A retired librarian and an accomplished chef walk into a bar. On a whim, they decide to take over the space. There’s no punchline — that’s just how Sonoma County came to have the new Trillium, a lovely little cafe and wine lounge in downtown Guerneville.

The shoebox-size spot is the work of Genevieve Payne, who began studying wine at Santa Rosa Junior College and traveled around Europe after leaving her career as a bibliophile. The co-owner and chef is Greg Barnes, who has worked with legends such as Jeremiah Tower, Traci Des Jardins, and Duskie Estes, and who has known Payne for a decade.

The long-vacant space the team took over, right near the landmark Rainbow Cattle Company bar, came with some kitchen challenges, namely a lack of space for equipment to work with grills and live fire. So Barnes developed a sophisticated menu around a raw bar and selections from a giant convection oven and cooktop. The raw bar offers the oysters, poke, crudo and ceviche that have become Trillium’s signature.

There’s sumptuous seafood chowder and a sensational New England-style crab roll ($32), on a toasted, house-baked brioche split roll with a side of tangy house pickles, a sandwich that won a gold medal at last fall’s Sonoma County Harvest Fair. The seafood chowder is a standout, too, with a rich white-wine-and-cream base with chopped mussels, prawns, red potatoes, and hickory-smoked sous vide bacon over a base of heavy cream and white wine, with fresh thyme, Old Bay seasoning, and a splash of Louisiana Crystal hot sauce to make it sing.

The wine list is extensive and interesting, focusing on natural wines, including a dry, citrusy Colliano Sparkling Ribolla Gialla from Slovenia and the certified organic, gently tropical Folk Machine Potter Valley Sauvignon Blanc. There are also craft beers and ciders on tap, nonalcoholic cocktails and wine flights. Tiny Trillium, in tiny Guerneville, is setting the bar high.

16222 Main St., Guerneville. 707-604-5750, trillium.bar

This story was originally published in The Press Democrat. Read the full story here.

The post Tiny Trillium Winebar in Guerneville Is Setting the Bar High appeared first on Sonoma Magazine.

I was expecting a nice charcuterie board. I got one of the most impressive meals I’ve had this year.

When Khom Loi alums Geneva Melby and Ryan Miller soft-launched The Redwood in late February (just days before officially opening on Feb. 23), I planned to stop in for a glass of cloudy wine and maybe a courtesy nibble. It sounded nice, but I’d keep my dinner reservations elsewhere.

Ninety minutes later, I was still eating (and drinking) because once the first dishes came to the table — crisp cubes of potatoes with pimenton aioli ($7) and a plate of fresh pita with the best baba ghanoush ($8) I’ve ever eaten, I wasn’t about to miss out on anything else. The reservations were canceled, I moved to a more expansive table and settled in for the night.

The menu is divided into snacks, small plates, big plates and desserts. Snacks and small plates are available from 1 to 9 p.m.; larger dishes and desserts are available after 5 p.m. The menu will change seasonally, but hopefully, the Route One Pita and Dips will remain permanently.

Melby takes some liberties with the classic Mediterranean hummus, baba ghanoush and labneh, adding za’atar, sumac and fresh herbs to the creamy labneh, but it’s a lovely diversion. Spring for all three dips (with pickled onions and sliced radish) and three large pieces of Tomales’ famous Route One Bakery’s fluffy pita for $22. It will easily feed at least two people.

The Scallop Crudo ($16) with tart slices of kumquat, fennel and drips of fennel frond sauce is chefs-kiss good with Weingut Brand “Electric Chardonnay Acid Test” 2021 with hints of pineapple, lemonade and “lightning bolts.” That’s a wine descriptor worth stealing.

Carrots and Black Sauce ($17) stole the show, however. Caramelized carrot spears with fried cumin and feta sit atop a pool of “black sauce” made with skins of the smoky eggplant used in the baba ghanoush. It’s mixed with honey, vinegar and caramelized onion for an umami bomb of flavor. A bright herb salad with parsley and mint lightens the dish perfectly. Arroz Negro ($25) is a heaping bowl of risotto dyed black with briny squid ink and topped with bites of grilled squid.

There’s plenty more to choose from, including a selection of gourmet tinned fish with potato chips and pickles ($17 to $23), Liberty Duck Chicken Liver Mousse with fig mostarda ($14), Braised Lamb Shank ($39), Roasted Squash and Maitakes ($19) and Semolina Crepes with spiced honey butter ($10).

