Our (Localicious) Harvest Party Line-up

Our annual Harvest Party is rapidly approaching and we're so excited about the line-up of local food merchants who will be in the house for this year's event. Come experience the deliciousness with us!

Friend in Cheeses Jam Company. Lavender plum jelly. Lightly spiced Pinot cherries. Dark, earthy-sweet onion jam. Tart carrot marmalade. The Friend in Cheeses Jam Company is one of our favorites because of the joyous, deeply creative approach it brings to artisan food. They make outrageously delicious concoctions you won't find anywhere else. 

Jimtown Store. Oh, Jimtown Store. How do we count the ways? As the New York Times recently discovered, this casually stylish rural gem manages to be the soul of authenticity and the pinnacle of wine country cuisine. With items like spicy pepper jam, espresso brownies, and their special fig & olive condiment, the Jimtown spread is always full-flavored, earthy, and irresistible. If you haven't experienced the sensibilities of Founder Carrie Brown and Chef Peter Brown yet, harvest season is the time!

Whole Vine.  You know how wine's character can be distinguished by a varietal? Well, so can oil. Whole Fine takes grape vines and uses them to make beautifully rich and complex culinary oils like their incredible Riesling Seed Oil with traces of Argan and Hazelnut. We use this as a garnish on a wide range of dishes from seafood to cheese. A "game changer." 

Bernier Farms. Bernier Farms grows "just about everything," but we're especially fond of their incredible garlic. Roast a head in the oven, smear on crusty bread, and enjoy with a bottle of J Chardonnay. It's heaven on earth. Bernier is simply one of our favorite sources for top-notch, sustainably grown Sonoma County produce.  

Merchants Millers. This is the good stuff. And we mean, the really good stuff. Merchants and Millers are known for their award-winning olive oils, vinegar, sea salts, and honeys — all crafted with old-world sensibilities but packaged with gorgeously modern, new world style. Their Meyer lemon olive oil and pomegranate vinegar, in particular, are out of this world.

Sufficiently tantalized? Good! Get your tickets for our Harvest Party and experience all this with us, and more including an array of peak season appetizers thoughtfully paired with our award-winning sparkling and varietal wines.

What: The J Vineyards & Winery Annual Harvest Party 
When: Saturday, Sept. 22nd. 11:00AM to 1:30PM or 2:00PM to 4:30PM
Where: J Vineyards, 11447 Old Redwood Highway Healdsburg, CA 11447 
Cost: $45 per person / $35 for Club J Members 

To buy tickets, call (707) 431-5479 or buy tickets online. 

Club J | Directions | Event Calendar | Gift Boutique | Wine Shop

Adventures in Sonoma: Willi's Seafood and Raw Bar

Sonoma County specializes in striking just the right balance of casual and sophisticated, and Willi's Seafood & Raw Bar in Healdsburg is a perfect specimen of that. Vibrant decor, an extensive list of small plates to share, an equally extensive selection of local wines, plus an outdoor patio for enjoying warm evenings create a wonderfully Sonoma-centric experience. 

Favorite menu items include the warm Maine lobster roll with garlic butter and fennel and french fries with Laura Chenel goat cheese ranch — washed down, of course, with some chilled J Brut Rosé. 

Two other highlights are the uni mac and cheese with chives and Sweet Bay scallops and the soft shelled crab "BLT" with green goddess dressing — featuring huge chunks of fresh, expertly seared crab. 

If you have room after all that, try the banana chocolate bread pudding or the local cheese course with truffled honey.

If it's not clear by now, Willi's is fit for serious foodies and the warm, worldly ambiance will set just the right "Sonomish" mood during your next wine country get-away. Highly recommended.

Willi's Seafood and Raw Bar, 403 Healdsburg Ave., Healdsburg, CA 95448 (707) 433-9191

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Locavore: Spoonbar

Spoonbar here in Healdsburg, California is a wonderfully big, modern restaurant with breezy, architectural style and gorgeous pops of color from turquoise Eames chairs and caramel-toned acacia tables. When the weather is warm (as it so often is here), the restaurant opens its cantina doors to the sidewalk and that’s when Spoonbar really shines, striking just the right balance between relaxed and luxe. It’s reluxed.

Louis Maldonado of Fifth Floor and Aziza recently came on board to revamp the menu, and the transformation is garnering a lot of positive attention. The Chronicle's Michael Bauer recently wrote, “Spoonbar has become one of my favorite destinations in Sonoma County.”

The new format features 22 dishes in five categories. One of our favorites is the handmade cannelloni of swiss chard and crescenza cheese topped with toybox squash. Crescenza is a sweetish, mild Italian cheese with buttery melt-in-your-mouth texture, so it plays beautifully against a vibrant sparkling wine like J Vineyards’ Cuvée 20. We also loved the Cuvée with Maldonado’s lightly cooked ocean trout with plum and avocado on flax seed crackers. 

Spoonbar, located in the h2hotel, 219 Healdsburg Ave. Healdsburg, CA 95448 Make reservations on Open Table or call (707) 433-7222

Club J | Directions | Event Calendar | Gift Boutique | Wine Shop