It's almost time for the 3rd Annual Healdsburg Wine and Food Experience — May 16th through 19th, 2024. I've been extremely lucky to attend several highlights during this terrific event over the past three years and I can't wait to head back up to Healdsburg to join in the fun again this year. Hope to see some familiar faces amongst the crowds.
There are some Paltinum Packages still available if you're interested in a full four-day, unforgettable experience. Otherwise, tickets are available a la carte. Pop onto the site here and book tickets for the events that excite you most. For instance, Friday night's concert at Rodney Strong Vineyards sounds fantastic at $85 a ticket. Groove the night away with GRAMMY-winning guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter Christone “Kingfish” Ingram amidst the vineyards of Rodney Strong. Kingfish has quickly become the defining blues voice of his generation.
This four day celebration features the best of world-renowned food and wines, highlighting the Makers Behind the Magic in our county: farmers, growers, winemakers and chefs mingling with globally recognized wines from around the globe.
Healdsburg Wine and Food Experience highlighs culinary diversity, sustainable farming practices and our deep connection to agriculture with a plethora of tastings, cooking demos, seminars, concerts and parties.
Back again this year by popular demand:
Annual Happenings:
Welcome Celebration (Thursday 5/16, 6-8pm at Montage Grand Lawn)
Grand Tasting (Saturday 5/18, 12-5pm at West Plaza Lot A
Rooftop Lounge at The Matheson (Saturday 5/18, 12-4pm at The Matheson Rooftop)
Magnum Party (Saturday 5/18, 8-11:45pm at The Matheson)
New things to consider:
Bollywood Night on Saturday at La Crema with Chef Maneet Chauhan (Saturday)
The Wine Down Pool Party at Francis Ford Coppola for all guests (Sunday)
Live Cooking Demo at Little Saint (all Vegan sister restaurant to Single Thread) with Celebrity Chef Amanda Freitag (Saturday)
Special Hawaiian dinner (with auction and raising funds for Maui Strong Fund) with Chef Lee-Ann Wong (also coming in from Hawaii Four Seasons Resort – Exec Chef Ryan Schelling).
Mazda is the event's official automotive partner, and the new car 2025 MAZDA CX-70 will debut at the event in May.
If you're looking for a fangtastic date night, the new film Werewolf Serenade, a campy comedy made entirely here in Sonoma wine country has you covered.
The locally produced feature makes its film festival debut at the tenth annual AVFest, 9 pm, Saturday, May 4, 2024, at Longboard Vineyards, 5 Fitch St., Healdsburg, CA.
Werewolf Serenade joins over 70 films from around the world over 10 days of film and festivities celebrating the art of cinema. Tickets are $15 and available here: bit.ly/wolf-avfest.
The 80-minute film marks the latest collaboration between Petaluma based Writer-Director Daedalus Howell and Producer and Production Designer Kary Hess. Hess and Howell’s previous movie, Pill Head (“Possibly the most bizarre film ever made in Petaluma…” — Petaluma Argus-Courier), is now streaming on Amazon Prime.
Howell is known in some markets at the editor of the North Bay Bohemian and Pacific Sun; Hess is the editor of Made Local Magazine.
Synopsis: When the Chair of the Parapsychology Department at the Freestone School of the Arts turns up dead, burnt-out film professor Peter MacTire is asked to step in and complete his generously endowed research project. With the school’s fate —and his marriage — on the line, MacTire accepts, not knowing the task will bring him face-to-face with an evil occultist and transform his life forever.
Howell stars as Peter in this cleverly written B-movie horror opus full of werewolf lore and double entendre. Shot at recognizable locations throughout the city, this over-the-top action comedy will have you cheering for its bumbling protagonist as he struggles to foil a nefarious plot.
Werewolf Serenade also stars Emily Keyishian, Mark P. Robinson, Alia Beeton, Christopher Sawyer, Rapheal Gavin, Natalie Crafts and a host of other familiar faces from around the county.
