Day #2 started with breakfast at the Healdsburg Inn with biscuits and gravy (one of my faves) and a spinach fritata. We then walked around the Healdsburg Plaza before heading to Hartford Court at 10am for our scheduled tasting. The appointment was made online though we realized that they didn't open until 10:30am - even the hostess didn't know how I was able to schedule the tasting at 10am but started us as soon as they set up the tasting room. Very good Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs so we purchased a bottle of Chardonnay that tasted more like Chablis than CA chard.
Our next stop was Marine Layer Wines. Until I planned the tasting sessions, had never heard of Marine Layer. The tasting room was snazy looking more like a furniture showroom than wine tasting room.
We also asked for the mezze platter created by Little Saint with hummus, cashew butter, pickles, roasted beets and crudite which were all excellent. Little Saint is owned by the same chef/owners of SingleThread where dinners start at $425 per person so we got a taste for just $25...
Their wines were also excellent so we purchased 3 bottles for my wine carrier... alas, Marine Layer doesn't ship to the 50th and aren't available retail...
We then had lunch at Journeyman Meat Co - a must do while I was researching things to do while in Healdsburg. They're basically a butcher shop but create their own charcuterie, serve lunch and dinner and even host limited wine tastings. Ms S had to sample the Butcher's Cut steak - 5oz of grilled butcher selection of steak (you can request your own cut for another $15) but the day's selection was filet mignon... ok, twist by arm...
I sampled the Pizza Bianco with white sauce, house cured bacon and a perfect runny egg.
We also purchased several salami chubs to take home...
After a brief walk, we headed to Lioco for our 3rd tasting of the day.
The wines were good including the hard to find Valdiguie (like Piot Noir and Gamay had a lovechild) but since we already had four bottles in tow, didn't make ay wine purchases.
The last scheduled tasting of the day was at Oakville Grocery - the mini "chain" is owned by the JCB family of wineries (the JCB tasting room in Yountville is like Liberace met Cartier met wine tasting room met upscale bar). The tasting is basically self driven with automated wine dispensers that you select on your own. Of course, the day was far fom over so we mosied to The Matheson with their 80 wine Wine Wall (same dispensing system as Oakville Grocery but more than three times the selection). Ms S did want some sustenance so she ordered the Pumpkin Thai Curry with maitake tempura...
After several more wines, I asked the mixologist to make me a "Ryan's Negroni" with a tad more white than red vermouth...
Then finished the evening with another of the mixologists "omakase" selections, a tequila Old fashioned...
Day three will be a slow day as it's Thanksgiving when most of Healdsburg shuts down for the day...
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