A genuine old general store at the northern entrance to Alexander Valley, about 20 minutes east of Healdsburg on Highway 128. Jimtown Store has been selling provisions to the valley since 1895, and its current incarnation — revived in the 1990s and now stocking local wines, artisan condiments, antique folk art, and exceptionally good sandwiches — is one of those places that makes a wine country drive feel like more than a sequence of tasting rooms.
The food is the draw for many: fat sandwiches on housemade bread, local cheeses, charcuterie, and seasonal soups. The store stocks an idiosyncratic collection of Americana and outsider art alongside wine and groceries. There is a shaded picnic area outside.
Jimtown is a good lunch stop on a Dry Creek Valley or Alexander Valley wine day, or worth a dedicated half-hour detour from the plaza. The drive east on Highway 128 through the vineyards of Alexander Valley is scenic in its own right.