Sonoma County Annual Events

The iconic characters of the Peanuts comic strip may have lived somewhere around Minnesota, but their creator, Charles Schulz, lived for decades in Santa Rosa and the large Charles M. Schulz Museum is a testament to the comic strip’s deep California roots.

Charles Schulz first moved to Sonoma County in 1958 and his studio sat on what became the site of this museum, which opened in 2002, two years after his death. One focal point of the museum is a re-creation of that workspace where Schulz penned so many comic strips, but the museum’s collection also includes thousands of original artworks, along with related photographs and letters. There are also tribute pieces, like the huge tile wall by a Japanese artist—depicting Lucy holding the football for Charlie Brown and an array of Peanuts memorabilia, such as the first Snoopy plush dolls from the 1950s. (Of course, you can buy contemporary memorabilia in the on-site gift shop.)

The museum is home to a 100-seat cinema that shows short films about Schulz, though most of the cinema schedule is devoted to the deep inventory of Peanuts specials, from seasonal classics to evergreen specials like Life Is a Circus, Charlie Brown. Check the museum’s events page for hands-on activities, such as craft-making for children or animation workshops for all ages.

The museum complex is not just about exhibits, either. Cross the road and you can tie on some ice skates at Snoopy’s Home Ice, an indoor rink that predates the museum by decades—Schulz had it built in 1969. Sip some hot cocoa at the rink’s Warm Puppy Café, or wander through the neighbouring Snoopy Labyrinth, a contemplative path in the shape of the beagle’s head.

Peanuts fans can see statues of Snoopy and the gang scattered around the town of Santa Rosa (there are four at the local airport, also named after Schulz). In Southern California, meanwhile, Knott’s Berry Farm in Buena Park has its own Peanuts connection, with a Camp Snoopy section of child-friendly rides, a Snoopy HQ gift shop and Snoopy themed live shows which are often on ice.

Given Sonoma County’s broad range of soils and microclimates, a most amazing thing happens here: roughly 40 grape varieties thrive. If there’s dirt, it seems, a hardy and ambitious grapevine will find a way to make its home there.

As a result, there are more than 400 wineries covering 17 appellations in Sonoma County. While wine grapes may not grow on the rock cliffs that line the Pacific coast of Bodega Bay, you will find superb Chardonnay, Viognier and Pinot Noir at the chilly, fog-enshrouded Peay Vineyards estate just four miles from the ocean. You can taste wines surfside too, at Gourmet au Bay overlooking Bodega Bay, with flights of boutique wines served on a little wooden surfboard.

In any tasting-based travels around Sonoma County, you’ll quickly encounter the Wine Road. It’s not actually a road in the sense of a single, continuous stretch of highway, but rather an association of wineries that dates back to 1976 and now boasts nearly 200 estates nestled among the Alexander, Dry Creek and Russian River Valleys.

The Dry Creek Valley climate is Mediterranean, characterised by hot, dry summers with cool nights.

While Dry Creek Valley is home to more than 30 grape varieties, it’s best known for its Zinfandels, the black-skinned grape that brings hints of big brambly blackberry, blueberry, tobacco and cracked black pepper. The climate here is Mediterranean—hot, dry summers with cool nights, which is a lot like the Italian peninsula. As a result, the local winemakers have taken their cue from the area’s early Italian settlers by using sustainable, organic and biodynamic grape-growing methods, all similar to those the pioneers once used. You can taste the results at Papapietro Perry Winery’s tasting room and winery in Healdsburg, whose grapes are sourced from several nearby vineyards in Sonoma County.

For a taste of the famed Russian River Valley, visit the MacRostie Winery and Vineyards, which salutes owner Steve MacRostie, a legend for his superb wines from his original Wildcat Mountain Vineyard in the Petaluma Gap region of the Sonoma Coast. This estate winery and tasting room is set on a Healdsburg hillside and channels Sonoma County’s luxurious side with its polished oak tree trunk stools, leather chairs and spaceship-globe chandeliers.

Alexander Valley is another must-visit, home to the 1,200-acre Jordan Vineyard & Winery. The stone and stucco castle focuses on Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay, which are served with small bites from estate chef Todd Knoll that showcase the property’s culinary garden.

Indeed, a lot of good Sonoma wineries make food a prime part of the wine tasting experience. In Sonoma Valley, Hamel Family Wines impresses with sophisticated small bites and cave tours, while St Francis Winery offers a sumptuous multicourse small-plate lunch with guided wine pairings. And the Palate Play immersion at Ram’s Gate in Carneros-Sonoma is nearly a full meal, beginning with a backstage tour of the Howard Backen designed winery and followed by a seated, guided pairing of wines and dishes.

A sojourn in California wine country is virtually guaranteed to result in the palate being satisfied, but finding the right place to stay is important, too. With its varying landscapes, Sonoma County offers accommodation that ranges from luxury resorts to quaint B&Bs, all framed by spectacular surroundings. Consider these, listed roughly from north to south.

