Periscope Cellars Tasting Room, Emeryville, CA

Recently, we went up to Northern California to visit Adam’s mom and go wine tasting. However, rather than hit any of the nine wine regions in that half of the state, we toodled ’round Oakland, on the eastern shores of the San Francisco Bay.

But what’s it like to go wine tasting in an industrial city full of warehouses?

Delicious, fun — and surprisingly inspiring.

About a month before our trip, my friend Julie Brosterman of Women & Wine (a Los Angeles-based community for those mildly obsessed by wine) suggested that Adam and I skip a trip to Napa in favor of checking out the East Bay Vintner’s Alliance. Julie knows more about wine than most folks forget in a lifetime, so we chose to take her advice.

The Alliance is a collection of micro-winery tasting rooms dotted around Berkeley and Oakland, along a path called the Urban Wine Road. The big star in town is Kent Rosenblum of Rosenblum Cellars, whose Zinfandels are easily found in our local Whole Foods in L.A; his output dwarfs the rest of the Alliance’s put together.

Most of the wineries are labors of love for longtime couples or friends who purchase their grapes from all over California, especially Sonoma, Paso Robles and the Sacramento wine counties. Their tasting and production rooms are set in gussied-up warehouses, piled high with barrels and full of locals happy to support commerce that’s both independent and close to home.

The interactive map on the Alliance’s site is comprehensive, but was pretty glitchy on our iPhones; to simplify your adventure, I’d suggest you get to one tasting room and pick up a paper version of the Urban Wine Road Map.

With only a few hours on our hands, we chose a small section of Oakland, taking advice from each vintner on where to go next.

Periscope Cellars & Urbano Cellars

1410 62nd Street, Suite B – Periscope: (510) 655-7827/Urbano: (510) 806-7155

Fri-Sun, 1pm-6pm

This former submarine repair shop is a production space, tasting room and art gallery. We didn’t have an opportunity to taste Periscope’s wines while we were here (no rep was in residence that day), but their über-cool labels of a wine-hoarding octopus, mermaid and deep sea diver began as paintings by local artist J.B. Lowe, and adorn the walls.

We were greeted by Urbano’s friendly, comfortably-middle-aged Bob Rawson, who along with his neighbor, Fred Dick, started making wine a few years ago in his garage; by early 2011, their operation will be moving to bigger tasting room digs in Oakland’s Jack London Square. Urbano’s wines rely heavily on French and Italian grapes; while their Vin Rosé did nothing to sway us to the Gamay side of the street, their 2008 Sangiovese and 2006 Petiti Verdot are smooth and quiet pleasures.

Artist J.B. Lowe's original paintings for Persicope Cellars' labels

Stage Left Cellars

2102 Dennison Street – (510) 434-9930

First Saturday of the month, 11am-5pm

The first child of married couple Melinda Doty and Rich Williams (their actual daughter was born in 2009), Stage Left was devised as an exit plan from high-pressure tech industry jobs. There was a four-year stint at Paso Robles’ Zenaida Cellars and nearly insane amounts of work before making their recent move to Oakland.

Their labels read “Shoulda Woulda Coulda,” a reference to the agonized obsessing they did while gearing up for their big (and so far, quite successful) leap. Their passion’s been poured into their gorgeous Breadwinner blend, which at about $40 was the most expensive wine we tasted all afternoon…but left us with no regrets.

Stage Left's labels reflect their process from second-guessing to leaping into a new life

Irish Monkey Cellars

1017 22nd Avenue, Suite 300 – (510) 915-5463

Sat & Sun, 12pm-5pm

Melinda Doty of Stage Left pointed us here, with one disclaimer: “Those guys are kinda crazy. In a good way.”

Crazy, I don’t know, but there was a big, happy crowd, a wreath made of wine corks over the bar, and a semi-salty, half-drunk Irish guy — team vintner Bill McFerren — to greet us.

Oenologist/part-time beer enthusiast/gifted painter Bob Lynch, the twinkly creator of Irish Monkey, was also in the house; when we purchased his rich, delicious, French-inspired Primitivo, Lynch whipped out a silver pen and signed the label-less bottle with a flourish. (We drank his tart, crisp Fumé Blanc just last week, and it was plum lovely.)

Irish Monkey's cheery tasting room is in an anonymous warehouse complex

Urban Legend Cellars

621 4th Street – (510) 545-4356

Fri-Sun, 1pm-6pm

Urban Legend’s 50-something husband/wife team, Steve and Marilee, welcomed us with crackers and news of their local charity grape stomp on October 23rd, 2010. Rooted in the hip foodie/design culture of the East Bay, their tasting room features big stainless-steel barrels, acid-green walls and a beautiful table of culinary products for sale (hellooo, black truffle salt).

The winery’s 2008 Ironworks Red Blend features the Italian grapes Nebbiolo and Sangiovese, with just a hint of smokiness from ’08′s forest fires in the Sierras. We’re not normally big fans of dry Italian wines, but as a blend? Yes, please.

