One of the side trips we've both been anticipating is a jaunt into wine country. The last time we did this (uh, 25 years ago), we enjoyed Sonoma County more than Napa Valley, so we headed out for four days of exploration around Healdsburg, California. Drake volunteered to do the research for this trip. There are more than one hundred wineries you can visit within 15 miles of Healdsburg. If you rushed in, gulped a 'taste' and moved on, all you'd really have for your trouble is a bad wine hangover. We set some criteria for our visit: Affordable wines that have at least SOME distribution. We started with a Food and Wine article in which they cataloged which wineries they thought were the best in the area. We also knew going in that we wouldn't be joining any of the wineries 'wine clubs'. When you have as many addresses as we have in a year, joining a 'wine club' is silly. We also knew there were going to be some purchases made simply because we loved the wine and not everything we liked was going to be distributed. Additionally, each wine region has what Drake refers to as 'sweet spots' for certain types of wines. Don't go looking for sauvignon blanc in pinot noir country. We did manage to wind up with a broad spectrum of wines with some of bottles falling into a 'special class' which we normally wouldn't be purchasing if we were shopping at Spec's or Safeway. [That means they cost more than we normally would even think about paying.] Funny story: We asked at one winery if they distributed, and they said they did. We asked, "Who distributes for you in Texas?", and yep, the answer was "Specs".
One nice thing about living in Berkeley is you don't have to slog through San Francisco to get to Sonoma. We were within two hours drive of Healdsburg, so we lingered along the way. The first little surprise was Petaluma. It was a nice little town which is home to the Petaluma Creamery. Shades of Blue Belle and Brennan! We stopped both to buy Spring Hill Cheese (a local dairy/cheese maker), and to EAT ICE CREAM! I must say the peach ice cream gives Blue Bell Peach a run for its money. They also have their own cow statue, but Bell Bell edges Petaluma on the cow mascot front.
Healdsburg, California turns out to the the Eureka Springs of wine country. It's built around a plaza in the center of town. It was incorporated in 1867 when the 'plaza' was originally the downtown. Now, it's completely given over to upscale shops, restaurants, inns, tasting rooms, clothing boutiques, book stores, concerts and galleries. Everyone in town caters to the tourist/wine trade. Ten miles down the road is Windsor - let's just say Windsor is the home of Walmart, Home Depot, Target, and a real grocery store. Curiously, every nice restaurant in Healdsburg was selling identical menus. I suppose it had to do with the buzz phrase: 'farm to table' since not only is this a wine valley, but it's a farm valley too. 
One of the biggest surprises of the visit was the marked contrast between the nascent Oregon wine industry and the mature California industry. When we were in Oregon, the roads to get to the vineyards were gravel or dirt, and you had to follow tiny blue signs tacked to posts along the roadways. By contrast, Sonoma county vineyards are all listed on a very nice road map and every road is paved. The signage is highly visible with arrows! The Oregon tasting rooms were usually wooden bars you stood at. In California, there are
We actually did three of these pairings: One in Healdsburg at "Partake", which was a restaurant either serving a seven course dinner or a series of 'small plates' and offering wine pairing with each course or plate. We had a wonderful time here. We also did a luncheon at the J Vineyards. We arrived expecting a real lunch with courses and wines. Instead we got bites and lots and lots of wine. We had to actually sit in the parking lot for over an hour, so Drake could safely drive! I didn't enjoy this one much - too little food and too much wine. I was miserably drunk/hung over for the rest of the evening, slept poorly because of it, and disgruntled at losing an evening.
The third tasting was an appetizer plate plus wine which we both enjoyed. Drake was really looking forward to this winery because they make Pinot Noir. As we drove up to the Copain Winery, we couldn't help but notice, there were no vines near the tasting room. The hills around Berkeley look like this - long grass about two feet in length, all this blond color. The Copain tasting room was sitting in the middle of these Sonoma hills which are about 100 feet in elevation. No wonder fires spread like mad here. Anyway, it turns out that Copain grows all their grapes in the Alexander Valley up north and over 1000 feet higher in elevation than Sonoma county. That's why they are making Pinot Noir which according to them needs the slightly cooler weather of higher elevation. Fortunately, I smartened up and only drank a swallow of a much shallower pour than we got at the J Vineyards. Copain was our last winery, and on our way back to Berkeley, we stopped at two other attractions I really wanted to see.
I learned about Luther Burbank in the 4th grade. What I remember is he fooled around with plants, and he was an agricultural hero. It turns out my recollection just about sums him up. Santa Rosa, California was his home and plant laboratory for 40 years. California celebrates Arbor Day on his birthday. Luther's goal was to increase the food supply for the world. Just consider the potato he perfected: We call it the "Russett", but it's actually the Burbank Russett potato. It's the most widely eaten potato in the world. That's just one of his food contributions. He also loved beautiful flowers, and he worked on garden flowers. His most famous flower is the Shasta Daisy. This chart shows his 'big' successes. His home and the gardens that surround it were his residence for most of the time he lived in Santa Rosa. Naturally, it's a museum today.
The other famous Santa Rosa resident is Charles Schulz, the cartoonist and creator of "Peanuts", one of the longest running and most widely read comic strips in the world. He lived and worked in Santa Rosa for more than 30 years, and wrote all his comic strips here. Upon his death, a museum showcasing his work was built, and that's what we visited.
The museum was beautiful, well thought out, and combined both his written cartoon strips and his animated films. We even got to see a visiting cartoonist working.
As always, there are pictures - Burbank's garden, the Peanuts Museum and the wine country around Sonoma.
Finally, here's the list of wines we bought on our little junket:
Zinfandels
Balletto Winery – 2010 – Russian River Valley
Mauritson Winery – 2013 –
Rockpile Ridge – Dry Creek
Dry Creek Winery – 2012 –
“Old Vine” – Dry Creek Valley
Pinot Noir
Copain Winery – 2011 – “Les
Voisins” – Anderson
Valley
Lazy Creek Winery
(Ferrani-Carano) – 2012 Lazy Day – Anderson
Valley
Grenache
Quivira Winery – 2010 – Dry Creek
Valley
Quivira Winery – 2011 – Dry Creek
Valley
Sauvignon Blanc
Stonestreet Winery – 2011 –
Terrace Ridge
Quivira Winery – 2012 – “Fig
Tree” – Dry Creek Valley
Fume Blanc
Ferrari-Carano Winery – 2012
– Dry Creek Valley**
Chardonnay
Rued Winery – 2013 – Russian River Valley
Kendall Jackson Winery –
(Jackson Estate) – 2011 – Seco Highlands
Copain Winery – 2012 – “Tous
Ensemble” – Anderson
Valley
Chenin Blanc
Dry Creek Winery – 2013 - Clarksburg
Rose
Lazy Creek Winery
(Ferrani-Carano) – 2012 – Rose’ of Pinot Noir –
Mauritson Winery – 2013 – “Rockpile”
Rose – Rockpile Ridge – Dry Creek
** - We didn't actually buy this one on the trip - found it downstairs at Trader Joe's - knew we were going to visit this winery & bought it ahead of time.