Seventy miles north of San Francisco, Healdsburg is home to Madrona Manor, which is a modernised historic 1881 Victorian mansion with plush suites, Michelin-starred dinners and extravagant service—all befitting its setting on eight acres of English-style gardens and wooded hillside. Take your gourmet buffet breakfast in the estate's parlour, if you can bear to leave your room outfitted with antiques, pillow-top mattresses and feather-soft linens.

If a quaint, historic B&B or private bungalow is more your style, you’ll find joy amid the vineyards outside Healdsburg at places like the Raford Inn, an 1880 Victorian plantation where breakfast brings stuffed French toast soufflé, and evenings glide in with complimentary wine tastings from neighbouring wineries.

The spa treatments at Forestville’s Farmhouse Inn use herbs and heirloom cider apples grown at the resort.

A dozen or so miles to the south, Forestville’s Farmhouse Inn and Restaurant offers a ravishing mix of gorgeous guest rooms and a Michelin-starred restaurant supplied with farm-fresh food. Its seasonally inspired spa uses massage oils enriched by herbs and even heirloom apples grown at the inn.

Or perhaps the ocean is calling, in which case Bodega Bay Lodge beckons as the only AAA Four Diamond hotel on the Sonoma Coast. The seaside perch, about 33 miles south-west of Forestville, offers a luxury escape, in snug rooms with fireplaces, feather duvets and private balconies for stargazing. But make time to dine too, at the resort’s Drakes Sonoma Coast Cuisine (the seafood on the menu comes from the same ocean glittering outside the windows). Or indulge in a sea-inspired spa treatment like the massage using warm tiger-clam seashells.

About 23 miles inland, at Santa Rosa’s Vintners Inn, a 78-room hotel nestled amidst 92 acres of Sonoma farmland, guests can luxuriate in spa treatments and ramble along two miles of paths. And a short drive further east, at the Landmark Vineyards Cottage in Kenwood, there are two private cottages built on the edge of the vines to choose from, and happily they both overlook an award-winning winery estate in the foothills of the Mayacamas Mountains.

Another notable retreat less than 10 miles down the road is the Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn & Spa, with its 3,700-square-metre spa built over a natural underground hot spring.

Run hand-in-hand on the beach. Wander across grassy meadows. Savour a picnic in a mountaintop forest. Such fantasies can easily become reality in Sonoma County. An oasis stretching from the gorgeous Mayacamas mountain range to the Pacific Ocean, the region boasts so many parks, reserves, beaches and vast open agricultural areas that you’re never more than a few minutes away from another outdoor adventure.

Salt Point State Park, for instance, located about 94 miles north of San Francisco, features a marine conservation area and 20 miles of walking paths along the rugged coastline, making it a prime spot to watch grey and blue whales. Grab a perch at Ocean Overlook to see the gentle giants travelling south to Baja California in January, heading from the Chukchi Sea near Alaska, then watch them travel back north in April or May for the summer feeding season. Salt Point has two campsites, one atop the cliffs on the ocean side of Highway 1 and one on the eastern side of Highway 1.

Head inland about 60 miles to Glen Ellen’s Jack London State Historic Park, and you’ll see history, romance and nature intermingle so harmoniously that it’s no surprise that the famous author called the area his 'Beauty Ranch'. Walkers and horse riders share the 26 miles of paths to a 2,000-year-old redwood tree and the centuries-old terraced gardens (the original version of sustainable farming). Don’t miss the ruins of the huge Wolf House that the London family had built, but which burned down before they could move in.

Annadel State Park in Santa Rosa offers more than 40 miles of paths for walking, cycling or horse riding.

Less than five miles north of Glen Ellen, in Kenwood, you’ll find Sugarloaf Ridge State Park, home of the headwaters of Sonoma Creek. Climb the 832-metre summit of Bald Mountain and on a clear day, you can see the Golden Gate Bridge. Sugarloaf also has the Robert Ferguson Observatory, which provides year-round astronomy education with the help of some of the largest telescopes dedicated to public use.

Even Sonoma County’s largest city, Santa Rosa (with fewer than 200,000 residents), is anchored by an enormous park. Annadel State Park spreads out over more than 5,500 acres of rolling hills, lakes, streams, meadows and woodland. Walkers, equestrians, mountain bikers and runners are all drawn here for the more than 40 miles of paths. Keep your eyes peeled for a sight of the rare California red-legged frogs, popularised in Mark Twain’s short story 'The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County'. In Guerneville, you can walk the paths at Armstrong Redwoods State Natural Reserve, home to a grove of majestic coastal redwoods, including one tree that is taller than an American football field is long. And in the city of Sonoma itself, Sonoma State Historic Park, which consists of six central locations each featuring a historic attraction and Depot Park both offer facilities for outdoor fun and relaxation such as bocce courts, picnic tables, playgrounds and cycle paths.

If you’re wine tasting in central Sonoma County, you’ll probably hear the phrase 'Petaluma Gap' at some point. It’s a curious term, since there are only a few wineries in Petaluma, which include Keller Estate and Kastania Vineyards, but the unique geography here gives many surrounding vineyards a famous, distinctive character. The 15-mile-wide 'gap' flows from the ocean between Tomales Bay and Bodega Bay, through the coastal range mountains and into San Francisco Bay, delivering wind, fog and soil enrichment to the local grapevines.