Urban Legend's space has both acid green walls and European-style grapes

JC Cellars & Dashe Cellars

55 4th Street – Dashe: (510) 452-1800/JC: (510) 465-5900

Thurs-Sun, 12pm-5pm

This great big raucous space felt, above all the rest, like the de facto hub of the Vintner’s Alliance. Both wineries focus on biodynamic production and use organic grapes, and conversation around the bar is all about gardening and local politics.

Michael and Anne Dashe started their winery as newlyweds back in the mid-90s, combining their enology educations (Michael’s at UC Davis, Anne’s at the University of Bordeaux). Their wines, largely sourced from Napa and Sonoma grapes, are delicate, sophisticated and designed for pairing with food. Their ’08 Riesling was too dry for our taste, but the 2008 L’Enfant Terrible Grenache was just right…in a French/Goldilocks sort of way.

Jeff Cohn, the vintner behind JC Cellars, learned his trade at Rosenblum. Dedicated to both the environment and his local audience, he offers his Daily Ration red blend in a ½-gallon screw-cap jug; once you’ve polished it off, you can bring it back for a refill ($25). His flowery 2008 Rousanne is called The First Date, and it feels pretty darn romantic.

The big, friendly shared tasting room/production space for JC Cellars & Dashe Cellars

_____________________________

Read more about the Urban Wine Road on the East Bay Vintner’s Alliance site

For restaurant suggestions in the area, pick up a map at one of the tasting rooms or check out the site for Oakland Grown

_____________________________

See also

A Bay Area Weekend
San Francisco: California Academy of of Sciences
San Francisco’s Ferry Building Marketplace
A Dream Drive Through Marin County
TWT Travel Binder: California

Travels With Two

San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge from the Legion of Honor

Happy Labor Day Weekend, everyone!

We’re off to spend the holiday in San Francisco and Oakland, California, with a whole slew of new-to-us adventures.

We’re leaving this afternoon to make the 6-or-so-hour drive up the 101 to Oakland, home of Adam’s mom and stepdad. We’ll surely arrive too late to celebrate one of Oakland’s First Friday Art Walks, once-a-month block parties where local galleries open their doors and street performers come out to play.

But, we’re excited for our Saturday plan in Oakland:

Breakfast at Arizmendi Emeryville, which has some of the Bay Area’s best coffee and baked goods

Then, the Oakland Museum’s exhibit on the (local) animation genius of Pixar
Lunch on the Zen-garden patio beside downtown Oakland’s Caffe Verbena
A self-guided tasting tour of a few micro-wineries in the East Bay Vinter’s Alliance
If we’re still hungry for food/fun, we’ll spin the dial on Oakland Grown, the city’s premier local guide

And our Sunday plan in San Francisco:

Dim summing in Chinatown at Chef Jia’s
Wandering amongst Asian, Australian and South American flora at the San Francisco Botanical Garden
Poking through some local galleries with the help of the San Francisco Chronicle‘s Arts guide
Laughing along with the pop culture/political satire of Beach Blanket Babylon, the city’s long-running musical revue
Exploring the cuisine of Southern Italy’s Campania region at A16
Checking out some nearby Marina-area wine bars — Bin 38 and California Wine Merchant

On Monday, we’ll try to get up early for:

A walk in Oakland’s Redwood Regional Park or Berkeley’s Sibley Volcanic Preserve
A Provençal breakfast at Berkeley’s La Note
Or, chai and a scone from Amrit Cafe up the street in Oakland, to be enjoyed in my in-laws’ acre-lot garden

__________________________________________

Have a great Labor Day Weekend, wherever you plan to be!

__________________________________________

Other fun things to do in and around the San Francisco Bay Area

San Francisco: California Academy of of Sciences
San Francisco’s Ferry Building Marketplace
A Dream Drive Through Marin County
TWT Travel Binder: California

Travels With Two

Continued from
The Women of Napa Wine Trail

Chalk Hill above the Russian River Valley, Sonoma County - Photo by SShupe

Recently, I was so inspired by the female vintners of the Napa Valley, I designed a wine trail to honor them. As soon as I’d finished, I got to thinking:

Who and where are the women of the wine industry in Sonoma?

The result is a wine trail that’s so big, it takes 14 wineries to follow them all.

Click here for an interactive winery map of Sonoma County.

This list is arranged from south to north, as if you were heading to Sonoma from San Francisco.

Begin in the Russian River Valley:
From the 101, take the exit for the 116 towards Sebastopol
Western side of the RRV: Taft Street, Merry Edwards, Marimar Estate
Eastern side of the RRV: Carol Shelton, Inman Family Wines, Chateau Felice, Windsor Oaks

Continue north to Healdsburg:
Stephen & Walker, Selby and La Crema have downtown tasting rooms
For places to eat and shop here, please see my post Northern California: Sonoma’s Healdsburg

Continue north to the Dry Creek Valley:
A. Rafanelli is first, off West Dry Creek Road
Passalacqua is next; backtrack slightly to Lambert Bridge Road
Wilson is third; continue east on Lambert Bridge Road and take a right on Dry Creek Road

End in the Alexander Valley:
Take Dry Creek Road south and turn left on Healdsburg Avenue – turn right at Alexander Valley Road
Stonestreet is the second winery on the right

___________________________

RUSSIAN RIVER VALLEY (Map)

Evelyn White/ Taft Street Winery
Evelyn once heeded the advice of friends and took a temporary harvest job at Chateau St Jean. 26 years later, she’s the winemaker for Taft Street, a tiny winery run by several of Sonoma wine country’s founding fathers.

