click here.

The post Seven Beautiful California Wineries appeared first on All Roads North.