Sonoma County's Destination Differentiators

"Destination differentiators" is marketing speak for what distinguishes one vacation spot from another. It's easy to see how a Hawaii beach trip might be a different sort of vacation from an African safari, but how is Sonoma County different from other wine vacations?

Along the Pacific Coast Highway

Nature
   Sonoma County has over 50 miles of Pacific coastline and that's hard to beat for any other wine destination. This coastline means Redwoods that are definitely worth a visit. The Russian River traverses the county, plays significantly into the vineyard micro-climates and is a source of recreation. There is significant open space including a large network of state and regional parks.

Towns
   Healdsburg and Sonoma are the two main cutesy wine country destination towns. Both have many wine tasting rooms, restaurants and shopping opportunities within easy walking distance. Both have numerous special events and festivals during the year.
   Santa Rosa is the largest wine country town of anywhere in the country as far as I know. There's not much wine tasting, but plenty of lodging, restaurants, some nightlife, and a lot of good craft beer.
   Petaluma is as nice of a downtown as you can find and it's not wine-centric like Healdsburg or Sonoma. It probably has the best nightlife in the county.

Dining
   Yes, there are higher-end restaurants like Napa has. You'll find a LOT of excellent places to eat in most wine grape-growing areas (fine wine tends to attract fine dining).
   Sonoma County has more variety in eating choices. Some because of the larger population of the county, maybe some because of it's proximity to San Francisco, but mostly because the people are as diverse as the food. Vegetarian, Himalayan, Vietnamese, Peruvian, Puerto Rican, El Salvadorian, etc.
   Somewhat unique are the roadhouses. Think of stagecoach stops in the Old West. These are the original taverns and often have some interesting stories.

Paradise Ridge Winery

Art
   Fine art is a big deal in Sonoma County. It's always been a bit of an artist colony and the wine business seems to have brought in more. Art and wine seem to go together like food and wine. You'll find dozens of sculptures at the Paradise Ridge Winery grounds and others just scattered along the roadside. Healdsburg has many art galleries and there are many more throughout the county.

Music
   The local music scene can be found in primarily in Petaluma, Santa Rosa, and Sebastopol. For big acts check out the Green Music Center and Luther Burbank Center for the Arts.

Cheese
   There is a Sonoma-Marin cheese trail. If you're a cheesehead this is worth the trip. When in the town of Sonoma don't miss Vella Cheese.

Russian River Brewery samaplers

Beer
   If you've read this blog before you knew I'd get to the beer eventually. Sonoma County is one of the country's top beer destinations. There are places with more craft breweries, but maybe not the quality. You could take a multi-day "beer-cation" in Sonoma if you really wanted to explore. Of course, you'd need weeks, maybe months, to explore all of the wine!