Open Monday-Friday from 11 AM to 4 PM, and weekends 11 AM to 4:30 PM
No reservations required
Email info@taftstreetwinery.com
Call (707) 823-2049 or 800-334-TAFT (8238)
2030 Barlow Lane, Sebastopol, CA 95472

Merry Edwards/ Merry Edwards Winery
One of the first women to become a California winemaker, Merry began her career in 1973. She’s built a small empire from Pinot Noir grapes grown all across the Russian River Valley; in 2001 she expanded her scope to include another of her favorite varietals (and mine), Sauvignon Blanc. In this 2007 Wine Spectator video, Merry speaks for herself.

Open for public tastings every day, 9:30-4:30
Complimentary, in-depth private tastings can be booked Monday – Saturday
Call (888) 388-9050
2959 Gravenstein Highway North, Sebastopol, CA 95472

Marimar Torres/ Marimar Estate
Marimar Torres, a native of Barcelona, has been involved in the wine business all her life. At Marimar Estate, which she began planting in the early 1980s, she is the proprietor/winegrower of its two vineyards: Don Miguel, named for her late father, in the Russian River Valley; and Doña Margarita, after her mother, on the Sonoma Coast.

Tastings by appointment only, every day from 11am to 4pm
Tours by appointment only, Monday-Friday from 11am-2pm
Call (707) 823-4365
11400 Graton Road, Sebastopol, CA  95472

Carol Shelton/ Carol Shelton Wines
After about 20 years of working with some of the industry’s top winemakers and wineries, in 2000 Carol started her own winery to focus on Zinfandels with names like Wild Thing and Karma; she now produces 5,000 highly-acclaimed cases a year. In recent years she’s added some non-Zin varietals like Carignan (for rosé blends) and Petite Sirah.

Open every day from 11-4
Reservations required for all tastings
Email wines@carolshelton.com or call (707) 575-3441
3354-B Coffey Lane, Santa Rosa, California 95403

Kathleen Inman/ Inman Family Wines
Born in Napa Valley, Kathleen Inman’s career in the wine industry started in 1982 in the tasting room at a small Napa winery (now known as Kent Rasmussen Winery). Her first day on the job, a British tourist named Simon walked in; two years later he became her husband. The couple spent 15 years in England before returning to California to pursue their dream: in 1999, they purchased this 10.5-acre farm, which Kathleen developed into a Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris vineyard now known as Olivet Grange.

Open to the public Monday – Saturday from 11am -4pm
Sunday tastings by appointment only
To meet Kathleen for an informal tasting, call (707) 395-0689
For a unique place to stay, book Inman’s 3-bedroom, 1 bath Olivet Grange farmhouse
5793 Skylane Blvd., Suite C, Windsor, CA 95492

Phyllis Rodgers, Tami Collins and Samantha Rodgers/ Chateau Felice Winery
Owned by Phyllis and her husband Barry, Chateau Felice features two distinct groups of wines – ultra-premium Bordeaux-style blends and single varietals – made by Tami and marketed by Samantha.

Open seven days a week from 11am-4pm
No reservations required on Saturdays and Sundays
Weekday tastings by appointment only
Email info@chateaufelice.com or call (707) 836-9011
10603 Chalk Hill Rd, Healdsburg, CA 95448

Julie Hagler Lumgair/ Windsor Oaks Vineyards
This 700+ acre property uses only 250 acres for its Russian River Valley/Chalk Hill appellation vineyards; the rest is dedicated as “Forever Wild Open Space,” a wilderness of ancient oak trees. Lumgair creates her single varietal wines (Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and more) with a small, close-knit group of people that have worked together for as many as 20 years.

There is no public tasting room at the winery, but vineyard tours can be scheduled
Email info@windsoroaks.com or call (707) 433-3810/(707) 433-4050
10810 Hillview Road, Windsor, CA 95492

______________________

HEALDSBURG (Map)

Nancy Walker/ Stephen & Walker Winery
Winemaker Walker has been a California vintner for the past 22 years, and has traveled all across the vineyards of the American West to develop an appreciation for regional and local differences in both grapes and wines. With two partners, she started in 2004 and sources vineyards in Napa, Sonoma, Mendocino and Monterey Counties to make her four wines: Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir and Port.

