Simple Hedonisms

Posts Tagged ‘Winery’

Guest post by Ed Thralls of WineTonite and Windsor Vineyards.

Healdsburg is a quaint little town in the northern part of Sonoma County that has really grown in prestige and popularity as a wine country vacation destination.  Located right at the crossroads of Russian River Valley, Dry Creek Valley and Alexander Valley it is a great home base for your next trip.  It seems to make sense that if Windsor Vineyards wanted to share their quality wines sourced from vineyards these same great AVAs (American Viticultural Areas) as well as the extreme Sonoma Coast that they have produced in Sonoma since 1959 then a return this great town was imminent.

Event

Celebrate the Grand re-Opening this weekend, September 16-18th (Link to EVENT details), with a weekend of wine, food, music and wine country festivities.  There will be special offers and unique flights all weekend starting on Friday night as well as live music and nibbles Saturday & Sunday from 2-5pm each day.  The delicious bites will be provided by Tim Vallery and Peloton Catering and the music will be provided by two local Healdsburg favorites:

• Saturday, 9/17 2-5PM: Chris Herrod
• Sunday, 9/18 2-5PM: Brandon Hassur

The Tasting Room

At the heart of Healdsburg is “The Plaza,” which is in the shape of a square lined with with trees, grass, benches and a pergola for concerts and surrounded by shops old and new as well as tasting rooms, bars and some of the best local restaurants in wine country.  Imagine waking up and taking the dog for a walk in the early morning fog, while you stop for a cup of coffee at the Flying Goat Coffee shop.  Perhaps, for breakfast, you might be craving the pastry delights from the Downtown Bakery & Creamery including their popular donut muffins or sticky buns.  It just so happens that the bakery is the next door neighbor at 308 Center St. and the location provides a pristine view of the Plaza.

The unobstructed Plaza vista is framed by sliding glass windows that remain open throughout Summer providing an atmosphere that is relaxing and scenic and pairs best  with a glass of wine.  This is a great place to hang before, during and after the summer’s Music on the Plaza every Tuesdays.  This is country living, folks.  Leave your big city dreams at home and become assimilated.  The tasting bar has plenty of room for everyone to enjoy and if you are looking for some privacy, you can reserve the VIP room in the rear for private tastings too.
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Bring your friends and family.  Afterall, that is how wine is best enjoyed.  Cheers!

If you subscribe to wine blogs, invariably you are starting to see the stream of posts about the 2010 Wine Blog Awards.

It’s hard to believe only  6 months ago I launched Simple Hedonisms. Its been incredibly rewarding to watch traffic grow. March traffic doubled with 2000 readers and 180,000 hits. That’s peanuts compared to guys like Vinography and Fermentation, but the difference in Simple Hedonisms is that the audience is highly localized, by design,  First to Sonoma, then the Bay Area, and California. Eventually I will focus on growing National Readership, but that can’t really occur until I have the proper time to dedicate, and am not traveling 4 days a week working  12+ hour days. Besides, the main goal of Simple Hedonisms was to “connect passionate consumers to dedicated Artisans” and that’s much easier to do initially on a smaller scale.

For those of you not local, it isn’t just the blog, its the involvement and participation in the local wine industry that I unfortunately rarely write about, that I spend a lot of rewarding time doing. Whether it’s organizing the monthly Facebook Wine Meetups for 60+ people, helping a winery or an association promote an event, or just helping spread the word and help people make connections. I have been blessed to meet and work with many amazing people and organizations, and more importantly, be able to call them friend.

That’s a typical William verbose way of saying its a pure Labor of Love. And to that extent, almost all wine blogs are, since most generate little/no income. (Mine runs in the red.) I’d ask that Blog readers take the time to nominate, and then vote for, blogs that you read. Would I be honored if it was Simple Hedonisms? Of course. But I am not about to embark on the heavy self promoting campaigns that will follow, as its not my style, and your readership is my true reward. I do look forward to attending this years Wine Bloggers Conference in Walla Walla and meeting many of my fellow bloggers in person.

The Categories for Nomination are below with a link; each has a description of the award in more detail:

Nominate Now: Best Overall Wine Blog

Nominate Now: Best New Wine Blog

Nominate Now: Best Writing On a Wine Blog

Nominate Now: Best Winery Blog

Nominate Now: Best Single Subject Wine Blog

Nominate Now: Best Wine Reviews on a Wine Blog

Nominate Now: Best Industry/Business Wine Blog

Nominate Now: Best Wine Blog Graphics, Photography, & Presentation

Thanks for reading, nominating, and voting. Cheers!