By the time you arrive at Yoakim Bridge Estate, the chefs have been at work for hours. They want to delight you, of course. They also want to delight Bill, who will be eating beside you. This is a useful little arrangement.

The welcome comes with a glass of our Brut Blanc de Blancs sparkling wine and Bill’s introduction to the estate: a stately home and a dry-farmed vineyard with 150 years behind it, and a view from the deck that makes taking the afternoon off seem an excellent decision.

For a while, there is simply the glass, the conversation and the valley of vineyards spread out below.

Then you are invited inside.

The room is beautiful, the table set in grand style. A sea of wineglasses catches the light. You regard them with the pleasant suspicion that nobody has planned a hasty lunch.

The first Reserve wine is poured. These limited-production wines begin with our finest fruit, selected from low-yield, sustainably farmed vineyards. California wines inspired by the great European traditions, made naturally, with minimal intervention and little or no use of additives.

Like all Williamson wines, they are available exclusively through Williamson. Bill knows their stories because he has lived them.

Then the first dish arrives.

You take a bite, then a sip, then another bite. The wine brings the dish into sharper focus; the food reveals something you had not quite noticed in the glass. For a moment, conversation gives way to the agreeable business of tasting.

Four more courses to go.

Lunch unfolds at a pace that allows each dish and wine their proper moment. There are stories between courses, questions between pours, and the growing pleasure of discovering how much there is to enjoy when someone has thought carefully about everything on the table.

No question is off limits. Terroir, winemaking, aging, food pairing, the peculiar workings of the wine business—ask away. Bill’s answers are direct, informed and entertaining. A good question can send the conversation somewhere nobody expected, which is part of the pleasure of having the winemaker at lunch.

Eventually, you begin to suspect that this splendid afternoon must be drawing to a close.

Bill introduces another wine.

It is in precisely the style you mentioned loving earlier. He had been listening. When a man makes forty-five wines, telling him what you like is a worthwhile contribution to the conversation.

When your car is ready, Bill walks out with you. If you would like, he may even lead a short stroll through the vineyard. After an afternoon of tasting and talking, the old vines deserve a moment of their own.

Then come the goodbyes, although “until next time” feels more appropriate. Wherever you call home, you already know you’ll be back.

Whatever your idea of heaven, it now has a rather good table in Healdsburg.