Wine Road’s 20th Annual Wine & Food Affair + Geyserville Trip
By Carla Snuggs

When Wine Road (an association of wineries and lodgings in the Alexander, Dry Creek, and Russian River valleys of Northern Sonoma County) invited me to their 20th annual wine and food affair, I jumped at the chance. The Wine and Food Affair is a weekend-long event along the Wine Road. All of the 65 participating wineries had a favorite winery recipe to sample paired with the perfect wine!

It was my first time in Sonoma County and I loved every minute of it. It really got my creative juices flowing again in terms of wine and food pairing ideas, entertaining and cooking with wine. We visited about a half-dozen wineries over two days while soaking up the beauty of Sonoma wine country.

As a surprise, we also visited Dry Creek Peach in Healdsburg and had a special night in Geyserville including dinner hosted by the Geyserville Chamber of Commerce at Rustic at Francis Ford Coppola Winery,

Check out the video below for some highlights of the trip.

You can also see my Instagram highlights for more fun times along the Wine Road!

Here are the wineries we visited and their pairings!

VML Winery

Dark Chocolate Blackberry Tarts with Toffee Crunch paired with: 2015 Earth Pinot Noir

Truett Hurst Winery

Truett Hurst Zin Smoked Pork Sliders paired with Red Rooster

Papapietro-Perry Winery

Loaded Baked Potato Soup paired with Papapietro Perry Peters Vineyard Pinot Noir

Kokomo Winery

Midwest Sloppy Joes paired with 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon, Ruth's Vineyard, Alexander Valley

 Comstock Wines

Shredded Pork Tostada Bites paired with 2013 Zinfandel -Dry Creek Valley

Longboard Vineyards

Duck Meatballs with Winter Spices and Black Currant Chutney paired with Longboard Syrah, Russian River Valley

Jigar Wines

Grilled Shrimp Korma with Spiced Panisse paired with 2014 Sedition

Balletto Vineyards

Chef Roger's Crab Cakes paired with Balletto Vineyards Pinot Noir

Dry Creek Peach

Our visit to the Dry Creek Peach, a boutique peach farm in Healdsburg, was a special surprise. Owners Brian Sullivan and Gayle Okumura Sullivan made us fresh peach Bellinis and let us sample a variety of delights from the farm (their incredible figs are now in season, btw!).

Gayle gave me one of their delicious peach jams to take home! Pro-tip: Visit in the summer when they sell everything fresh right at their own farm stand.

Geyserville

In Geyserville, we visited the Geyserville Gun Club and took a tour of Main Street with Gayle Okumura Sullivan. The Geyserville Gun Club was a great bar – a hotspot with amazing cocktails and great bands! The mixologists are top-notch; do not miss this if you’re in town!

Next, we had dinner at Rustic at Francis Ford Coppola Winery. Before heading to dinner, we had the opportunity to look around the museum that holds memorabilia from Coppola’s films. I was in awe! We ate a special pre-fixe menu at Rustic along with a huge dessert platter. The food was to die for and the service was stellar!

A very special thank you Mysty Stewart of the Wine Road. She is truly The Ambassador of Buzz!

Also thank you, Pure Luxury Transportation, who took great care of us and helped us navigate wine country safely and in style.

*This trip was sponsored by Wine Road