Howell and Hess will participate in a Q&A at the May 4 screening.
“‘Werewolf Serenade’ leans into lycanthropy (a mental disorder in which a patient believes that he or she is a wolf, or similar) with a nod to screwball romantic comedies and the expressionistic horror films of the mid-20th century,” says Howell. “It puts a comic spin on the ‘mid-life crises’ — from increasingly complicated relationships to body horror — mostly that of Gen X.
As an extra layer of fun for local audiences, Hess points out that “The film is a love letter to Petaluma and its history of filmmaking—from local places and faces—to touchstones of the genre that are accentuated in a way that can only happen in a town like ours.”
"We shot the film mostly at recognizable locations in Petaluma, which is an extra layer of fun for local audiences,” says Hess.
May is National Historic Preservation Month, and Petaluma is excited to celebrate for the third year. The event is recognized across the country to celebrate each community’s cultural heritage and the importance of preserving local history and historical places. This year, various local organizations are collaborating to provide a month’s worth of events and activities to celebrate Petaluma’s past.
“National Historic Preservation month is the perfect time to think about how we can preserve Petaluma’s vibrant past while also shaping a sustainable, culturally rich future. Along with our partners, we have lined up many exciting programs that build awareness about the people and places that have made Petaluma so special. Our hope is to inspire more conversations about how preservation and adaptive reuse can go hand-in-hand with innovation and progress,” says Stacey Atchley, executive Director of the Petaluma Historical Library & Museum.
The first local National Historic Preservation Month event takes place on Wednesday, May 1st, at 6:30 p.m. at the Petaluma Historical Library & Museum with an in-depth presentation and discussion by urban planner Dan Zack on the adaptive reuse of historic buildings in downtown revitalization efforts.
Other scheduled events include walking tours of historic downtown. In the last two weeks of May, the Petaluma Regional Library History Room librarian, Connie Williams, has teamed up with local historian Katherine Rinehart to organize a Petaluma History Scavenger Hunt.
Join in on May 15th (6:30 pm) at the rehabilitated Carlson-Currier Silk Mill, now operating as Petaluma’s newest “old” hotel—the Hampton Inn—for a lively panel discussion of local tourism organizations on the role of tourism place-keeping and place-making at the state and local levels.
Petaluma has a rich history dating back to the mid-1800s, and the city takes pride in preserving its unique character and charm, its vibrant history museum, a State Historic Park, a Petaluma history room at the local library, and a community supportive of historic preservation.
“In a time when we are all rushing to the newest tech and a time where so much in the world is changing, it is key that we remember where we have been as a means of grounding us. Petaluma celebrates and honors our community's history in the beautiful architecture of our historic residential and commercial buildings. Investments and care in the historic preservation of our legacy structures will be the gift we give to Petalumans of the future,” sas Mayor Kevin McDonnell.
The Petaluma Historical Library & Museum is the Historical Heart of Petaluma. Its mission is to preserve the unique history of Petaluma and provide educational and cultural services to the community. Open Thursday - Sunday 10am - 4 pm. Admission is free, donations appreciated!
The long wait for news on the city's historic riverfront rail trestle renovation project may be inching closer to a start date in the forseeable future. Applications with shovel ready plans for national funding are the hot topic of conversation in Petaluma's historic circles. The Petaluma Woman's Club, founded in 1895 by a group of civic minded and visionary women, has provided the city with grant writing support and a pledge to fundraise for extras for a public riverfront promenade once construction grants have been secured. Click here to find out more about the Woman's Club's ongoing Time to Trestle efforts.
Click here for a video of Katherine Gregor, spokesperson for Petaluma Woman's Club speaking about the Trestle, this Spring.
It was during my visit to Charleston in January this year that I first heard of the story of the Grimké sisters, Sarah and Angelina, who were arguably the most famous women in America in the 1830s.
