Monday, March 8, 2010

Sonoma

















I've never felt passionately about wine, they way I do food. I realize they go hand in hand and a general knowledge of grapes, regions and flavor profiles is necessary in order to run a successful food business. I relish good wine, so much so, that just the smell of a good St. Emillion or Borolo has me lost in unfounded nostalgia, but I have yet to master the study of wine production. Not to mention, I can't afford the bottles that I want to drink.

Anyhow, I visited the Russian River Valley, starting in Healdsburg. The town square is lined with wine tasting galleys and quaint cafes, bookshops and kitchen stores. It's a tasteful tourist trap. I followed Westside road through wine producing country and stopped off at a few vineyards to wrap my head around California wine culture. All the vineyards have tasting rooms, some modern and some antiquated. None of the wines tasted as good to me as those I'd had in Europe and I couldn't bring myself to buy a bottle. It was quiet, not much tourism this time of year because harvesting is several months off.

I drove along River Road and out to the coast, where Goat's Rock Beach is located, just South of Jenner. It was windy and the waves smashed up against the rocks with such ferocity that I felt nervous despite my distance from the sea. Lines of children, presumably on a field trip, held there arms out, inviting the the wind to push them over. I followed the Pacific Coast Highway down to Bodega Bay, a funny little surf town on the Sonoma Coast. The drive was spectacular, every inch of the way.

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