Anniversary in Healdsburg

My wonderful wife and I celebrated our one year anniversary by taking a weekend trip to Healdsburg this past weekend. Neither of us had been there before, and we were looking forward to learning about some wineries outside of the Napa Valley.

Friday night we checked in to our B&B and wandered around town looking for a place to eat. After passing by a couple places, we stumbled across Cena Luna and, with only a 10 minute wait, decided to try it out. The highlight of the night was that the chef came around at the end of the night (there were only a few tables left), which afforded my wife the opportunity to express her extreme delight at the duck entre she had ordered. It's kind of fun talking to the chef at the end of the night, I think that may have been a first for me. The vegetarian entre selection wasn't great, but the appetizer, dessert, and wine made up for that.

Saturday we went on the Getaway Adventures Healdsburg Sip 'N Cycle. We had done the Calistoga one before, and thought it was a great opportunity to mix wine tasting, site-seeing, and exercise, so decided to try the Healdsburg one (which is why we stayed in Healdsburg). The 24-ish mile bike ride stopped at 3 wineries: Lambert Ridge, Bella, and Quivira. Bella was having their harvest party, which is normally open to club members only, but they let the 6 of us on the tour in, and it was quite festive with free food, wine tasting, games, etc. Lambert Ridge had a few great wines, and at Quivira we got to watch them pour grapes through the de-stemming machine.

Saturday night was the big culinary event. We had phoned in ahead and made reservations at Cyrus. Along wth our reservation, we had also informed them that we would like to do a vegetarian version of the 7-course chef's tasting menu. Tasting menus are always fun and a great way to sample lots of different foods, and this meal did not dissapoint. I'm not sure I can describe many of the dishes, but I assure you they were all very yummy. The stand out moment for me was the 6th course, where the waiter wheeled a cart of cheese to the table, asked us about what flavors we liked in a cheese, and then proceeded to cut us a cheese plate in front of us consisting of two goat, two sheep, and two cow's cheeses, giving excellent descriptions of each one. Eating at nicer restaurants is definitely more than just about food, and the service at Cyrus did not disapoint. Combine this with some champagne and wine, and my wife and I had an excellent evening.

After coffee Sunday morning, we detoured through Napa on our way home so we could stop and taste the new releases at Cosentino's where we are wine club members. And of course we had to stop off at one of our favorites, Mustard's Grill, for lunch.

Healdsburg was a great weekend getaway. Lots of nearby wineries, restaurants, coffee shops, boutiques, book stores, a park, etc. Finding an available room that is not extremely expensive is difficult, though during the off season it is supposedly easier.

All in all a wonderful weekend, with a wonderful wife.