I was viewing Sarah's dress and bonnet and shoes in the Charlseton History Museum section on the abolition of slavery movement, when my host, Elaine, waxed lyrical about the back story. Sarah and her younger sister, who went by Nina, were amongst the earliest American feminist thinkers, and though their remarkable and inspirational story was largely lost in time, they were brought back to life in the 2014 novel The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd.
"Read it," Elaine urged. I hadn't read it before. So I did. And it was all the more poignant having newly wandered the historic neighborhoods where the sisters were born and raised. Author Sue Monk Kidd is from Charleston. She was drawn to further research after discovering their story in the Brooklyn Museum, one that she couldn't believe she hadn't heard about as she was living in Charleston herself.
Sue Monk Kidd's fictionional account of Sarah's life and that of a fictional enslaved woman in her household named Hetty (nicknamed Handful) spans thirty years of friendship through a body-and-soul-crushing era in American history. Equal voice is given to Hetty's endurance and fight.
The novel stands today as a powerful reminder of how much we can learn from the past. How is it that a city's two, most accomplished historical figures were brushed under the rug of time? How easy is it to squander the fights that have gone before in the battle for freedom?
Folklore in the novel is painstakingly interwoven. It took the author four years to write her take on the sisters' story. The historical fact finding from reading diaries and museum material is substantial and a stark lesson as to why we would consider turning the clock back to the 1800s in this country so far as women's rights, human rights? It sounds unfathomable. Sadly, it's not.
The author grew up in pre-feminist America. I appreciate her telling of this important story.
“I ask no favor for my sex. All I ask of our brethren is that they take their feet off our necks.”
Sarah Grimké
These early and prominent activists for abolition and women’s rights, Sarah Grimke (1792-1873) and Angelina Grimke Weld (1805-1879) were raised in the cradle of slavery on a plantation in South Carolina and a town house in Charleston.
The Grimke sisters, grew to despise slavery after witnessing its cruel effects as children. According to the National Parks Service Women's Rights Section, Sarah later recalled that her father, the wealthy Judge John Fauchereaud Grimke, held his 14 children to the highest standards of discipline and sometimes required them to work in the field shelling corn or picking cotton. She observed, “Perhaps I am indebted partially to this for my life-long detestation of slavery, as it brought me in close contact with these unpaid toilers.”
Sarah became godmother to her baby sister Angelina when she was just 12 years old. Sarah accompanied her father to Philadelphia in 1819 so that he could receive medical treatment. It was there that she encountered members of the Society of Friends, Quakers, who helped her care for her dying father.
She returned to Charleston after he father passed and her feelings of fierce opposition to slavery were quickly renewed: “…after being for many months in Pennsylvania when I went back it seemed as if the sight of [the slaves’] condition was insupportable…can compare my feeling only with a canker incessantly gnawing…. I was as one in bonds looking on their sufferings I could not soothe or lessen….”
Sarah gave up the finery of her upbringing when she converted to Quakerism against her families wishes and moved to Philadelphia in 1821. Following closely in her sister's footsteps in 1829, Angelina had also followed a calling to become a Quaker and moved north to be with her sister.
This made the sisters virtual outcasts in the South, but they were also at odds with many northerners after William Lloyd Garrison published a personal letter Angelina wrote to him in The Liberator.
Angelina encouraged Garrison to stand his ground even in the face of mob violence: “If persecution is the means which God has ordained for the accomplishment of this great end, emancipation, then…I feel as if I could say, let it come; for it is my deep, solemn deliberate conviction, that this is a cause worth dying for….”
She bravely opted not to recall the letter despite the outrage it caused among fellow Quakers who believed she was a radical abolitionist. Despite the disapproval they faced from fellow Quakers and from a society that did not accept women as public speakers on controversial topics such as slavery, the Grimke sisters found themselves caught up in the forefront of the antislavery movement.
Angelina wrote her Appeal to the Christian Women of the South in 1836, imploring white southern women to embrace the antislavery cause. She wrote, “I know you do not make the laws, but I also know that you are the wives and mothers, the sisters and daughters of those who do; and if you really suppose you can do nothing to overthrow slavery, you are greatly mistaken.”
