AVA Guide · Sonoma County · Modern Love Living
Old-vine zin, sauvignon blanc, the quietest road in wine country.
A 16-mile valley running northwest from Healdsburg — old-vine zinfandel, mineral sauvignon blanc, and Dry Creek Road, possibly the loveliest tasting drive in California.
The brief
Dry Creek Valley is the AVA wine country regulars send each other to. Sixteen miles long, three miles wide, no town inside it. Old-vine zinfandel was planted here in the 1880s and never ripped out. Dry Creek sauvignon blanc — Quivira, Dry Creek Vineyard, Mauritson — is some of California's most distinct. Bella Vineyards built tasting caves into the hillside. Ridge Lytton Springs makes one of California's great Rhône-blend wines. And West Dry Creek Road — narrow, oak-shaded, slow — is the most beautiful wine road in California most people have never driven. This is the second-day AVA. Save it for after Russian River.
What to do
Experience 01
Hillside caves, a private tasting inside the mountain.
Experience 02
A Rhône-blend tasting in a strawbale barn. The most architectural winery building in the AVA.
Experience 03
Mauritson, Rued, A. Rafanelli. Three appointments, one road, no rush.
Experience 04
A 1880s store, a counter sandwich, a glass of zin in the parking lot.
Experience 05
Wine Country Bikes runs guided routes through the valley.
Where to stay
The legacy stay
Healdsburg sits at the AVA's mouth. The right base.
The boutique stay
Plaza-adjacent. Walk to dinner after the tasting day.
Where to eat
Dry Creek General Store (Healdsburg)
A counter sandwich, a glass, a parking-lot table.
Catelli's (Geyserville)
At the AVA's north end. Italian, garden, a long mid-tasting break.
Diavola Pizzeria (Geyserville)
Wood-fired pizza in a small Italian town. The right end-of-day.
Bravas Bar de Tapas (Healdsburg)
Backyard string lights for the post-tasting wind-down.
The tasting list
Dry Creek Valley
Hillside caves, a private tasting inside the mountain.
Dry Creek Valley
Rhône-blend tasting in a strawbale barn.
Dry Creek Valley
Biodynamic farm, garden tasting, a serious sauvignon blanc.
Dry Creek Valley
By appointment. Allocation-list zinfandel.
Dry Creek Valley
Rockpile estate above the AVA. Serious zin and cab.
From the magazine
Date Night · Healdsburg
The evening you build on purpose, then let unspool.
Read · 6 min →The honest answers
Russian River is pinot and chardonnay. Dry Creek is zinfandel and sauvignon blanc. Both intersect in Healdsburg — easy to do one day in each.
West Dry Creek Road is narrow but well-traveled. Drive it slowly. Hire a driver if you're tasting four wineries.
Bella Vineyards cave + Ridge Lytton Springs + a sauvignon blanc tasting at Quivira. Lunch at Dry Creek General Store between.
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