By Elaine Marshall, Certified Wine Professional

The year after I was first married, my husband and I decided to take an anniversary trip to the wine country. It was autumn, and the vines would be changing-the closest thing California gets to fall colors. And, wine country was full of romantic inns, restaurants, and tasting rooms-ready-made for a memorable weekend get-away.

Our choice was Dry Creek Valley, a sub-region of Sonoma County. Situated north of San Francisco by an hour, the area's hub is Healdsburg, a quaint spot with a traditional town square, boutiques, and corner bakeries. Then, of course, there's the wine: Dry Creek is famous for rich, plush reds like Zinfandel, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon as well as white Sauvignon Blanc.

Throughout the valley, we discovered grand wineries with ivy covered stonewalls, like Dry Creek Vineyards, and modest barns, like Rafanelli. Winding, twisted roads, narrow and bumpy, led us to tasting rooms, farms, and homes. A bicyclist's dream, the valley runs north to south, with vineyards and farms bordering both sides of the namesake river, stretching from Healdsburg to Lake Sonoma.

The Dry Creek Valley remains one of our favorite getaways. Its sloped hillside vineyards and flat valley floor plots add grace and drama to the landscape while giving regional growers a variety of microclimates to plant. Wineries like Lambert Bridge rely on over 20 local growers to provide fruit for their wines. These communal arrangements keep local agriculture prosperous-to the point where founding families from the late 1800s still call Dry Creek Valley home. It all adds up to a lively place for visitors to experience an historical yet ever-thriving wine-based community.