Winery Adventures: Healdsburg’s DaVero Farm & Winery
Piggies, blossoms and a tasting room with walls of willows? This Healdsburg winery is part farm, part garden, all delicious.
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Piggies, blossoms and an outdoor wine tasting room with walls of willows? Head for Healdsburg, where the tasting experience at family-owned DaVero Winery includes a garden and farm tour — complete with heritage pigs and friendly chickens — and a tasting in an otherwordly bower where the wine is sublime.
THE BACKSTORY: Ridge Evers may be a tech guy — Intuit’s QuickBooks was his project — but he and his wife Colleen McGlynn’s hearts lie here on this bucolic Sonoma County property, where flowers grow in abandon and olive groves thrive. Evers planted those trees in 1988 from cuttings brought from an 800-year-old olive grove near Lucca in Tuscany. The family’s Hawk Mountain Vineyard is planted with Mediterranean varietals, including sagrantino and sangiovese. The nearby Valladares Vineyard — named for DaVero farm manager Juan Valladares — includes moscato, malvasia bianca, barbera, and pinot nero.
THE TASTING: These are not your average belly-up-to-the-bar tastings. Instead, you tour the farm, gardens and vineyards, then do a guided sit-down tasting in the middle of the flower garden in a space that can only be described as magical — an ethereal green bower formed by willow branches. Take a seat at the comfortable table in the center and taste your way through half a dozen DaVero wines, two olive oils and a balsamic vinegar, each accompanied by wedges of cheese, fruit or another perfect pairing that complements each sip. If you’re a rosé fan, don’t miss the 2018 Rosato d’Amici ($32), a barbera-sangiovese blend.
THE DETAILS: Book the 90-minute Discover the Farm ($45 per person) or two-hour Farm to Bottle tasting ($75) at https://davero.com/visit/. DaVero Farm & Winery is at 766 Westside Road, Healdsburg.
AFTERWARD: Healdsburg is flush with great wineries, so there’s plenty more to sample. Head for Healdsburg’s cozy downtown square, for example, to taste your way through the lineup at Banshee Wines at 325 Center St. — book a tasting ($20-$30) ahead of time at www.bansheewines.com, so you can score one of the cozy lounging spots.
Then grab a bite at Bravas Bar de Tapas at 420 Center St., where paellas and tapas reign supreme, or dessert at the Noble Folk Ice Cream and Pie Bar at 116 Matheson St.