Slow Down and Stay A While
THE ANDERSON VALLEY: A WEEKEND ITINERARY
Most who journey to the storied town of Mendocino pass through the lush, pastoral Anderson Valley in a mad dash (or at least as fast as the infamously windy road will allow) to reach their final destination: the rugged coast. Some, perhaps, pause at a winery or two along the way, gathering locally produced libations for their getaway.
The Anderson Valley, has, however, over the past decade become a destination in and of itself, increasingly worthy of a longer look. In fact, it would be impossible to truly enjoy everything the region has to offer, in as relaxed a manner as it deserves, without lingering for at least a night or two.
Its “off the fast lane” location (and that windy road) has ensured that this evolution has happened at a much slower pace than in other similarly renowned and scenic wine regions in California, but evolved it has. From award-winning family-owned vineyards and wineries to bucolic family-run bed and breakfasts, farm stays, cooking classes and restaurants that feel more like local gathering places than commercial establishments, the Anderson Valley has successfully maintained its idyllic charm, despite its growing appeal as a travel destination. It is this relaxed absence of chic boutiques and streets full of high-end restaurants packed with foodies, phones poised over every plate, that allows visitors to enjoy the sense of having stepped back a few years in time.
There is good wine. There is good food. There are beautiful surroundings and lovely, peaceful places to lay your head. And very often those serving you, or showing you to your room, are the owners of the business you are visiting or their family members.
Here are a few of our favorite spots to enjoy over a relaxing weekend in this not-so-secret hidden destination just to the north of Edible Marin & Wine Country:
FRIDAY EVENING—CHECK IN TO CHECK OUT
THE APPLE FARM, PHILO
Set on 32 acres of organic orchards, The Apple Farm in Philo is both a working farm and bucolic retreat tucked away at the western end of the Anderson Valley. The farm was purchased in the 1980s by Sally and Don Schmitt, and has been managed for the past 25 years by the couple’s daughter, Karen Schmitt Bates, and her husband, Tim, who now run the farm business and farm alongside their own adult children.
There are three guest cottages and a guest room on the property. Guests staying in the cottages enjoy the experience of being in a completely rural setting, while ensconced in their own tastefully luxurious and spacious domain.
As the farm currently houses three generations of the Schmitt-Bates family, and everyone is involved with the farm and business in some way, guests will likely encounter multiple members of the family during their stay. Tim stays busy with work in the orchards and other apple-related tasks, and is often found on his tractor or in the shed where the apples for juice, vinegar and cider are pressed.
You’ll usually find Karen in the farm kitchen, especially if it is a week when the farm is offering one of their “cook and stay” experiences (check out their website for upcoming dates) or greeting guests as they arrive. The couple’s daughters, Sofia and Rita, as well as Rita’s husband, Jerzy, also all play active roles on the farm—from animal husbandry to gardening and cider-making to everything in between.
When asked by guests what there is to do nearby, Tim’s favorite answer is, in typical Anderson Valley-style, “You are here. That might be enough.” And it couldn’t be more true. The farm’s pastoral setting begs visitors to take a beat and just enjoy being in the place where they already are.
BOONVILLE HOTEL AND RESTAURANT
For dinner, keep things simple and head into downtown Boonville to dine at the Boonville Hotel, where the kitchen is run by Chef Perry Hoffman, grandson of The Apple Farm’s Don and Sally Schmitt, and the nephew of the hotel’s owner, Johnny Schmitt (Don and Sally’s son). Most recently executive chef at the now closed (and widely mourned) Healdsburg SHED, Perry left the world of fine dining and Michelin stars in 2019 to return home to his roots and raise his family in the Anderson Valley.
Dining in the restaurant at the Boonville Hotel is a relaxed experience. Perry and his small but close-knit team delight in preparing and serving simple, hearty and largely locally sourced fare for their guests, in a laidback environment. If you aren’t relaxed when you walk in, don’t worry: You’ll soon succumb to the “rural roadhouse” vibes and warm staff and find yourself humming along to the classic rock music that drifts into the restaurant from the patio, as your drinks arrive and your order is taken.
