An Insider's Guide to Healdsburg, CA

Although most might think the best time to visit California is in the summer, a widely known secret amongst locals is that September and October are when the Golden State truly shines.

Nowhere might embody that truism more than Sonoma in Northern California. Just an hour's drive north of San Francisco and set in a valley between the Sonoma Mountains and the Mayacamas, Sonoma can be known for its arid summers and rainy winters. But, once fall rolls around, the area comes alive, most notably during harvest.

Harvest comprises those few fleeting weeks in late August or early September - depending on weather - when local winemakers rush to pluck grapes from the vines and get them ready for bottling. Kids are often pulled out of school to help their parents and the whole endeavor becomes one of true community spirit.

In our opinion, no one embodies that spirit more than Kelly and Noah Dorrance, owners of and winemakers for two highly regarded wineries in the area: Reeve and BloodRoot.

The couple first met in Missouri, where they grew up and fell in love. Big dreams took them to France and Italy before California beckoned. In 2008, Noah co-founded Banshee Wines. Kelly soon joined and, after a few years of tinkering, building, learning, and tinkering some more—Banshee took off. And yet. They had an itch. Given all they had learned, given all the new ideas and expertise they now had, what would their dream wines taste like? What sort of community around that wine did they want to create? Soon, they gave these ideas a name: Reeve, named for their son.

In 2015, they harvested their first grapes for Reeve. They made those grapes into 500 cases of wine. People liked it. They liked it. They began securing their “dream grapes” from some of the most sought after vineyards around. They met and spoke with farmers, learning about their growing philosophies, learning about the nuances of each slope and learning the name of each of their dogs. They enlisted the help of world-class experts. Very quickly, Reeve took on a life of its own, and it became clear: this was no side project—this was their future. 

BloodRoot followed a few years later and was founded on the simple premise to  make wines that reflect the soul of place, and make them at a quality and price level that make them absolute no-brainers to drink. Spearheaded by Noah and Kelly, BloodRoot is a collaboration between esteemed winemakers with great vineyard sourcing who have come together to make masterful, value-minded wines. The wines, sourced from multiple  benchmark vineyards throughout California’s most respected wine growing regions, reflect the soul of each place, creating wines that are timeless expressions of California’s dynamic terroir.

Who better to share an insider's guide to Healdsburg? See Noah and Kelly's picks below: