Recommend Visiting Geyserville

When cruising along the Wine Road, I highly recommend visiting Geyserville. This cozy little hamlet offers so much in just a few blocks.

Let’s Start with Wine Tasting

Within the city limits, you’ll find several tasting rooms, including Locals, a 10-winery collective tasting room featuring over 70 wines from these small local producers. Locals offers complimentary tasting, and is located in the heart of downtown Geyserville at corner of Geyserville Avenue and Hwy 128. Since the business sector of Geyserville is about two blocks long, you won’t miss it.

Just a few steps away from Locals, you’ll find Mercury Wines and Pech Merle Winery. Pech Merle’s tagline is “devotion never tasted so good.” The fun-loving staff is ready and waiting to pour their wines, which currently includes Rose of Syrah, Viognier, two Sauvignon Blancs, two Pinot Noirs, four Zinfandels, Cabernet Franc, and Cabernet Sauvignon. Pech Merle’s winemaker, John Pepe recently contributed a blog about his other passion, pyrotechnics. Who knew fireworks and winemaking went together?

Mercury offers a range of wines, with some of the most interesting names and wine labels to match. Their 2014 Skins is 100% Chardonnay fermented on the grape skins. Or check out their 2014 The Dark Side, a blend of Syrah and Petite Sirah, or Mercurio Lot IV, which is 100% Tempranillo. If you are looking for the eclectic and love dogs, Mercury Wines is worth checking out.

Up the block and around the corner, you’ll discover the newly remodeled Route 128 Winery’s tasting room. Owners Pete and Lorna Opatz have been in the wine industry most of their lives, and their passion for it is reflected in their wines. They currently are pouring Chardonnay, Viognier, Pinot Noir, Zinfandel, Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, and three very distinctive red blends.

Now for Something to Eat

For such a small village, Geyserville has a nice selection of dining options. One of my favorite stops is Geyserville Mud Coffee & Café. On Geyserville Avenue adjacent to a tasting room, this shop offers the standard coffee, tea and soft drink options, plus smoothies, breakfast burritos and sandwiches, bagel dogs, and a wonderful assortment of pastries, muffins, and cookies. The front outside seating is dog friendly and is the perfect place to watch what is happening around Geyserville.

If you are looking for a more substantial meal and a glass of wine to go with it, there are several options. Diavola Pizzeria offers traditional Italian cooking, house cured salumi and sausages, and authentic wood fire oven Italian pizzas. They also have a rotating wine list where you can sample local wines, and are open daily for lunch and dinner.

Catelli’s is an institution in Geyserville, with third generation family members instilling renewed energy into this classic Italian restaurant. Here are a few of their menu items: starters—burrata & prosciutto or beef carpaccio; pasta—seasonal Carbonara or fresh-made ravioli with your choice of three-meat filling or cheese filling from Bellweather Farms; entrées—chicken piccata or clam, sausage and calamari sauté. Open Tuesday – Sunday for lunch and dinner.

Geyserville Gun Club Bar & Lounge is all about the cocktail hour and some entertaining small bites, like Korean tacos, spicy tuna handroll, or octopus skewers. Open daily in time for happy hour.

The Geyserville Grille is open daily for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and happy hour Thursday – Monday. It is a great find at the north edge of town (which is about a half-minute drive from the central part of town) and adjacent to the Geyserville Inn. Guests can opt to dine al fresco on the expansive deck or patio. The menus are extensive, and offer what you might expect plus some delightful surprises, like ahi tuna poke nachos, risotto with prawns, chilaquiles, or a portabella wrap.

Stay Over and Play Longer

Geyserville also has a few lodging options. The Geyserville Inn, which backs up to a seemingly endless vineyard vista, offers well-appointed rooms, including suites and a private cottage, with a blend of comfort and elegance. They also have an exceptional wedding or special events venue where you have the feel of Wine Country without asking your guests to drive back to their hotel after the wedding or reception. A definite gem!

The Hope-Merrill House is a beautifully restored Eastlake-style Victorian, with each of the rooms offering charm and elegance, plus just the right amount of modern conveniences. A gourmet breakfast is included, and you can reserve a picnic lunch to take on your wine tasting adventure. If you are looking for a place to host an intimate wedding or elopement, you might check them out.

Time for a Little Shopping

Hard to imagine so much crammed into just a few blocks, but we haven’t even gotten to my favorite part—the eclectic shops. Bosworth and Son General Merchandise has been a part of Geyserville’s commerce since 1911! Bosworth’s is an old fashioned general store, with so much to look at and absorb. You’ll be surprised by the quality and variety available. Hats are among their top sellers, and the selection is huge. They also have a large selection of boots, jewelry, clothing (men’s, woman’s and children’s), and gift items. Plus, they sell western ware, horse tack, animal feed, hardware, and fishing gear. Be sure to check out this venerable institution.

Across the street from Bosworth and Son is another eclectic store called gin’ gilli’s Vintage Home. gin’gilli’s is a delightful combination of antique, vintage, and new, with about 40 vendors selling treasures of all kinds. The owner refers to it as a “picker’s paradise.”

The newest addition to Geyserville’s shopping options is Dallas A. Saunders Artisan Textiles. Located on the eastern edge of town at 275 Hwy 128, the showroom is only open to the public Friday to Sunday from 11am to 6 pm. The feast for the eyes is worth the stop.

On our visit to Cloverdale earlier this year, we discovered the Sculpture Trail that goes from Geyserville to Cloverdale. With this visit to Geyserville, I took the time to stop and look at each piece. Before I just noticed them when driving by. When you visit Geyserville, I’d recommend getting a cup of coffee at Geyserville Mud and walking the trail.

And Yet More…

Geyserville hosts several annual events, with the most talked about being the Tree Lighting and Tractor Parade of Lights. This annual event is held the Saturday after Thanksgiving and is fast becoming one of the not to miss events in Sonoma County.

The Geyserville Fire Department, which is mostly staffed by highly trained and dedicated volunteers, holds annual fundraisers, which are also great events to attend. One of their volunteer members is Fred Peterson, owner of Peterson Winery. As a Wine Road member, Fred Peterson recently shared a blog post with us about some of his experiences as a Geyserville firefighter.

This glimpse of Geyserville actually didn’t covered all it has to offer, but maybe it piqued your interest enough that someday soon, you too will find yourself exploring Geyserville’s cozy charms.

Happy Sipping!

#WineRoad #AlongTheWineRoad #Geyserville

Posted by Rebecca Germolus

Rebecca Germolus, co-owner of Maximum Value Marketing, loves Sonoma County and playing along the Wine Road. Rebecca daily immerses herself in wine country by providing cost-effective marketing and writing solutions to wineries and restaurants.

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