Coyote Sonoma offers beer, cider, kombucha, wine on tap

Vineyards 2014 Feather Ridge Cabernet Franc.

The dinner gave guests an opportunity to explore the new Coyote Sonoma — with its 11 craft beers, one local cider, one kombucha and two wines all on tap — plus plenty of wine by the glass and bottle. The artsy warehouse-style space boasts metal pendant lighting, a tin topped bar and a catwalk and was named as a tribute to the Wilson Winery of Dry Creek Valley in Healdsburg.

That estate is home to the “Coyote,” a 26-foot-tall by 23-foot-wide sculpture artist Bryan Tedrick created to represent a respect for “freedom, love of wild spaces and the tenacity to remain.” The seven-ton steel sculpture originally was created in 2013 for the Burning Man festival.

“Ken Wilson believes, like the Coyote, we could all use a little more howl — a sign of both play and love of the pack — in our lives,” Ambrosi said.

Next, it was time for the judges and their companions to settle in for dinner at long tables stretching the length of the airy, spacious Coyote Sonoma that doubles as a large tasting bar and soon-to-be pub restaurant. Served buffetstyle, the casual mood belied the fancy menu that caterer Heidi West of Healdsburg created.

“We love to work with Heidi,” Ambrosi said. “She and Diane know each other from growing up in Marin County and she always does an amazing job.”

Guests loaded their plates with a bounty of dishes, starting with mixed field greens tossed with pomegranate, persimmon, goat cheese, pistachios and shallot vinaigrette. Bottles of wine sat on each table, beckoning for guests to serve themselves with recommended menu pairings, such as a crisp, bright 2017 Jaxon Keys Mendocino County Viogley

Katie Ambrosi, marketing director at Wilson Artisan Wineries

nier with the salad.

Diners could choose between two entrées, including seared salmon filet with brown butter and sea salt, or whole roasted New York strip with salsa verde and crispy onion rings. Wisely, most chose both, pairing the fish with tropical, silky 2016 Mazzocco Stuhlmuller Vineyard Alexander Valley Chardonnay and the steak with 2015 deLorimier Preston Ranch Alexander ValRockpile

Cabernet Sauvignon.

Even the side dishes had designated pairings: crushed new potatoes with soft churned butter, crème fraiche and chives matched with a 2016 Wilson Nolan Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel, and braised white beans and Swiss chard with roasted garlic, fennel, thyme and red chile flakes to complement 2016 St. Anne’s Crossing Split Rail Vineyard Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel.

PHOTOS BY MICHAEL SHORT Above: Coyote Sonoma poured eight wines at the reception and five wines with dinner. Below: Judges Nadia Pavlevska, left to right, Spreti Valente and Wilfred Wong enjoy the judges dinner. Sixty-five wine experts evaluated more than 6,800 wines for the competition.