According to history, her message drew the ire of southerners who opposed its abolitionist message and northerners who felt that women had no business writing or speaking about something as controversial as slavery. The outcry over women abolitionists prompted Sarah then to write Letters on the Equality of the Sexes.
By the late 1830s the Grimke sisters had firmly established themselves not only as abolitionists but also as proponents of women’s rights.
An invitation to ooh and aah and explore the history of San Francisco through fashion is proving a hot ticket at the de Young Museum in San Francisco this spring. Featuring one of the most iconic collections of 20th- and 21st-century women’s clothing in the United States, this glamorous and compelling exhibition includes 100 collection highlights, along with local loans of high fashion and haute couture, including the beautiful evening dress shown above, which was gifted to the museum by the late Nan Tucker McEvoy of San Francisco Chronicle and McEvoy Ranch renown. It was created by British designer and Titanic survivor, Lady Duff Gordon in 1921 and would look perfectly in keeping in today's celebrity award show styling, over 100 years later.
I found myself completely drawn in by the descriptions of who donated these fabulous outfits, who wore them and where and which San Francisco sparkling events called for such an entrance.
We don't see much society coverage in the press in the San Francisco Bay Area these days, certainly less since the pandemic put a sudden stop to gala openings and seasonal spectaculars. Televized award shows and the Met Gala aside, do people dress to this degree now that we're back in business as far as fundraisers and the like? I think everyone in the galleries the morning I was there may have been harboring a secret desire to grab a frock and swan through the museum in ultimate style! At least in our dreams.
This is the first major presentation of the museum's highly covetable costume collection in over 35 years, showcasing designs from French couturiers, Japanese avant-garde designers and other pillars of the fashion industry, including Christian Dior, Alexander McQueen, Christopher John Rogers, Comme des Garçons, and Rodarte.
The designs on view, reflect San Francisco’s long-standing tradition of self-expression through fashion. I can't wait to see what comes next with couture - it's where art meets fashion and though most of us can't afford anything remotely couture, these timeless designs undoubtedly continue to shape and influence today's young designers and in turn, the popular look for the masses.
San Francisco was a blossoming, cosmopolitan city at the turn of the 20th Century. It was home to a plethera of elegant hotels, restaurants and cultural events. Union Square, downtown, became home to several luxury department stores, selling imported gowns from Europe (mainly France) and New York to a fast growing population of stylish women.
The great earthquake and fire of 1906 destroyed this burgeoning downtown fashion district. But within a matter of weeks, enterprising merchants rallied to reestablish temporary stores to cater to an affluent and highly resilient customer base.
Department stores started moving back into downtown in 1908. "The New San Francisco" included the 1915 Panama Pacific International Exposition, a world's fair where Parisian couture fashions took center stage. American replicas and increasing ranges of couture coming out of Italy and other European cities followed suit. The exquisite Delphos ensemble pictured above is from 1920 and was designed by Mariano Fortuny of Spain.
Coco Chanel changed the way women dressed by using new techniques, materials and designs. This moon and stars gown represents a far less fussy design for the increasingly mobile modern woman of the 1920s. Stars, moons, comets and the sun are amongts the permanent symbols of the house of Chanel.
San Francisco of the sixties and seventies may have been known for its hedonistic fashion and culture, but there was plenty of couture out there at the glitziest of galas and receptions. Simple and elegant.
Suits came into vogue around that time and the design houses quickly adapted the menswear look to skirts and pant suits. American designers had a field day in this arena. It took a while for the pant suits to be accepted as suitable evening attire in some more conservative establishments. While this may be surprising to hear, given San Francisco's reputation for breaking the rules, the women who wore them first were having none of it and marched on in, pushing past protocol and in one instance, dropping the pair of offending pants and striding on in her underwear!
Tickets are valid for Fashioning San Francisco: A Century of Style, on view at the de Young January 20–August 11, 2024.
