Best Time To Visit Wine Country

The Healdsburg area (which of course includes the three wine valleys, Dry Creek, Alexander and Russian River) has around 150 wineries. With that many great local wineries nearby, there’s almost always some type of event occurring, from Seghesio’s Vineyards Winter Truffle Dinner in January, to their Sausage making day in December, or the Healdsburg Jazz Festival in June, or Kendall Jackson’s Heirloom Festival in October. Wine Road (www.wineroad.com) posts events as they hear about them on their website, and the Healdsburg Chamber also posts events (www.healdsburg.com). These are good sites to keep an eye on when trying to decide when the perfect time to visit Healdsburg is.

There is never really a BAD time to visit. This past month we had near record breaking lows of 30s in the day and in the teens at night, but that is a VERY rare occurrence here, and is mild compared to what a lot of guests experience at home! Winter is actually a great time to visit wineries. With the harvest in, and bottling well under way, the winery staff, and wine makers, have more time to visit with guests. A twenty minute tasting can easily turn into a two hour long tour and explanation of their history and wine making process. It’s also easier to get dinner reservations last minute, if you don’t want to commit to anything in advance!

The favorite time of year for many is of course Harvest, September and October. There’s always workers scurrying around wineries, bringing grapes in, sorting them, crushing, etc, and a lot of wineries will let visitors participate, and many also have Harvest parties this time of year as well. This year Michel-Schlumberger had a series of Harvest Luncheons, catered by various local restaurants, that were a huge hit and sure to return in 2010!

If you’re a regular visitor to the area, you may already know what events you want to attend again, or maybe for the first time. What better reason to take advantage of our ‘Plan Ahead’ special (http://honormansion.com/member/firstTimeSpecials.asp), where if you book in 2009 for 2010, you’ll get a 20% discount! There are very few restrictions to this (just a few holidays and specific events), so almost any event you’re looking to attend will fall under the time frame of this special! But there is only a few days left in 2009, so call A.S.A.P!!!