Open Monday-Sunday from 10am-6pm
No reservations required
Phone (707) 431-8749
243 Healdsburg Avenue, Healdsburg, CA 95448

Susie Selby/ Selby Winery
Selby and her father founded this winery in 1993, and since his death in 1997 she’s carried on the business with a great passion for winemaking. Selby does everything she can by hand: picking, fermenting, processing and bottling. Annually, she makes 10,000 cases of fruit-forward, single varietal wines that are ready to drink.

Open seven days a week from 11am-5pm
No reservations required
Phone (707) 431-1288
215 Center Street, Healdsburg, CA  95448

Laura Jackson Giron, Jennifer Jackson and Melissa Stackhouse/ La Crema Winery
La Crema was founded in 1979, specializing in cool-climate Chardonnay and Pinot Noir; still focused on these varietals, it’s now owned by the Jackson sisters.Winemaker Melissa Stackhouse joined La Crema in 2001, having previously worked at several esteemed wineries in Australia and Sonoma County.

Open seven days a week, 10:30 am – 5:30 pm, for public tastings
No reservations required
Phone (707) 431-9400
235 Healdsburg Avenue, Healdsburg, CA 95448

______________________

DRY CREEK VALLEY (Map)

Margaret Davenport/ Passalacqua Winery
Former winemaker for Clos du Bois from 1987 to 2003, Margaret Davenport (now in her 60s) directs Passalacqua’s small-lot production of Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Zinfandel and more, including a handful of Italian varietals. She also creates Russian River Valley Pinot Noir under her own label, Davenport & Company.

Open daily from 11am-5pm
No reservations required, but private tours and tastings can be scheduled
Call (877) 825-5547
3805 Lambert Bridge Road, Healdsburg, CA  95448

Shelly Rafanelli Fejlman/ A. Rafanelli Winery
The Rafanelli family has been growing grapes and making wine here since the early 1900s. It’s still a small operation with limited production (11,000 cases annually) of Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot; as winemaker, Shelly carries on the fourth generation of her family’s tradition.

Open seven days a week from 10am-4pm
Tastings by appointment only
Call (707) 433-1385
4685 West Dry Creek Road, Healdsburg, CA 95448
Note: A. Rafanelli’s wines can only be purchased through the winery, either in person or by phone

Diane Wilson/ Wilson Winery
In 2008, the highly-lauded Wilson was named Woman Winemaker of the Year, a nice follow-up to winning back-to-back Sonoma County Harvest Fair Sweepstakes in 2006 and 2007. The winery’s vineyards are all named after family members, and the tasting room features a gorgeous view of the Dry Creek Valley, as well as a friendly-faced volleyball (per Cast Away‘s Wilson).

Open seven days a week from 11am-5pm
No reservations required
Phone (800) 433-4602/(707) 433-4355
1960 Dry Creek Road, Healdsburg, CA 95448

_____________________

ALEXANDER VALLEY (Map)

Marcia Monahan/ Stonestreet Wines
The 5,100-acre Stonestreet estate (owned by Kendall-Jackson magnate Jess Jackson) sits way up in the Mayacamas Mountains; due to volcanic soils and the high elevation, only about 800 acres are actually plantable. In this challenging environment, assistant winemaker Monahan manages to help produce 90+ rated wines with Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, and more.

Open seven days a week from 10am-5pm
No reservations required
However, two types of in-depth, private tastings can be booked
Phone (80o) 355-8008
7111 Highway 128, Healdsburg, CA 95448

____________________________________

See related posts
TWT Travel Binder: California
The Women of Napa Wine Trail
Northern California: Napa & Sonoma
Northern California: Sonoma’s Healdsburg
Wine Tasting in the Santa Lucia Highlands
Tasting the Anderson Valley
A Dream Drive Through Marin County
Point Reyes Seashore: Rugged Romance and Some Kick-@$# Cheese

Travels With Two

Tomales Point Trail, Point Reyes National Seashore

An hour north of San Francisco, the Point Reyes National Seashore is a lovely place to unplug from your regularly-scheduled lives. Cell phones hardly work and there’s not much to do but hike, comb beaches, taste cheese, oysters and a little wine. Wander a secret garden, gaze out at a silvery bay…and fall in love with Northern California.

The Seashore is so close to the Bay Area — just over an hour’s drive — that you could absolutely make a day of it. When we came here with Adam’s mom and our dog in July 2008, that’s what we did. For details on how to follow our big, gorgeous loop from/back to San Francisco, see A Dream Drive Through Marin County.

Just recently, though, we returned with Adam’s mom and stepdad to spend a couple of nights and explore the area more fully. Here’s how you can do the same:

Start your journey in San Francisco. On a truly stunning Spring day, we snaked through the city and Golden Gate Park, crossed the Golden Gate Bridge and wended our way along Highway 1 through Marin County’s Mt. Tamalpais State Park (pronounced Tammul-payiss and called “Mt. Tam” for short). After an hour’s hike through the forest and alongside waterfalls at the Cataract Trail near Alpine Lake (post to come), we pulled off Ridgecrest Road on the grassy bluff at Ballou Point for a picnic with an endless view of Bolinas Lagoon and the silvery Pacific.

