After receiving a Sonoma County gift box, I excitedly lifted the lid and picked up and admired each item from the carefully curated box. What a great gift to send to a friend or loved one for the holidays. Since we all are advised to stay safer at home due to the pandemic, the flavors of Sonoma County can be delivered to your door. 

While opening the box filled with delicious food items and wine, each one sparked a memory and past trips to the bucolic wine region. Giving a box celebrates a human connection for those who give and those who receive.

The Sonoma Love Gift Boxes – are carefully curated gift boxes of locally made specialty goods offering a little luxury to every day. Here are some suggestions of artisan items to include:

• Dry Creek Valley Olive Oil, Berkstone, Healdsburg, CA
• Wildflower Honey, McEvoy Ranch, Petaluma, CA
• Smoked Almonds, Bryerton’s Smoked Almonds, Santa Rosa, CA
• Winter Spice Rub, SOUTHPAW Seasonings, Santa Rosa, CA
• Cashew Toffee, Windsor Toffee, CA
• Olive Oil Lip Balm, ODE, McEvoy Ranch, Petaluma, CA

Other artisans are offering their Sonoma County food and wine for home delivery. Valley Ford Cheese & Creamery is located on the rural coast of Sonoma County, California. The company produces handcrafted, Italian style artisan cheeses made from 100% Jersey cows milk. The cows have access to pasture 365 days a year, are never treated with growth hormones or anitbiotics, and the land is certified organic. Serve a cheese board during the holidays and include some fresh and dried fruit, olives and roasted nuts.

Journeyman Meat Co. is a Sonoma based butcher shop by Peter Seghesio’s offering salumeria, wine, handcrafted provisions, and national shipping. Slice and arrange on a charcuterie board during the holidays.

Sonoma Wines – According to Brian Casey, the Sommelier of the Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn, there are over 400+ wineries in the county. Recently I received three bottles of Sonoma wines and had a virtual wine tasting with Casey and Edward Roe, the GM of the Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn. Here’s why Casey believes each of these wines are worthy to serve during the holidays or to give as gifts. Three Sticks Wines produces exceptional Pinot Noirs in Sonoma County, at their estate properties Durell and Gap’s Crown Vineyards. When you visit Sonoma, their tasting room is located in the historic Vallejo-Casteñada Adobe in the downtown Sonoma Plaza. It was once a private home and now offers indoor and outdoor tasting areas. Sonoma-Cutrer Les Pierres Chardonnay is unique because the grapes are planted in what was once the site of a rock quarry. The soil is 50-70% rock content, which infuses this wine with a beautiful mineral essence. Winery Sixteen 600 founder Phil Coturri (a Grateful Dead fan) set out to prove that organic grapes make better wines. Beyond the health and environmental benefits, organic farming allows the terroir of the vineyard to shine. Phil is one of the most prolific growers in the U.S. Since the 1970s he has been planting 800 acres of grapes in Sonoma and Napa for 35 different wineries. He selects the best rows from different vineyards to make his one-of-a-kind delicious wines.

Lala’s Jam Bar & Farmstand makes small batch local fruit, low in sugar artisan jam that has no artificial pectin. The staff at Lala’s puts together baskets that range from $20 to $150. The strawberry jam is ideal to add to thumbprint cookies or to spread on holiday scones.

Big River Coffee is a #BlackLivesMatter family-owned and operated in Sonoma County since 1991. The Santa Rosa based company’s founder Harold Henderson and his team roast, sell and serve some of the best coffee beans in the area. On Christmas morning brew Noelle’s Naughty & Nice blend with tasting notes that include spiced chocolate and creamy caramel.

Beet Generation Farm is a creation of two women Libby and Ali. Libby cultivates a two acre farm in beautiful South Sebastopol. Ali helps when she has days off working as a paramedic in San Francisco. They make small-batch pasta weekly from blanched, roasted or fresh pureed vegetables from their garden. The beautiful colored pasta are great on their own topped with just olive oil or melted butter, or brown butter and a little flake salt.

Hanson Sonoma Distillery makes small batch grape based organic vodka. They are also now making hand and surface sanitizer. Their first batch went to first responders. These are a great stocking stuffer.  

Click here to learn more about traveling to Sonoma County.