As a town, Petaluma was built on its own river, which made it easy to deliver goods, like its world-famous eggs and chickens, to Oakland and San Francisco. Today, it’s still known for world-class food, such as Cowgirl Creamery cheese, McEvoy Ranch olive oil, and both ROCKY the Free Range Chicken and ROSIE the Original Organic Chicken (both from Petaluma Poultry, founded in 1969 and still immensely popular).

By the same token, it’s no wonder central Petaluma's restaurants are held in such high esteem (see Central Market, Cucina Paradiso and the Michelin-starred Risibisi). Locally produced ingredients star on plenty of restaurant plates around town, like the roasted chicken, avocado, mozzarella and mixed greens on hearth-baked pain de campagne at the beloved Della Fattoria’s artisan bakery.

Nightlife is another hallmark of this stretch of normally sleepy wine country; check out top-rated craft brewpub Lagunitas Brewing Company; The Block Petaluma, a food-van market with 30 taps and on-site wood-fired pizza; or the historic McNear's Mystic Theatre, famous for its live music. But first, spend a day shopping at the top-notch antiques stores lining Petaluma Boulevard. Check Visit Petaluma for upcoming events.

There’s no shortage of places to stay when visiting the area. If you’re looking to commune with nature, there are several campsites in the vicinity, including both KOA sites and ones that offer a cushier glamping experience.

Even though this is Sonoma County’s largest city (with 174,000 residents), Santa Rosa still feels pretty friendly. Certainly, you'll never forget you’re in wine country with tasting rooms in the heart of the city. One good place to start is Santa Rosa Vintners Square, a collection of wineries set in an industrial area on Cleveland Avenue next to US Highway 101. It’s home to outlets such as D’Argenzio Winery, Sheldon Wines, Krutz Family Cellars and Fogbelt Brewing Company all set around a lovely playground.

The SOFA arts district on South A Street is another under-the-radar gem, which has developed into a fashionable area for creative types, including chef Liza Hinman and her Cal-Mediterranean Spinster Sisters restaurant (think ricotta-nettle gnocchi with black trumpet and hedgehog mushrooms, prosciutto and green garlic). Wander around the historic neighbourhoods, such as McDonald Avenue where Alfred Hitchcock filmed Shadow of a Doubt in the summer of 1942.

Wander around the historic neighbourhoods, such as McDonald Avenue, where Alfred Hitchcock filmed Shadow of a Doubt in the summer of 1942. 

This is also where you’ll find some of Sonoma County’s best shopping. The Railroad Square Historic District sits to the west of Highway 101, stretching from the Hyatt Regency Sonoma Wine Country to the ranch supply shop West End Farmers Market, and is centred around the restored 1903 Northwestern Pacific Railroad train depot. Browse long-standing favourites like Hot Couture, with its vintage ballgowns or the delicate china teacups perfect for sticking out your little finger at Whistlestop Antiques.

You’ll also notice several larger-than-life statues of Snoopy around town, as well as ones of Charlie Brown, Woodstock and Lucy. That’s because Charles Schulz lived and worked in Santa Rosa from 1969 until his death in 2000, claiming Sonoma County as one inspiration for his iconic Peanuts comic strip. At the Charles M. Schulz Museum, you can see the comic-strip artist’s studio and countless sketches, and watch cartoon screenings.

The flawless-at-every-turn town of Healdsburg, in the north of Sonoma County was recently listed as the no. 2 'Best Small Town to Visit' in the US by Smithsonian magazine. Indeed, Healdsburg is a pretty small town with a population of a little over 11,000, but many of the names here have become pretty big. Take, for example, the lavish luxury lodgings found at the Relais & Chateaux Hotel Les Mars, local celebrity chef Charlie Palmer’s Dry Creek Kitchen in the heralded Hotel Healdsburg, and Valette restaurant of famous local chef Dustin Valette

Still, even with some relatively recent arrivals, like market SHED- a modern 'grange' for farmers there are long-standing favourites.  Downtown Bakery & Creamery, for instance, has been a staple for delicious breakfasts since the café opened in 1987, and still attracts a loyal following for its sumptuous sticky buns, jam pockets, doughnut muffins, and cheddar cheese and thyme scones. Another excellent breakfast option is Singletree Cafe, home to a $4.95 breakfast special of eggs, potatoes and toast, and its lunch menu features a burger that Charlie Palmer has called the best anywhere.

It’s easy to spend an entire day just wandering the environs of Healdsburg Plaza, which is lined with dozens of tasting rooms, each with their own atmosphere. Take a look at the big-city chic Cartograph with wines on tap, the stylish and funky Banshee with its record player spinning vinyl, and the groovy Thumbprint Cellars with for-sale artwork on nearly every inch of the wall. Sample some of Sonoma County’s acclaimed craft beer at Bear Republic Brewing Co., which has a brewpub on the Plaza and is known for its hoppy and full-bodied Racer 5 IPA.