For a printable map of Mt. Tamalpais State Park, click here and scroll to the bottom of the page.

Stay in the bayside village of Inverness. In a happy coincidence, it turns out that the Inverness Secret Garden Cottage is not only perfect for a couple but is also owned by my dear friend Amy’s Aunt Patty and Uncle Phil. A couple years back we purchased a gift certificate from the Cottage for my in-laws (who are deeply in love with this area), and this time around my mother-in-law returned the favor for us.

This one-bedroom idyll is 3/4 of a mile above Sir Francis Drake Blvd., Inverness’s woodsy version of a main drag. The romantic garden is full of fragrant surprises like a soaring, lemon-scented Himalayan magnolia that can probably be seen from space. The bathroom is tiled with deep green serpentine, the California state rock found clustered all around Mt. Tam. Though there’s an indoor shower, you could also take a bath for two out in a clawfoot tub perched above the garden with a soft, gauzy view of Tomales Bay. The brass bed is cozy (and also has a bay view), the kitchen fully outfitted, and the sitting room perfect for stretching out. A wide deck is set amongst the flowers, trees and twittering birds.

Inverness Secret Garden Cottage

Breakfast here is little more than do-it-yourself coffee and a choice of milk or cream, however, so lucky that the Busy Bee Bakery is just down the hill.  Four words: sticky buns and quiche. (Two more: You’re welcome.) A few doors away is Vladimir’s Czechoslovaki Restaurant, which, though never well-reviewed, seems popular with folks who like to sit outside and have an Eastern European beer…followed by another. For actual food, Phil and Patty recommend a bayside Thai restaurant called Thepmonggon (12938 Sir Francis Drake Blvd.)

Also in Inverness, you’ll find the local icon known as The Dacha (pronounced Dah-tcha), an onion-domed replica of a Russian summer home that’s owned by the local Lipnosky family (12830 Sir Francis Drake Blvd.) The 3-bedroom Dacha used to be available for rent through the Motel Inverness, but is now used exclusively as the Lipnoskys’ retreat.

Right nearby, though, is the Dancing Coyote Beach, an inn with its own private wildflower-rimmed beach; in-room fireplaces and decks with Tomales Bay views create the perfect opportunity to get on a more tidal schedule (four guest rooms, $175-$250). Not far down the road, our heads were turned by the Abalone Inn, a sunny Victorian B&B with an eco-friendly ethos and organic breakfasts (three guest rooms, $110-$150).

Explore Point Reyes Station, the biggest town around these parts. It’s home to:

Cowgirl Creamery at Tomales Bay Foods…or as I call it, “The Temple of Cheese” (80 4th Street, Point Reyes). You can find all your picnic needs at this gourmet grocery, but the star attractions are nationally renowned cheeses made on-site with names like Mt. Tam and Inverness. If you plan to be in the area on a Friday morning, be sure to book an 11:30am tour and tasting for $5 a person.

Around the corner on State Route 1, comb through Point Reyes Books‘ well-culled inventory, try Bovine Bakery‘s enormous chocolate-dipped macaroons, and pop into the Cabaline Country Emporium, which sells everything from cookies for horses to the miraculous Avon Skin-So-Soft. For a peek at local artwork both fascinating and quirky, wander a block down to Gallery Route One.

The most coveted table in Point Reyes is Osteria Stellina, on the same row. Recently listed by the San Francisco Chronicle as one of the Bay Area’s top 100 restaurants, Stellina features a constantly-changing seasonal menu and (unfortunate) tin-ceiling acoustics. Cross your fingers that they’ll have cauliflower-smashed potatoes and know that everything here, per the Marin Organic collective, is locally-sourced (dinner for two with wine, $130).

Here’s what else we’d suggest in the Point Reyes National Seashore area:

Go to the…seashore. Along wide, sandy beaches like Abbott’s Lagoon and dog-friendly Kehoe, and the calm cove at Hearts Desire you could spend hours wafting past windswept dunes and staring longingly out at the Pacific. Always bring an extra layer: it doesn’t tend to get very warm here, even in summer.

Scenes from Point Reyes National Seashore

Visit the Point Reyes Lighthouse. On weekends and holidays during whale-watching season, the road to this 1870 lighthouse is closed to private vehicles and you have to take a shuttle bus.  (Peak whale-viewing times are mid-January, mid-March and late April to early May.) For timely information on whale and weather conditions, contact the Lighthouse Visitor Center.

Take a hike with a view. Rising hundreds of feet above the ocean, Tomales Point Trail is gorgeous, dramatic and even at a third of its 9.5 miles, a great workout. Starting at the end of Pierce Point Road at the Historic Pierce Point Ranch, the hard-packed Trail wends through a tule elk reserve and seasonal profusions of wildflowers; late March to late April is peak season for deep-blue wild irises.