The wines by the glass list is short, simple and 99% local. The bottle list is more extensive, but equally unpretentious. The limited menu offers either an a la carte menu with one featured main (during low season) or a prix-fixe menu with two options for the main. Dishes often integrate items from the hotel’s own garden. The restaurant is open for dinner Thursday through Monday until April, then adds additional days during high season. Regular “Paella Sundays” are well attended by locals as well as visitors.
The relaxed, slower pace of The Apple Farm and the Boonville Hotel and its restaurant is intentional. Don and Sally Schmitt purchased the farm property when they were still running The French Laundry in Yountville. Yes, THAT French Laundry. They sold it to Chef Thomas Keller and “retired” to the farm in the early 1990s. Today, most of the entire three generations of the Schmitt clan reside in the region and almost all are involved in or own a local business. In addition to The Apple Farm, Karen Schmitt Bates also runs the Farmhouse Mercantile across the street from the hotel in downtown Boonville.
It makes sense, then, that hotel owner Johnny Schmitt and chef Perry Hoffman would place importance on creating a place that welcomes both locals and guests. “I have gone from cooking for the 1% to cooking for everyone,” Perry said with a smile. “This is a place where everyone—locals and visitors alike—can gather together, eat good food and drink balanced and reasonably priced wines in a warm and laid-back environment.”
He also shared that when he learned that Johnny was considering selling the hotel and restaurant a couple of years ago, because they were having a hard time finding the right chef, he took it as a sign that it was the right time to move back home with his growing family. By the time they made the move to Boonville in January 2019, Perry and his wife, Kristen, were pregnant with their second child. Since then, Perry’s focus has been on family first, as well as “doing as much and as little as possible” at the restaurant. He and Kristen bought a parcel of land at The Apple Farm and plan to build their dream home there over the next few years.
He ruminated on his homecoming: “I had a really wonderful childhood [in the Anderson Valley]. I want the same for my children.”
SATURDAY
Enjoy coffee and a simple breakfast in The Apple Farm’s main kitchen (if you have a preferred breakfast time, just let Karen or Tim know). Once you’ve nourished yourself it’s time to prepare for a leisurely day of eating and drinking in the Anderson Valley. The perfect place to start? Pennyroyal Farm.
PENNYROYAL FARM
Begin the day at Pennyroyal Farm, one of the newest additions to the area and an essential stop for anyone visiting the region. Pennyroyal is both a winery and a creamery as well as a working farm.
The Pennyroyal project started with the spark of an idea hatched during a goat husbandry class and a chance encounter with a passionate young aspiring goat farmer and cheesemaker at UC Davis that set Pennyroyal’s co-owner, Sarah Cahn-Bennett, on the path to bringing her vision of what is now Pennyroyal Farm to life. That vision, and now Pennyroyal Farm “in the flesh,” is a minimum-waste sustainable farm, planted with grape varietals that Sarah craft s into natural, elegant and balanced wines, and a creamery producing European-style cheeses made with milk from their own animals. At the time, she said, she didn’t know how the dream would come together, but by the time she graduated from Davis with a Master’s in Viticulture and Enology, she was on her way to making it happen.
Upon returning home to the Anderson Valley, Sarah worked alongside her father, Ted Bennett, co-owner with his wife and Sarah’s mother, Deborah Cahn, of neighboring Navarro Vineyards, and Navarro winemaker Jim Klein for a few years, while implementing some of what she had learned at Davis to spearhead sustainability initiatives and experiment with methods she hoped to also use one day on her own farm.
Opportunity struck just a few years later when Sarah learned of the availablity for sale of a 33-acre parcel of land next to pastures her family owned and had formerly used for sheep farming. Sarah approached her parents with the idea of building her home, as well as her vision of a working farm with dairy animals, a creamery, winery and hospitality and events space there. Deborah and Ted agreed, and one giant leap was made on the path to making Sarah’s dream a reality. Over the next nine years, with the help of both her father and her future herd manager and cheesemaker Erika Sharfen-Chapter (now McKenzie-Chapter), the friend she’d met serendipitously years earlier in that goat husbandry class at Davis, she did.
