Hopland's Newest Hot Spot: Piazza de Campovida

BEAUTIFUL VERANDA VIEWS AND FANTASTIC FOOD

Welcome

Right on Route 101 in
downtown Hopland

The best, new hot spot for wine country dining in Mendocino has got to be Hopland's Piazza de Campovida, a classy yet casual pizza place with a Grade A view from the veranda of mountain ranges and a chef who makes food you'll come back again and again for.

And why, you may ask, is this important? Because Hopland is ground zero (along with Ukiah and nearby Potter Valley) for organic viticulture and when in wine country, where the wine prices are right, a girl still has to eat. Before the Piazza came along, there was only the Bluebird cafe, a place famous for pie and burgers. So in this case, more is better...Piazza de Campovida has definitely raised the bar.

The veranda has lovely mountain views

I've been there twice now. It's the basic gourmet pizza and handcrafted beer theme, but the execution is flawless. It's a classic Italian theme, yet with that hops twist - so Hopland, don't you think?

Piazza de Campovida specializes in
handcrafted beers made in Oakland

The summer squash salad, a unique seasonal specialty,
was beautiful and flavorful with corn, herbs, and pine nuts -
hurry it won't be on the menu for long

The seating inside is spacious and casual

Super casual, but those hefty cloth napkins come in handy

Best bets are the pizzas (sorry, we ate ours before I thought of photographing it) and the salads. This weekend my friend and I sampled a special summer squash and white corn salad - to die for. 

The panna cotta is one sexy dessert.

I also love love love the panna cotta.

The wines aren't organic (and there are only two of them - house wines), but the beer is - and down the side road there, you'll find Campovida's winery and retreat center (less than a mile away), where some of the wines are organically grown, if a bit on the pricey side.

Read more about Piazza de Campovida and customer reviews on their Yelp page.

GREAT FOOD - NEAR THE HOPLAND WINERY TASTING ROOMS (FOR ORGANICALLY GROWN WINES)

Piazza de Campovida doesn't try to compete with the nearby winery tasting bars so it's the perfect place to eat between wine tastings at downtown Hopland's two organic wine mainstays - the McFadden Vineyards tasting room and the tasting room at Cesar Toxqui (the latter where you'll find a few organically grown wines mixed in with mostly not organic). There's also a good selection of organically grown wines at SIP Mendocino in downtown Hopland as well. 

Further north on Route 101, stop in a Saracina for a lovely cave tour, tasting bar and picnicking. The wines there are made under the supervision of wine rock star David Ramey.

All in all, Piazza de Campovida adds a lot to Hopland as a destination, both for Route 101 visitors passing through - and for us organic wine tourists.