Tomales Point Trail

Taste some local wine. You could stay the night at the Point Reyes Vineyards or admire their tasting room’s collection of limited edition Grateful Dead vintages, but we went to laterally sample a few mid-2000s Quail Hill Cabernets. Some of the wines are too dry for our taste, but the big fountain courtyard, friendly winery dogs and lush, green farm setting certainly take the edge off. (12700 State Route 1, Point Reyes Station)

Point Reyes Vineyards

Dine in style. Book a table at the Olema Inn for what we’d argue is the most elegant dinner in these parts. A full-service inn since 1876, the period dining room has the original floorboards and invites peaceful conversation. As another supporter of Marin Organic, the kitchen shines in entrees with fish, lamb, Niman Ranch beef, and any vegetable you know to be in season. This is a great place to sample wines from all across Northern and Central California (dinner for two with wine, about $150).

Seasonal cuisine and the welcoming front porch at the Olema Inn

Get your oyster on. 15 minutes north of Point Reyes Station, try fresh Hogsheads and delicious clam chowder while sitting out bayside at The Marshall Store (19225 State Route 1, Marshall). To see oyster production up close, stop by Drakes Bay Oyster Farm (17171 Sir Francis Drake Blvd., Point Reyes). For several years, this family-owned farm has been at the center of a struggle to return all of the Seashore area to untouched wilderness. For the time being, you can still come here to visit the resident boxer dog and enjoy a paper plate of farm fresh oysters. In addition to nets full of mollusks and a retail store with a save-the-farm petition to sign, you’ll find peaceful marshland and chalky white mountains of discarded shells.

Clockwise from top left: The Marshall Store and Drakes Bay Oyster Farm

Just thinking about the Seashore area, my head tilts to one side, and I can’t help but smile. Both of you should go and rediscover your will to wander.

____________________________

See related posts
A Dream Drive Through Marin County
TWT Travel Binder: California

Travels With Two

Out back at Barndiva in Healdsburg

We’re big fans of the Sonoma Valley, one of the largest regions in California Wine Country. When we’re wine tasting up Sonoma way, we spend most of our time in and around the lovely, historic commercial center of Healdsburg.

Healdsburg’s downtown is built largely around a shady square of a park that’s peppered with cute little shops and bistros.

Here you can happily while away an hour or more just looking at books at Copperfield’s (formerly Toyon Books) or kitchen gadgets at Plaza Gourmet.

Or, you could just as easily grab a gelato at Bovolo and plunk yourself down on their back patio.

If you’re interested in a very casual, indoor dining experience (and some gorgeous onion rings), check out Fitch Mountain Eddie’s on the main square. Especially cozy on a chilly autumn evening, this kitschy place is decorated with lots of 1950s memorabilia and always boisterously full.

If you’re more in the mood for an elegant-but-relaxed wine country dining experience, scoot over a block to Barndiva. It’s set in a spectacularly-renovated barn with an amazing collection of art objects (most of which are for sale one door down in its neighboring home furnishings store); its backyard garden, with a huge ceramic fountain, is big enough to host a wedding.

The prettiest seats for lunch at Barndiva are out on the cobblestone front patio with its iron bistro tables and canvas umbrellas, amongst the lavender and preppy patrons. (Expect to see at least one man with a sweater knotted over his shoulders; try to pretend this isn’t happening.) Order anything with chips, as they’re fabulous oval-shaped, waffle-cut fries served in their own mini-colanders. We’d recommend the perfectly grilled steak frites, which come with brightly steamed, locally-grown veggies.

Personally, we’d skip the in-town tasting rooms — almost everything you’ll find here can be found easily in most California wine shops and grocery stores. For two exceptions, see The Women of Sonoma Wine Trail.

To stock up on wine tasting snacks for the journey along Sonoma’s Wine Road, visit the Saturday morning Healdsburg Farmer’s Market or immerse yourself in the glorious shelves of the Oakville Grocery right on the main square.

_______________________________

See related posts
Northern California: Napa & Sonoma
The Women of Napa Wine Trail
Images of Northern California

Travels With Two

Napa in Spring - Photo by Abe Kleinfeld

I recently found myself in a room full of fascinating women from some of the Napa Valley’s finest vineyards, and I got to thinking: Why not celebrate the female winemakers of Napa by proposing a trail that follows them?

So, here’s my suggestion for finding the feminine (and deeply impressive) side of a traditionally male universe.

When Julie Brosterman, CEO of Women & Wine, invited me to her home for a wine dinner to meet five exceptional women from Napa, I jumped at the chance. We had gorgeous homemade dishes, wines were flowing and talk was of farming, harvest moons over the vineyards and life on the road selling wine to the world. I’ve been to Napa five times over the years, but after meeting these five women, I’d love to bring Adam back to experience the region in a whole new way.

We’d still split tastings, though. We’re only human.

Open this printable map of Napa Valley wineries to see what-and-where.
At the bottom left of the image, click Full Size.

Make reservations ahead of time for tastings.

Each winery’s website has driving directions.

This page has suggestions of private car services (scroll down to the bottom).