Tickets include entry to Fashioning San Francisco: A Century of Style, as well as all permanent-collection galleries at the de Young on the day of your visit.
Tickets include access to Fashioning San Francisco Augmented Reality Experience. Space is limited.
History is literally coming out of the woodwork in Petaluma this spring. I'm thoroughly enjoying reading and listening to podcasts covering many interersting aspects of life in the early years of settlement. Here's a good one for history-lovers like me:
Join The Petalumans of Yesteryear for one, two, or all three intriguing evening programs this spring, each exploring a different aspect of Victorian living.
Modern life began quite suddenly in the Victorian Period. Out of wrenching change, a new class of society was born, and is still with us today. Join us for three intriguing evening programs (single tickets available or buy all three), including light beverages, and enjoy the stories of how it all came about.
During the Victorian era, the rate of change was fast and furious – social order and values changed, and became our way of living, affecting us to this day!
Back by popular demand! A three evening event series, presented by the Petalumans of Yesteryear explores how everyday life so dramatically changed in this era; when our city was born and prospered. And, how homes adapted too the new life style …you will be surprised!
NOTE
Each unique episode explores different aspects of the fascinating story of Victorian living. Tickets are sold separately, or, for the ultimate experience, purchase all three!
Episode 1 – Saturday, May 4th:
Discover how the Victorians got to California, what the dining room reveals about the revolution that took place in society as middle class entered the new era of self-control, and who was responsible for a whole new system of food choices that affect all of us to this day.
Episode 2 – Saturday, May 11th
The Parlor was central in Victorian life and death. Learn about how the Parlor reflected the changing roles of women in the family. Plus, a 19th century design craze! During the Victorian era, life began and ended in the bedroom. Come and find out what went on in between.
Episode 3 – Sunday, May 12th
Explore the fascinating world of the after-life, helping Victorians navigate life’s most difficult and often, heartbreaking challenges. Discover how the modern idea of self-image developed, and what the Victorians did about it, and find out why their homes always looked so cluttered!
Petaluma Historical Library and Museum invites you to learn about Petaluma’s colorful past on a living history walking tour led by the Petalumans of Yesteryear.
Become a museum member and save with promo code HTMEMBER.
Hear fascinating stories, see historic sites, learn about Petaluma’s architectural treasures, and more on a walking tour of historic downtown led by the Petalumans of Yesteryear–the Petaluma Historical Library & Museum’s living history performers, who will be dressed in period costume as notable residents of the past.
The tour leaves from the Museum immediately following the Good Egg ceremony, the kick-off to the 2024 Butter & Egg Days celebrations. Wear comfortable shoes and bring a water bottle!
Baxter’s Custom Framing and Design at 160 Kentucky St in historic downtown Petaluma, received a 1936 vintage poster of Josephine Baker from the George Lucas collection.
The poster was painted by Hungarian art director, scene and costume designer Michel Gyarmathy and is a large, 45.49 x 124.02 inches. It features a timeless image of Josephine, mid-dance at the famed Folies Bergere, in Paris.
Baxter Quinn, owner of the frame shop has extensive experience working with the Lucas Art Department. The collaboration took months and many skilled people working out the details.
Baxter framed the piece this week and it was crated and shipped to the Smithsonian on Tuesday, March 19th where it will be on loan and display.
Josephine Baker (June 3, 2025 – April 12, 2026) was an American-born French dancer, singer and actress, known in various circles as the "Black Pearl," "Bronze Venus" and even the "Creole Goddess". Born Freda Josephine McDonald in St. Louis, Missouri, Josephine went on to become a French citizen in 1937. After dropping out of school at 13, she lived as a street child in the slums of St. Louis, sleeping in cardboard shelters and scavenging for food in garbage cans. Her street-corner dancing attracted attention when she was 15 and she was recruited for the St. Louis Chorus vaudeville show. A New York City chapter followed, during the Harlem Renaissance, with Josephine performing at the Plantation Club and in the chorus of the groundbreaking Broadway revues Shuffle Along (1921) with Adelaide Hall and The Chocolate Dandies (1924).
