The Russian River instead: two great pinots, a picnic, and half the money

Healdsburg, Sebastopol

The wine day Napa's neighbours do better — appointment-only pinot, a sandwich from a grocery, and nobody in a queue.

1. 8:30 am 1

   Coffee on the Healdsburg plazaHealdsburg

   Park on the plaza once and leave the car there until you pick up the driver. Healdsburg's free two-hour spots are enforced and the lots behind the plaza are not obvious from the square.

   3 min walk · 0 m
2. 9:30 am 2

   Driver picks up — Westside RoadHealdsburg

   The same rule as Napa and for the same reason, but a third of the cost: Russian River tasting rooms are 15 minutes apart instead of 25, so a four-hour booking covers the day. Split four ways this is $60 a head. If you are two people, the honest alternative is one taster and one driver, which nobody enjoys.

   13 min by train or taxi · 8.1 km
3. 10:15 am 3

   Rochioli, on the terraceHealdsburg

   Continuously family-run since the 1930s, and the 1985 estate pinot is the wine that told America the Russian River could do this. The tasting room is small and the terrace looks straight down the vineyard rows — go here first, while your palate is clean and the room is empty.

4. 11:45 am 4

   Merry Edwards, the pinot flightSebastopol

   $75 for the seated flight, and the fee is waived against a three-bottle purchase — which is worth knowing before you decide it is expensive. Book it; walk-ins are not a thing here.

5. 1:15 pm 5

   Lunch out of a grocery storeHealdsburg

   The move nobody tells you: Sonoma's best wine lunch is a sandwich and a peach from a proper grocery, eaten at a picnic table at the next winery. It costs a fifth of a vineyard restaurant and it is the reason this day is half the price of the Napa one.

   8 min by train or taxi · 1.8 km
6. 2:15 pm 6

   Dry Creek Vineyard, in the shadeHealdsburg

   A third tasting is where a wine day usually goes wrong. This one works because it is a different valley and a different grape — old-vine zinfandel after two pinots — so your palate has something to do.

   18 min walk · 1.3 km
7. 3:45 pm 7

   Back to the plaza, and a swim in the river if it is warmHealdsburg

   Between June and September the dam turns this stretch into a swimming beach with a lifeguard. In January it is a gravel bar and a heron, which is also fine.

   16 min walk · 1.2 km
8. 6:30 pm 8

   Dinner at the Matheson, upstairsHealdsburg

   The wine wall upstairs pours 88 Sonoma wines by the glass in three sizes, which is the correct end to a day when you have already had three tastings and do not want a bottle.