Start just north of St. Helena with an 11:30am, 90-minute winery tour, tasting and nibbles at Ehlers Estate.
If you need a more substantial  lunch, stop in St. Helena at Farmstead.
Head to the southern end of St. Helena for cabernets at Corison.
Dipping down into Rutherford, head west out of town to Tres Sabores.
Head down through Rutherford and over to east Oakville and Oakville Ranch.

For extra credit, visit Paradigm in west Oakville. The wine maker here, Anne Vawter, also makes wines for Ziata.

Ziata doesn’t presently have a tasting room, but you can try its wines over dinner in Yountville. Ziata’s wines are served at Thomas Keller’s Ad Hoc Restaurant (707.944.2487) and Michael Chiarello’s Bottega (707.945.1050).

Or, to simply purchase a Ziata wine and pair it with some cheese, head south to Downtown Napa’s Back Room Wines. If you’re lucky enough to have escaped work on a Thursday or Friday, try an evening tasting. This wine store/salon is open 7 days a week.

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Kelly McElearney/ Ehlers Estate
Suggested wine: 2007 Ehlers Estate St. Helena Merlot

McElearney grew up as Kelly Duckhorn, daughter of the couple behind the revered Duckhorn Vineyards, and has seen the Napa Valley grow from a small group of farms into an international destination. (And you thought your childhood was cool.) After working in the fields at Beringer Vineyards and Duckhorn, then helping to make her friend Peggy’s St. Helena Olive Oil Company a success, Kelly’s become the sales & marketing director at Ehlers, a unique philanthropic organization that donates all of its winery profits to the Leducq Foundation, a fund for cardiovascular research.

Ehlers Estate is open Tuesday-Saturday, and reservations are required for all tastings.
Email info@ehlersestate.com or call (707) 963-5972
3222 Ehlers Lane, St. Helena, California 94574

The Ehlers Intensive is a 90-minute tasting experience given twice each morning, 9:30 and 11:30, Tuesday-Saturday.
$45 per person, it features a walk through the winery, barrel tasting and sit-down tasting paired with small bites.

The Ehlers Salon is given between 1 and 4:30, Tuesday-Saturday.
For $25 per person, Ehler’s wines are paired with small bites.

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Cathy Corison/ Corison Winery
Suggested wines: 2001 Corison Cabernet, 2004 Kronos Vineyard Cabernet

One of the first female vintners in Northern California, Corison officially started her career in 1978. Watching her colleagues orbit around this tiny, quiet woman with an easy smile and an artist’s heart, it’s clear that she’s one of the most respected winemakers in Napa. But before I even spoke to her, I tried her specialties — Cabernet Sauvignons from a deep, stony swath of land centered around Rutherford — and she had my undying gratitude. They’re full of olives, violets and spice, the bold offerings of a woman who thinks of wine as a creative celebration of life.

Corison is open 7 days a week, and $10 tastings are given by appointment.
Email bob@corison.com or call (707.963.0826)
987 St. Helena Highway, St. Helena, CA 94574

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Julie Johnson/ Tres Sabores
Suggested wine: o7 Tres Sabores Rutherford Estate Zinfandel

Johnson, one of the original founders of Frog’s Leap Winery and a warm, engaging force of nature, is a farmer in fabulous shoes. In addition to growing pomegranates, olives and Meyer lemons on her 35-acre Rutherford area ranch, since 2004 she’s been releasing Cabs, Sauvignon Blanc and Zinfandel, both single-grape and blends, grown on the land to which she feels deeply connected and shares with her husband and children. (A champion of Zinfandel in particular, Tres Sabores is also part of the do-able-in-a-day Napa Zinfandel Trail.)

Private appointments must be made.
Tastings/tours cost $20 per person, waived with the purchase of a case.

Email office@tressabores.com or call (707) 967-8027
1620 S. Whitehall Lane, St. Helena, CA 94574

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Paula Kornell/ Oakville Ranch Vineyards
Suggested wine: 2006 Oakville Ranch Cabernet

Having also grown up on a Napa Valley vineyard (Hanns Kornell Champagne, which closed in 1992), it’s no surprise that Paula and Kelly in particular are great friends, often taking their hilarious senses of humor on the road to promote their wines and raise money for charitable causes. When home in Napa, though, she puts her management experience from Robert Mondavi’s Vichon (since sold to France) and Sonoma’s Carmenet to good use as General Manager of Oakville. She’s the immediate past President of the Napa Valley Vintners Association, and presently sits on the board of the Oakville Winegrowers. In addition to the wines of Oakville Ranch, she loves cheese and her bull mastiff, Romeo.

Private appointments must be made.

Email info@oakvilleranch.com or call (707) 944-9665
7781 Silverado Trail, Napa CA 94558

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Karen Cakebread/ Ziata Wines
Suggested wines: 2008 Sauvignon Blanc, 2008 Ziata Carneros Pinot Noir

Having spent 18 years as a marketing consultant and events director for Cakebread Cellars (her former in-laws’ famous Napa winery), and also served several years on the board of the NVVA, Karen took a well-studied leap in starting her own winery in early 2008. Ziata is named for Karen’s mother, Mary Annunziata. Karen has traipsed across the Earth in the name of wine promotion and scaled Mount Kilimanjaro for charity, but these days, she can be found amongst her vines in Napa.