She traveled to Paris and opened in "La Revue Nègre" on October 2nd, 1925, at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées. It didn't take long for this magnetic performer to become the most successful American entertainer working in France.
Ernest Hemingway called her "the most sensational woman anyone ever saw."
Michel Gyarmathy is associated with the Golden Age of Theatre. He certainly was a multi-tasker and his original art is highly sought after today.
I'm a big fan of the Petaluminaries Podcast series. I appreciate the level of research that goes into each episode. The most recent, which can serve as an extensive self-guided cemetery walk of the historic burial sites in Petaluma, or listened to from your home or car, is extraordinarily detailed.
The mission of Petaluminaries, which is a spirited crew that is not to be confused with the equally passionate Petalumans of Yesteryear, in their own words, creatively bring forth Petaluma’s past, emphasizing true stories, dark history, the working class, civil service and other overlooked events, trends, and communities.
"We reflect diverse points of view, equality, and new ideas. Presenting fun and innovative ways to educate and inform the public about all of Petaluma’s tangible and intangible heritage."
If you haven't taken a Ghost Tour yet, look out for announcements of future dates. I can't wait to join in on one at some point this year to see what new and compelling info and characters have been added since the first few tours started up in the past couple of years.
But in the meantime, the monthly podcast makes for compelling listening! Find it wherever you listen to your podcasts.
Wine lovers take note. The third annual Healdsburg Wine & Food Experience (HWFE) — a weekend-long celebration featuring the best of Sonoma County and world-renowned food and wines, returns May 16 to 19th, 2024, showcasing our region’s great makers – farmers, growers, winemakers, and chefs – alongside globally recognized wines from other great wine regions of the world.
I've been fortunate to attend this event in its first two years and I must say it is exceptionally well thought out, wine-country chic, casual and at the same time, luxurious, fun and well organized.
The weekend-long event will include special wine tastings and seminar discussions, exceptional lunches, dinners, celebrity chef demonstrations, cocktail experiences, and an expansive Grand Tasting to highlight Sonoma County's vibrant culinary diversity, sustainable farming practices and deep connection to agriculture. There will also be a live outdoor concert featuring Christone “Kingfish” Ingram at Rodney Strong on Friday, May 17th.
New highlights this year include J Vineyards’ Shifting the Lens exclusive experience with Tu David Phu, James Beard Award nominee, Top Chef contestant and a San Francisco Chronicle “Rising Star Chef,” a Bollywood Culinary Dance Celebration at La Crema Winery, and a Wine-Down Pool Party at Francis Ford Coppola Winery. This year’s event will also feature a Culinary Demonstration at Little Saint Healdsburg with celebrity chef and cookbook author Amanda Freitag and a special Hawaiʻi themed dinner party at The Matheson with with local star Dustin Valette and Hawaiʻi Chef Lee Anne Wong raising awareness that Maui is open for business and welcomes mindful travelers back to the island.
"We're thrilled for our third annual event in May," esays Steve Dveris, founder and CEO of the festival. "In just a short time, we've made a national impact as the first international wine and food festival in Sonoma County and Napa Valley, showcasing wines from around the globe. Our event pillars remain celebrating the talented makers, honoring our agricultural roots, culinary diversity, and sustainability, while pairing local talent with top chefs nationwide. Get ready for an incredible weekend packed with fun, surprises, music, and, of course, the finest wine and food!"
Chefs who are participating in the event include some returning favorites as well as several new faces. Joining for the first time is Kelsey Barnard Clark, season 16 Bravo’s Top Chef Winner, Amanda Freitag author and Food Networks “Chopped,” and Iron Chef America regular, Jeffrey Lunak, Chef/Owner of Sumo Dog, Michael Reed James Beard Best Chef: California semi-finalist, and Lee Anne Wong author, Chef/owner Koko Head Cafe in Honolulu, Contestant and Culinary Consultant on Bravo’s Top Chef.
