We will be staying at Raford Inn, a charming 1800 Victorian bed and breakfast, in the heart of Sonoma County, in their “Lavender” Room for a total of $196. With a little bit of California traffic, we pull up to the beautiful house around 2:00. We snack a little on the cheese, croissants, fruit and hummus provided in the entryway and then crash into our queen size bed. After a much needed two hour nap for me, and four hour nap for Elijah, we freshen up and head out for our first Sonoma experience for dinnertime. Completely starving and still a little tired, we drive roughly thirty minutes to Rustic restaurant inside the Francis Coppola Winery. We order huge plates of pasta’s and salads, along with their “first flight tastings” for $25, which …show more content…
Around 10:00 AM, we drive thirty minutes to the town of Hedlesberg, and meet our designated group for a walking tour that begins at 11:00 AM. Since we have a little time to waste, we make a quick pit stop at a local gas station and fill the car up with $60 worth of gas. The walking tour totals to $194, that includes a walk to Gustafson Winery, still in Sonoma Valley. Gustafson Winery is the highest elevation estate vineyard and winery in Sonoma County, keeping the vines above the fog that rolls off of Dry Creek Valley, resulting in the temperature at a constant 85 degrees throughout the summer and fall. Each vineyard has its’ own specific soil. The micro-climate of their Heritage Tree vineyard is on a three acre hillside that slopes east at 1700-1800 feet elevation. Because of their high elevation they use St. George rootstock, that works magically with weak soils. Their vines are spaced five inches apart in rows eight inches apart on Josephine Loam soil. Their Heritage Tree is the oldest and biggest madrone tree in Sonoma County. An interesting fact is that Dan Gustafson, himself, spotted the magnificent madrone tree while driving in 2002, and can be accounted for as one of the main reasons he picked this certain premise for his