Note: Ziata’s winemaker, Anne Vawter, also crafts wines for Paradigm Winery in Oakville and Varozza Vineyards in St. Helena.

_______________________________________________________________________________________

See related posts

The Women of Sonoma Wine Trail
Northern California: Napa & Sonoma
Wine Tasting in the Santa Lucia Highlands
Tasting the Anderson Valley
Images of Northern California
TWT Travel Binder: California

Travels With Two

The town of Stinson Beach, 1/2 hour north of San Francisco

Some of our favorite “travels with two” have been in Northern California. It’s where Adam grew up, and where both sets of his parents live.

This hallowed corner of the world is full of perfect couples’ getaways. It’s a green and wild collection of counties, valleys and parks with plenty of open space, one of the world’s greatest cities and acres upon acres of gorgeous wine.

But don’t take my word for it — take a look for yourselves:

A rock arch with a view at Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park...

...and the view when you turn around

An original 1914 Market Street Railway car in service in San Francisco, near the Ferry Building

San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge, heading north

Chardonnay grapes along the Sonoma Valley's Dry Creek Road

Residential charm in the Napa Valley region of Carneros

Winery pets in Mendocino County's Anderson Valley

Monterey Wine Country vines, overlooking the Santa Lucia Mountains

The soft green hills of the Carmel Valley

White sand, cypress trees...and coveted real estate: Carmel Beach in Carmel-by-the-Sea

Equine friends near Drake's Bay at the Point Reyes National Seashore

Just beyond the Mono Pass in eastern Yosemite National Park, mid-October

Kings Canyon in the High Sierras, also in mid-October

A small piece of Cataract Falls in Marin County's Mt. Tamalpais State Park

Elk Cove Beach on the Mendocino Coast

Redwood Regional Park in Oakland

Highway 1 near the Muir Headlands, just north of San Francisco

______________________________________________

See related posts

TWT Travel Binder: California
San Francisco: California Academy of Sciences
San Francisco’s Ferry Building Marketplace
Northern California: Napa & Sonoma
Northern California: Sonoma’s Healdsburg
Wine Tasting in the Santa Lucia Highlands
The Heart of Elk, California
Elk, California – How to Get There
Tasting the Anderson Valley
A Dream Drive Through Marin County
Point Reyes Seashore: Rugged Romance and Some Kick-@$# Cheese

Travels With Two

Santa Ynez Valley - Photo by Renee Nichols

True, we live in Los Angeles, but this week is about experiencing two wholly different versions of California:

A ranch resort in the Santa Barbara wine country and a garden cottage in Marin County.

Today I’m off on a brief press trip as the guest of my dear friend Ann Shepphird, editor of Association News and writer of the blog Gardens to Tables. The magazine allows her to indulge her great love for hotels, while her blog allows her to dig deep into her love for all things gardenesque. GTT’s Travel section is a fantastic resource for hotel gardens, local farmer’s markets, garden tours and more (btw: you’ll see a few of my posts there).

Ann has invited me along to the Alisal Guest Ranch in the central California town of Solvang, set in the heart of the Santa Ynez Valley about 40 minutes above Santa Barbara. It’s about a three-hour drive from Los Angeles, which will finally give busy Ann and I enough time to finally start and finish a whole conversation.

While at Alisal, we’ll hike around the miles of trails, gnaw on some barbecue, try local wines at downtown tasting rooms, and go for a morning horseback ride followed by a flapjack breakfast.

I’m pretty darn excited to get into the saddle for the first time since I was twelve years old, and to try some wines that are (despite my gajillion visits to the area) wholly new to me. I plan on not combining horseback riding and wine drinking…but you never know.

Santa Ynez grapes and the Alisal Guest Ranch

On Thursday, I’m home for one day to clean the house, water plants and convince Toby the Corgi that he’s still loved before handing him off to a friend for the weekend. On Friday morning, Adam and I will take an hour’s flight to Oakland, climb into an SUV with his mom and stepdad, and drive about an hour to Inverness, a sleepy little bayside community in Northern California’s Marin County.

In Inverness, Adam and I will be staying in the one-bedroom Secret Garden Cottage, which is owned and run by my dear friend Amy’s aunt and uncle. We once treated Adam’s folks to a stay here, and they enjoyed it so much that they’ve done the same for us.

From L: Secret Garden Cottage (Visit Marin); our visit to the Point Reyes Seashore; wild irises (Turning Toward the Light)

It’s wild iris season up there just now, so we’ll all be frolicking in some fleurs as well as indulging in some local oysters and Cowgirl Creamery cheese. There are miles of windswept seashore to explore, and many deep breaths to be taken.

Should be a darn good week — come follow my adventures on Facebook and Twitter!

________________________________________

Travels With Two