New tasting rooms, Italian dinners and more in the North Bay this fall

HEALDSBURG

Marine Layer opens new tasting room

After making cool-climate chardonnays and pinots on the Sonoma Coast since 2018, Marine Layer Wines has opened a tasting room in downtown Healdsburg.

Highlighting the thick blanket of fog that pours in from the Pacific Ocean through the Petaluma Gap, Marine Layer Wines specializes in organically farmed, hand-harvested, expressive wines.

Located on the east side of the Healdsburg Plaza, Marine Layer’s tasting room was designed by Sonoma interior design duo HommeBoys as an ode to coastal California. The space has a warm atmosphere, with intimate lounges featuring natural oak and deep blue paneling.

For food to pair with the wines, Marine Layer has partnered with soon-to-open Little Saint, a farm-forward restaurant and gathering space in the former Shed building in Healdsburg led by SingleThread owners Kyle and Katina Connaughton.

The opening menu includes a mezze plate of dips, spreads, housemade crackers and crudités. The menu will change, based on seasonal produce harvested from the Little Saint farm.

The Marine Layer plus Little Saint Experience includes a mezze plate and flight of five wines for $50. Guests can order a flight of five wines for $35.

Marine Layer is open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily, with reservations strongly recommended. To reserve, go to marinelayerwines.com. 308 B Center St. 707-395-0830.

SANTA ROSA

Vintners Resort to celebrate heritage with Italian dinners

Vintners Resort will celebrate the rich Italian heritage of its property and the surrounding vineyards with two outdoor dinners in early October at its signature restaurant, John Ash & Co.

Guest Chef Stefano Masanti will cook an Italian meal at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 6 with help from the resort’s culinary gardener and culinary team. Masanti will use Sonoma County ingredients to give guests the flavor of his Michelin-starred restaurant, Il Cantinone, in the town of Madesimo in the Italian Alps. The dinner will feature V. Sattui Wines. Cost is $170, including wine, tax and tip.

Guests also can gather for a Sunday Family Dinner at 5 p.m. Oct. 10. The multicourse meal, prepared by Executive Chef Tom Schmidt, will be served family-style and paired with Italian wines from Chigazola Merchants. Cost is $175 per person, including wine, tax and tip.

The owners of Vintners Resort, Rhonda Carano and her late husband, Don, are both second-generation Italian Americans. Their Italian roots helped shape their vision for the resort as a place to bring people together to celebrate food, wine, family and friends.

Room and dinner packages are also available. To reserve: vintnersresort.com/dining/italianevent. 4350 Barnes Road.

SANTA ROSA

Oktoberfest pop-up at Miracle Plum Kitchen

The Miracle Plum Kitchen will offer an Oktoberfest Pop-up from noon to 4 p.m. Sunday, featuring products from Sonoma Mountain Breads and Woodlands Charcuterie.

The menu includes Henhouse Beer Bratwurst on a Sonoma Mountain Bread potato bun with sauteed onions; Lamb Merguez Sausage with Sonoma Mountain Bread flaky flatbread, labneh and spicy pickled cauliflower; and Spiced Apple Upside-down Olive Oil Cake.

The grab-and-go food is first come, first served, available from the Window at the Kitchen, 600 Wilson St. miracleplum.com

NAPA

Carneros Resort greets fall with gardens, music

Carneros Resort and Spa, a 28-acre resort in the Carneros region, has lined up new programs to celebrate fall in the Napa Valley.

The resort kicked off the harvest season with new raised-bed culinary gardens in front of its restaurant, Farm at Carneros. The new gardens feature 50 varieties of organic herbs and vegetables as well as fresh eggs from the resort’s chicken coop.

Managed by Culinary Gardener Marley Dawson and the new Chef de Cuisine John Carney, Farm’s garden-to-table menu has reached new heights. Later this year, a new outdoor gathering table will give diners a more intimate experience in the garden, including picking their own produce, cooking demos and family-style meals.

Farm at Carneros also will launch a new monthly series, Vinyl and Wine, on Friday evenings starting at 5 p.m. this Friday. That evening will showcase the wines of Scribe Winery in Sonoma.

The series also features a raw bar station, small bites and a rotating list of Napa and Sonoma guest wineries pouring wines by the glass.

Carneros Resort and Spa offers three on-site dining destinations: Farm at Carneros, Boon Fly Cafe and Hilltop Dining Room, plus an upscale general store, Market.

For more information, go to carnerosresort.com. 4048 Sonoma Highway.

CALISTOGA

Dr. Wilkinson’s adds a new “Healthy Hour”

The newly renovated Dr. Wilkinson’s Backyard Resort & Mineral Springs has added new fall programs, including a “Healthy Hour” and a “Hiking for Hedonists” experience.

House of Better, the resort’s restaurant and bar, has added Chef Trevor Logan’s twist on the traditional happy hour: “The “Healthy Hour” from 2 to 5 p.m. daily (except Tuesdays). Specials include 50% off the Remedies beverage menu, with libations such as Fire Cider Wellness Tonic and Lev’s Shrub, a black currant or hibiscus fermentation mixed with sparkling soda and lemon.

The “Hiking for Hedonists” experience includes a handy cooler backpack with a picnic lunch for two and House of Better beverages to take along to one of three local hiking trails. The experience costs $45-$65 per person, based on the lunch option chosen.

The resort also is offering a “Six Packed” deal, with fridges in guest rooms stocked with six-packs of beverages from some of the region’s craft breweries, wineries and kombucha producers. The offer is priced at $25-$40, based on beverage choice.

Dr. Wilkinson’s is located at 1507 Lincoln Ave. 707-942-4102. drwilkinson.com

Staff Writer Diane Peterson can be reached at 707-521-5287 or diane.peterson@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @dianepete56