Melby’s menu is truly a stunner that you can go back to repeatedly as the seasons change.

When I first spoke to The Redwood last September, Melby (the chef) and Miller (the beverage director) were just at the trailhead of their journey to open a natural wine bar and kitchen at the former Ginger Thai in Sebastopol. The duo had tested the concept at pop-ups for more than 18 months, found a brick-and-mortar space to remodel and were ready to share their passion for the fast-growing field of low-intervention, native yeast, unfutzed-around-with style of wine.

It’s exactly what the next generation of wine drinkers want in their glasses because there are no rules about pairing or silly explanations. Clutch your pearls, darling, because at The Redwood, sediment in your glass is a positive, cloudiness is expected and a little funk never hurt anyone.

“When we moved (to Sonoma County), we started meeting all of these natural winemakers, joining this community but realizing that we had to go to SF or Oakland to buy or even have a glass of these natural wines in person,” Melby said last September.

The casual tables for two or eight are scattered about, with a friendly bar front and center. You can just eat, you can just have a drink, you can do both or just grab a bottle and go. The selection of wines runs from light French Beaujolais and skin-contact whites (the J. Brix “Sunrise over Skin” riesling from Los Alamos is a stunner) to meaty syrahs and cabernet francs. The bottle list runs four pages and is a perfect primer on the world of natural wines. A great variety of wines also are available by the glass.

A small but well-stocked bottle shop includes dozens of approachable and affordable wines to take home.

The Redwood is at 234 S. Main St., Sebastopol, 707-861-9730, theredwoodwine.com. Open from 1 to 9 p.m. Thursday through Monday.

Heather Irwin is the Dining Editor of the Press Democrat and Sonoma Magazine. You can reach her at heather.irwin@pressdemocrat.com.

The post ‘Clutch Your Pearls,’ Sebastopol’s Redwood Wine Bar Is Entirely Unexpected appeared first on Sonoma Magazine.

Elsewhere in the world, people say, “It’s 5 o’clock somewhere,” when they imbibe during the day. In Wine Country, where most tasting rooms close at or before 5 p.m, it can sometimes feel as if day-drinking is the only option. Scattered throughout Sonoma County, there are a handful of spots where you can taste wine into the evening, but finding them takes a bit of research. We’ve rounded up 21 tasting rooms and wine bars offering wine tastings until at least 6 p.m. Click through the gallery for details. 

The post 20 Sonoma Wineries and Tasting Rooms Open After 5 p.m. appeared first on Sonoma Magazine.

When Bergamot Alley closed in March, local oenophiles were crushed. In its 6.5-year-old existence, the Healdsburg wine bar had turned into an afterwork hangout for people in the industry as well as those seeking rare wines from Europe. The non-American wine list may have seemed a bold move in this particular part of the world but, while many of us love to drink local, we also like to taste new and interesting wines from around the globe—and there’s was not better place for that than Bergamot.

Some eight months after the brick-and-mortar bar shuttered, Bergamot Alley has now returned in the form of Bergamot Wine Company, an online wine club and shop curated by owners Sarah and Kevin Wardell.

As he did at the wine bar, Kevin Wardell uses his sommelier skills to create a handpicked selection of wines from small, family-owned producers in Europe, now available online. Let’s just say you won’t see these on the wine list at your favorite Italian restaurant in Sonoma County. (Bonus: the wines average between $22 and $30.)

The breakout star of the new Bergamot Wine Company is the Italian Wine Club. A passion project for the Wardells, club membership includes four wines focused on varietal and regional themes sent out monthly ($105 per month). A recent shipment featured wines from the “four corners” of Italy: a rosé from Sicily, a white Petite Arvine from Valle D’Aosta, a red Schioppettino (say that ten times fast) from Friuli, and a Negro Amaro from Puglia.

With over 300 distinct Italian grape varietals and over 20 regions to choose from, this is just the beginning of the journey, says Kevin Wardell: “When it comes to diversity and opportunity to expand your wine horizons and educate your palate, Italy is a treasure trove. There is no greater collection of flavors and textures in the world than that of Italian wine.”

Each shipment also includes an unpretentious guide to each wine created by Sarah Wardell, who serves as the company’s Creative Director. Stylized maps complement illustrations of each wine with details on the grape, winemaker/grower and the scent and tastes of each wine. However, our favorite fun fact comes on the bottle label descriptions—your team will win the trivia subject “Italian wines” when the time comes.