They started with a flock of Babydoll Southdown sheep and dairy animals in 2007. The installation of a solar-powered barn followed in 2009, and by the end of 2012 they had completed construction of the milking parlor, creamery and hospitality center and bottled their first vintage of wine. In 2016, the tasting room opened to the public.
Located right off Highway 128 just outside of Boonville, Pennyroyal Farm’s hospitality center and tasting room is open seven days a week, offering a Pennyroyal cheese and wine pairing experience, as well as a lunch menu that includes soups, salads, sandwiches and special seasonal offerings. The wide open space is more like a tasting salon or bistro than a standard tasting room. Menus integrate fresh, seasonal produce grown on the farm. Tours of the farm are also offered daily, by appointment, and more extensive food and wine pairing experiences are also available on select dates. Have plenty of time? Opt for the 11am farm tour, followed by a cheese and wine pairing experience and lunch on the back patio, with wine.
DREW FAMILY WINES
Drew Family Wines is situated on the far western coastal edge of Mendocino Ridge, just over three miles from the coast. The estate farm was purchased by Molly and Jason Drew in 2004 and the native Californian couple made the full-time move to the area from their previous home in Santa Barbara (where they had launched the Drew Family Wines label in 2000) with their young children in 2005. For much of their first year on the farm and former apple orchard, the family spent most of their time in an Airstream while the house and winery were being built. The couple also put their efforts towards cleaning up the orchard and bringing the heirloom apple trees back to life, as well as preparing the land to be planted with vines.
They planted seven acres of Pinot Noir on the top of the ridge, just next to the house and orchard. While they waited for the vines to mature, Jason continued making Pinot Noir from grapes grown in the Santa Rita Hills, slowly integrating fruit from neighboring vineyards in the Anderson Valley.
Over the past 15 years, the Drews have purchased and leased additional vineyards to grow fruit to produce a selection of stunningly pure, balanced and acid-driven estate and vineyard-designate wines. These include, most notably, an estate-grown Pinot Noir, two Syrahs and an Albariño, all hailing from their owned and leased Mendocino Ridge vineyards, which sit inside the distinctive Mendocino Ridge AVA. Due to their unique position, Mendocino Ridge vineyards benefit from the cooling and tempering effects that come with being situated both at a high elevation (vineyards must be at or above 1,200 feet elevation to be designated), and with direct access to the ocean breezes that travel in the few miles from the coast.
To visit the Drews’ estate and winery, it is necessary to make an advance reservation, and visitors are given detailed directions—it isn’t the easiest place to find and GPS is not very reliable. The bucolic locale that awaits all who brave the journey is worth the extra effort, however.
From the hillside vineyards that slope down into mounds of forests, the grazing Babydoll sheep and the ferociously friendly canine greeter (the family’s Golden Retriever, Britton), to the breathtaking views from the ridge to the ocean, it’s a storybook setting.
Upon arrival, either Jason or Molly will lead you on a walk around the estate and vineyards, giving you a sense of the uniqueness of the site, before taking you into the cellar for a wine tasting (which might even include some tastes out of the barrel). The wines are classic coolclimate offerings that showcase the best this region and AVA have to offer. The Pinot Noirs are lean, yet pretty and vibrant; the Syrahs are rich, savory and layered; and the Albariño stuns with its razorsharp acidity and kiss of salinity, bearing a strong resemblance to wines from the varietal’s origins in the Rias Baixas region of Spain. The couple also produce a stunning dry cider, from the 60-year-old organically farmed heirloom apple trees that they brought back to life on the property. The Albariño and cider are made in extremely limited quantities so they may not be available at all times of the year.
If you don’t have the time for a vineyard tour or didn’t remember to book a visit in advance, you can also taste Drew wines at the Drew Family Wines tasting room, located in The Madrones in Philo. The tasting room is open 11am–5pm Thursday–Monday, and either Molly or Drew will likely be there pouring.
AFTERNOON TREATS AND CASUAL EATS
Take a stroll down mainstreet Boonville to check out the artisan wares offered at the Farmhouse Mercantile owned by Karen Schmitt Bates and enjoy a Black Oak espresso (roasted in nearby Ukiah), ice cream or baked treat at the recently opened Paysanne bakery, then make your way back to your cottage or room to relax for a bit before dinner.
