🌱 Healdsburg Vs. Napa Wines + New Cop + Weed Shop Approval Process

Hello, neighbors! Simone here with your latest copy of the Healdsburg Patch newsletter, filled with all the most important things to know about what's happening in our community right now. Let's do it...

First, your local weather:

• Wednesday: Mix of sun and clouds, with a chance of rain and wind. High: 60 Low: 41.
• Thursday: Partly sunny and breezy. High: 60 Low: 36.

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Air over Healdsburg:

Here are the top 3 stories today in Healdsburg:

1. At the latest Healdsburg City Council meeting, our city leaders took one more step toward allowing weed shops to open in town. This, according to the Press Democrat's new Healdsburg-focused reporter, Jennifer Sawhney — who has graciously been attending these dense, hours-long meetings and reporting back on what's going down! From her PD report: "It’s been five years since recreational marijuana use was permitted under California law, but a few Sonoma County municipalities still prohibit dispensaries within city limits. Healdsburg might soon disappear from that list of exclusionary cities. At its regular meeting Monday, the Healdsburg City Council preliminarily approved an end to the city’s moratorium on commercial cannabis operations, which would pave a path for two dispensaries — and potentially future consumption lounges. The Council reached a 3-0 consensus in its first vote on the matter — a second vote will be held April 17 — with Mayor Ariel Kelley and Council member Chris Herrod absent. 'It took us a long time to get to this point,' Council member Evelyn Mitchell said during the meeting." Next up, the application window for hopeful cannabis shop owners should open in May, according to the PD, after the city decides in April how high the application fee should be, in order to "offset city costs associated with the program’s development" while not limiting the range of potential applicants. (Press Democrat; paywall)
2. The new cover story for Dow Jones financial mag Barron's? "The Sonoma Wine Region Rises to Rival Napa." Seems like kind of old news, but we'll take it! The long-form piece focuses heavily on Healdsburg winemaker Jesse Katz, the man behind Aperture Cellars. It goes: "At only age 39, Katz has already earned years of accolades for his robust flavored, structured wines, including 100-point ratings from three critics for the 2018 Farrow Ranch Malbec he has produced under the Devil Proof Vineyards label for a decade from what he describes as a grand cru vineyard in the foothills of Sonoma’s Alexander Valley. Katz is among the winemakers and producers who are proving that Sonoma can offer beautiful, collectible, and varied wines to rival Napa Valley’s powerful — and more than $500-a-bottle pricey — Cabernet Sauvignons. An obstacle for Katz and the region’s many other superb winemakers is Sonoma’s story can be challenging to tell given the breadth of the region’s terrain, stretching from the Pacific Coast in the west to the Mayacamas Mountains in the east. ... Zinfandel grown on vines more than 100 years old can be found on Katz’s property surrounding his winery and tasting room in Healdsburg in the Russian River Valley, and, as he discovered, the volcanic soil in the foothills of Mayacamas produces world-class Malbec." You can read the full story here. (Barron's)
3. Sonoma County's hotel industry appears to be holding strong, as well. A new report on California hotel sales in the last half of 2022 shows there was much more more activity than expected, given recent "increased interest rates and economic uncertainties," according to the North Bay Business Journal — thanks in large part to a bunch of hotels that sold in our area. From the Business Journal: "Last year in the North Bay, most of the sales activity took place in Sonoma County, with 16 hotels sold, according to [Atlas Hospitality Group, a Newport Beach-based commercial real estate firm specializing in the sale of California hotels]. The most expensive transaction in the county was the 226-room Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn, located at 100 Boyes Blvd., in Sonoma. Brookfield Asset Management bought the property for $267.1 million, according to Atlas." And "in Healdsburg, the River Belle Inn, a seven-room bed and breakfast located at 68 Front St., sold for $7.25 million in a deal that closed Sept. 27, according to Atlas. 'The River Belle is such a lovely property, and I’m excited to add this unique property to our growing portfolio and provide new management and development opportunities for our growing team at Vertice Hospitality,' Tony Greenberg, CEO of Vertice Hospitality, said in a statement first published in The Press Democrat on Oct. 14." (North Bay Business Journal)

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Healdsburg pics of the day, spring edition:

Today and tomorrow in Healdsburg:

Wednesday, March 22

• Sonoma County Government Hosts Free Job & Resource Fair in Santa Rosa for "People Experiencing Homelessness or at Risk of Becoming Homeless" (11AM-2PM)
• "Universal Yums" for Teens at the Healdsburg Library (1:30PM)
• Corazón Healdsburg & Side by Side Host Community Support Group / Grupo Comunitario de Consejería at the Healdsburg Community Center (Weekly, 6-7:30PM)
• Trivia Night at Coyote Sonoma (Weekly, 7-9PM)
• George Thorogood & The Destroyers Live at the Luther Burbank Center: “Bad All Over the World – 50 Years of Rock,” Featuring Hamish Anderson (8PM)
• ZZZ Top with Slowhand Live at the Elephant in the Room (8-11PM)

Thursday, March 23

• Santa Rosa Chamber of Commerce Hosts Local Business Mixer at Breathless Sparkling Wines (5-7PM)
• SOLD OUT: Rootdown Kitchen Series: Pasta Class at The Drink With Chef Matthew Cargo (5-7PM)
• Singer-Songwriter & Multi-Instrumentalist Gill Landry Live at Little Saint (5:45PM)
• Healdsburg Running Company Hosts Loop Run in Downtown Windsor (6PM)
• Trivia Night at Fogbelt Station Beer Garden (Weekly, 6-8PM)
• Karaoke Night at Coyote Sonoma (Weekly, 7-10PM)

From my notebook:

• Meet Officer Delatorre, the newest policewoman to join the Healdsburg Police Department. (Healdsburg Police Department via Facebook)
• The Luther Burbank Center just announced the 2023 lineup for the annual outdoor summer concert series they throw at Rodney Strong Vineyards in Healdsburg, now in its 31st year. Performers will reportedly include Marc Cohn, Shawn Colvin, The Wood Brothers, ZZ Ward and Larkin Poe. (winebusiness.com & wineindustryadvisor.com)
• Enso Village, the new "Zen-inspired senior living community" being built at the north end of Healdsburg, near the Montage, just hired another couple of bigwigs: Pamela Coleman as "vice president of people and culture" and Erin Partridge as "head of inspirement." (McKnight's Senior Living & North Bay Business Journal; paywall)
• Healdsburg nonprofit Russian Riverkeeper has reportedly been removing a bunch of "Arundo" weeds from the riverbanks near Camp Rose. "Did you know Arundo is a water hog?" the org says. "Arundo can take up to millions of gallons of water per acre. Removing Arundo helps to protect our river!" See pics of the operation here. (Russian Riverkeeper via Facebook)

You're officially in the loop for today! I'll see you soon.

— Simone Wilson

About me: I was born and raised in Healdsburg, CA, where I was the editor of the Healdsburg High School Hound's Bark. I have since worked as a local journalist for publications in San Diego, Los Angeles, New York City and the Middle East. I'm currently a senior product manager for Patch.

Have a news tip or suggestion for an upcoming Healdsburg Patch newsletter? Contact me at simone.wilson@patch.com