A Summer of Wine
Summer is finally here! Today is Memorial Day and the weather in Nashville is perfect to set the tone for the summer to come. I'm looking forward to getting back in the swing of things at home after being out of town for the past week. My journeys took me to San Francisco for work and the California wine country for R&R. It was a fantastic week!
If you haven't been to the Wine Country, you should plan a trip. I just spent the past few days there and it was spectacular. The Napa and Sonoma valleys are home to an endless array of boutique and commercial wineries that offer tastings of world class wines that you'd never be able to find - or afford - in your local stores. I visited about 10 wineries and had never heard of any of them prior to this trip. Each of them made me feel as if I had discovered a wonderful treasure! You can also rent bikes and do tours of some of the back road areas where the grapes are grown and crafted into wonderful wines of nearly every variety. Sonoma County is especially beautiful, where the town of Healdsburg is the cultural and epicureal center of the wine scene in that area. The restaurants there are amazing, and the the town's arts community flourishes with painting, pottery, jewelry, and fabrics created by local artists and craftspersons. Healdsburg even had a big parade on Thursday sponsored by the Future Farmers of America! It was a great trip, with many pleasant memories. Here are some photos I took along the way.
Not a bad way to start the trip!
Taylor's Refresher is one of the local culinary hot spots and curiosities. This 1950's era drive in offers incredible gourmet hamburgers, sandwiches and milkshakes...and a wine list with $100 bottles of wine. Only in California!
Many of Sonoma's wineries are surrounded by fabulous landscaping and gardens.
This is a privately owned family vineyard called Graeser Wineries. The owner/winemaker was more than happy to share colorful tales of life as a wine pioneer while he poured tastings from his selection of outstanding vintages.
This was the view from the front door of our cottage. Our hosts purchased a run down farm in the 1980's and turned it into a wonderful facility with guest cottages and a barn for special events and weddings. The gardens were spectacular. It was my first time to pick an orange from a tree in our front yard and have it for breakfast. Very tasty!
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