Aside from building appreciation for Italian wine, the Wardells hope that wine club members will become more knowledgeable, and thus more confident, when it comes to Italian wines. Their “Wine Smarts” series, which includes an online guide to Italian wine, informative and entertaining videos, aims to do just that. And for those who would really like to get a taste of la dolca vita, Bergamot Wine Company will also organize trips to Italy (3-4 times per year), during which participants will visit small wine producers and stay in local farmhouses, or “agriturismo” type lodging.

If you’d like to jump on board the Italian bandwagon, visit bergamotwine.com. Saluti! 

The post Healdsburg’s Bergamot Alley Returns As Bespoke Wine Club appeared first on Sonoma Magazine.

The founder of Sift Dessert Bar is one of the forces behind Santa Rosa’s forthcoming Jade Room wine and oyster bar.

Andrea Ballus, who founded Sift in 2008 and took it to national fame on the Food Network, plans to open a bubbles, wine and small plates gathering spot at 643 Fourth St. in the coming weeks (fingers crossed for February). The menu will feature oysters, cheese, charcuterie and shareable plates along with wine and beer.

Working with husband Jeff Ballus and managing partner Jeremy Vassey, Ballus said they’re focused on both local and international wines by-the-glass or bottle, along with wine cocktails, coolers, and spritzers. The Jade Room will also have a “Bottle Service” option for bubbly served with fresh fruit purees, herbs and citrus to concoct your own creations.

“The Jade Room was founded as a result of our obsession to create a cool, casual place where folks can gather, share a bottle, share a plate, taste and compare local and international wines, and just have a good time!” said Ballus.

No word whether the Jade Room will serve cupcakes and frosting shooters, but really, why not?

The post Cupcake Queen Opening Santa Rosa Wine and Oyster Bar appeared first on Sonoma Magazine.

You know those tools at your local coffee shop, the ones that holler into their iPhones while holding court at that prime table over by the window, and generally behave as if the place is a private office? Well, hopefully I’m not one of them, because, surely, I’m not without sin. The thing of it is, I work out of a home office, and that turns island fever into an occupational hazard; it’s a matter of when, not if, I meander inexorably toward the nearest watering hole for the vaguely self-employed, in search of caffeine and a free WiFi connection, entangled by their gravitational clutch like a planetary body in search of its sun…

I live in Healdsburg, where you can count the freebie hotspots on one hand. Which means, more often than not, when I feel compelled to escape the moronic drone of the talking heads over at CNBC or Fox Business, I end up at the Flying Goat, purveyors of outstanding espresso (which, to the Goat’s undying credit, they serve ristretto by default).

But sometimes, my partners on the East Coast have all gone home, it’s a gorgeous Sunday afternoon in wine country and I’m off the clock, or for whatever set of reasons I’m just plain done, and what I really want is a sip of some tasty wine to wash down my Internet addiction, and that’s when I head down the block to to the Vintage Wine Estates tasting room, home to cozy couches, fast and free WiFi, a particularly smoking-hot Chardonnay from Sonoma Coast Vineyards, and – on the second Sunday of every month – sweet jazz from guys like local guitar wizard, Christian Foley-Beining. In fact, now that I mention it, I’ll be there next Sunday, so come on by and dig it.

The post WiFi, Wine, & Jazz On The Plaza appeared first on Sonoma Magazine.

Railroad Square’s Wine Spectrum Wine Bar has closed its kitchens. The revamped space will now focus only on wine tasting and sales. The wine bar closed for several days and re-opens Nov. 4, 2008. Hours are: Tuesday-Saturday 11am-7pm.

Closed for good is the bakery and candy shop at Mendocino and Fifth St. Blogger Jeremy Hay talked to the owner about why things went south — and most of the blame was on the sagging economy. And though tough economic times certainly didn’t help things, BiteClub had a couple of confusing visits to the shop which never seemed to quite gel. It was open. It was closed. It was open again. They sold candy. Then they sold a handful of baked goods and cakes. It was a much-needed concept (a tasty bakery downtown! ice cream!) with a nice-as-pie owner who faced a serious uphill battle with revamping the location, non-existent parking and really nailing the downtown demographic. Bummer.

The post Wine Spectrum: No more nibbles appeared first on Sonoma Magazine.