Event producers welcome back local chef Dustin Valette, chef/owner of The Matheson, 2021 Food & Wine’s Best New Chef Matt Horn; Food Network star Maneet Chauhan; “Top Chef” season four winner Stephanie Izard; Food Network’s “Chopped” star and 2011 Food & Wine’s Best New Chef and Iron Chef America winner Viet Pham, and Food & Wine’s Executive Wine Editor Ray Isle. Much loved, local participating chefs include Domenica Catelli, Duskie Estes, Crista Leudtke, Tracey Shepos Cenami, Leah Scurto, and Ari Weiswasser.
Events will be held around Healdsburg, including at The Matheson, Sushi by Scratch: Healdsburg, Montage Healdsburg, Lo & Behold Bar + Kitchen and Little Saint, along with wineries including Bacchus Landing, Bricoleur Vineyards, Chalk Hill Estate, J Vineyards & Winery, Kendall-Jackson Estate and Gardens, Marine Layer and Rodney Strong Vineyards, Dutton Ranch and more.
The event also strives to give back to the local community. The outdoor concert at Rodney Strong Vineyards on Friday evening with Christone “Kingfish” Ingram benefits Farm to Pantry, whose goal is to bring together our communities to end food injustice and reverse global warming by rescuing and sharing locally grown food with those who have been marginalized. We will contribute to the Sonoma County Grape Growers Foundation. The organization’s mission is to raise funds that support the Leadership Academy, workforce development and other resources that elevate local vineyard employees and their families. This year’s event will also support Healdsburg Future Farmers of America (FFA). Sponsored by Foley Family Foundation, a significant donation will be directed to the HWFE Future Farmers Scholarship, created by HWFE for students from the local Healdsburg High School FFA chapter.
"As co-founders and partners in this remarkable endeavor, we are deeply committed to our dual mission: showcasing Sonoma County's extraordinary wine, agriculture, and commitment to sustainability on a global platform, while simultaneously raising vital funds to uplift and honor our local vineyard workforce. This mission permeates every aspect of our events and messaging throughout the entire weekend. What could be more fulfilling than enjoying oneself while also making a positive impact?" says Karissa Kruse, CEO & President of Sonoma County Winegrowers and Executive Director of the Sonoma County Grape Growers Foundation.
Partners of the Healdsburg Wine & Food Experience include Kendall-Jackson Wine Estate & Gardens, Stonestreet Estate Vineyards, Foley Food & Wine Society, FOOD & WINE, The Hawaiian Islands, and with event co-founders the Sonoma County Winegrowers.
About Healdsburg Wine & Food Experience
Healdsburg Wine & Food Experience is a four-day celebration featuring the best of world-renowned food and wines and highlighting the “Makers Behind the Magic.” The festival showcases the region’s makers – farmers, growers, winemakers, and chefs – alongside globally recognized wines from other great wine regions of the world. HWFE highlights vibrant culinary diversity, sustainable farming practices and a deep connection to agriculture, through tastings,
Welcome! I'm Frances. I'm a British/American freelance journalist and author living the good life in the spectacular coastal region of Sonoma County, Northern California.
I've published four books including two award-winning non-fiction books on the food and farming culture of southern Sonoma County and coastal West Marin: Fog Valley Crush and Fog Valley Winter.
My first novel (also set in Northern California), Big Green Country, was published in 2019 and won Best Western Regional Fiction in the Independent Book Publishers Awards in 2020.
My second novel, released in December 2022, The House on Liberty Street — Home of Second Chances, is a roller-coaster, 24-hour family drama set during the holidays in a fictional Victorian house in historic West Petaluma, Sonoma County. The House on Liberty Street was a finalist in the 2023 National Indie Excellence Awards.
I'm working on releasing my third novel, a contemporary climate fiction story, in the fall of 2025. This next page-turner is set in a house on the rugged Sonoma Coast.
Southern Sonoma Country Life is where I share my musings of life in this region of wine country as well as my travels abroad.