On the other hand, if you’re in the mood for a little more wine tasting, head to nearby Scharffenberger Cellars for easy-sipping bubbles, or Toulouse Vineyards & Winery for some excellent Pinot Noir and one of the best views in the Anderson Valley.
For a casual dinner, try Uneda Eats, a new organic pizzeria in downtown Boonville, or enjoy more of Chef Perry’s offerings in the restaurant at the Boonville Hotel.
SUNDAY
NAVARRO VINEYARDS
Situated a bit farther north in the Anderson Valley, in the petite hamlet of Navarro, lies Navarro Vineyards, a beloved institution in Mendocino County wine country since the 1970s. Visitors from far and wide have been making the pilgrimage to Navarro Vineyards since the mid- ’70s, and thanks to their consistently excellent wines and hospitality, stunning views and beyond-reasonable prices, business is stronger than ever. Navarro offers vineyard tours twice a day (free of charge) at 10:30am and 2pm (reservations are requested), making it the perfect place to start the day (or finish the weekend). It’s also a great location for a picnic lunch, which can be enjoyed on the patio before your journey back home. Locally produced cheeses, charcuterie and other nibbles are available for purchase in the tasting room.
Navarro differs from most other wineries in the region as their primary focus is on white wines rather than the locally more common Pinot Noir, and they offer a wider range of white varieties than any other winery in the Anderson Valley. Owners Ted Bennett and Deborah Cahn saw the farm’s potential for grape growing back in the early ’70s when they were seeking a property where they could plant Gewurztraminer vines and farm sheep. Though they are no longer in the sheep business, the husband-wife team was certainly in the right place at the right time to build a winery that would showcase the potential of the Anderson Valley for producing stellar white wines and, in particular, Alsace varietals.
Today, the winery offers a selection of eight or more white wines including a dry, sparkling Gewürztraminer, as well as two excellent Pinot Noirs and a handful of other red wines (made with fruit sourced outside the Anderson Valley). Winery staff shared that while some customers arrive at the tasting room with preconceived notions about which white varietals they will or won’t like, most leave having purchased the very wines they most doubted they’d love. Navarro wines transcend the limiting and expected varietal characteristics of grapes such as Gewürztraminer, which many expect to be lacking in acidity and/ or freshness, and Muscat, which guests often assume will be sweet.
A 17-year wine industry veteran, Brooke Heron has recently returned to the North Bay after a few years living and traveling around Europe, where she focused on connecting with locals—particularly artisan food and drink producers. When she’s not working on marketing and communications projects for wine industry clients, you can find her blogging, writing, hiking or drinking good wine somewhere near an ocean or vineyards.
GOWAN’S HEIRLOOM CIDERS
Fifth-generation apple farmers on the family’s property in Philo, Don and Sharon Gowan officially launched Gowan's Heirloom Ciders in 2015. Since then, Gowan’s Heirloom Ciders have garnered many accolades including a Best in Class award for single-varietal ciders at the San Francisco Chronicle International Wine Competition in 2019, and two Good Food Awards this past January.
The Gowans hope to open their tasting room to the public this spring, and in the meantime you may purchase their award-winning ciders at most markets in the area.
OTHER DINING SUGGESTIONS IN THE ANDERSON VALLEY
The Bewildered Pig
The Bewildered Pig in Philo offers a more elevated dining experience in a slightly fancier setting than other Anderson Valley restaurants. The restaurant focuses on locally sourced, farm-to-table-inspired dishes and highlights their chef’s tasting menu that includes local wine pairings. Open for dinner only and with a limited calendar. Reservations are a must, with pre-payment required.
Wickson
The newest kid on the block, Wickson, named for the apple varietal that flourished in the Anderson Valley before vineyards reigned, is scheduled to open as this issue hits the stands. In the space formerly occupied by Stone and Embers in The Madrones, described on its website as a “Mediterranean compound boasting three tasting rooms, elegant guest accomodations and a world-class restaurant,” Wickson is a joint partnership between Rodney Workman and Alexa Newman, young chefs with experience in renowned Bay Area and Anderson Valley kitchens, and Jim Roberts and Brian Adkinson of The Madrones.
