The Wine Country

Napa Valley and America's premier wine country.

When you travel through the wine country of the Napa and Sonoma valleys, you quickly realize that there are definitely enough grapes for our wine consumption. For miles up either of the valleys is all you see are beautiful vineyards stretched the mountain's edges and even up into the mountains at times. The grapes are ripe this time of year and hang in bunches off the vines that around about five to seven feet tall and grow in even shapes and sizes in distinct and accurate rows as if someone meticulously planted each one.

The harvest season was due to start this week but the earlier weather and rain has delayed the process a few weeks so we weren't able to see all of the people harvesting grapes in the fields so they can be crushed and made into the sumptuous wine that we all love to drink.

Seeing all the vineyards makes you want to go buy a bottle or two....so we did! It was late in the day by the time we got up into the Napa Valley so many of the wineries were closing for the day. But, we found Ehlers Estates winery open and dropped in for a tasting. I bought a bottle of Carbenet Franc, which I tasted for the first time and really liked. then we went by Twomey Cellars, which I had read about and bought a bottle of Russian River grown Pinot Noir. Hope I can save both until we get back because Allyson will love both vintages, I know!

We left Walnut Creek in the morning and stopped in the little historic town of Sonoma at the foot of the Sonoma Valley. Had lunch with a good friend of Uncle Donn's—Jim Lynch (not the football player and famous golfer). Jim was a student at and in a fraternity at UC Santa Barbara when Donn was the school's SID (Sports Information Director). For some reason, and you would have to question their sanity, they asked Donn to be their adviser. So Donn, as usual, got to know personally all the kids in the fraternity and has pretty much kept in touch since.

Jim is the publisher of the Sonoma Index Tribune in Sonoma, a small paper that services the valley. The paper has been in his family for four generations and, like all the newspapers in the world, is suffering from readership to a degree and low income from advertising. But, they are keep in alive with internet and who knows what else. What a fun job that would be running a small town newspaper. He and his brother, Bill, run the paper and so far have kept things going in this economy-strapped industry.

At the suggestion of Jim Lynch, we drove over the old Oakville road from Sonoma Valley to Napa Valley, an absolutely beautiful drive up over the mountain range that separates the two wine valleys. the winding road zig zagged through the most gorgeous oak trees that had to be hundreds and hundreds of years old. When you get to the top of the mountain range you look out over the Napa Valley and fields and fields of vineyards on the valley floor. A picture would have been good but the road is so narrow there is no place to pull over to take the picture.

We hooked up with Mike and Pat Henderson, our former neighbors who drove up from Lafayette. We had dinner together in Calistoga (home of Dick Vermeil) at Brannan's Grill, a neat little restaurant located in the heart of this little city. We are staying at the Clarion Lodge in Calistoga. Calistoga is located at the north end of the Napa Valley and, after a brief visit in the town of St. Helena and breakfast, of course, we'll head for the coast the Mendocino country with Uncle Donn on hand.

I do have to give belated credit to Pat—who we all JJ— for delivering our hanging bags to the hotel in Walnut Creek. We had the Cedar City, Utah, motel ship them to the Henderson's house to make sure they got their and JJ drove over them first thing the other morning so I could get over any anxiety about leaving the bags behind in Utah! Besides, it gives me a chance to tell you that, when we lived in Lafayette, JJ and I were undefeated in tennis, usually thrashing Mike and Joan on a regular basis at the Lafayette tennis courts.

It was great to see our old neighborhood in the Walnut Creek area and to be back in northern California and see that beautiful part of the country. The wine country, north of S.F., is something else and when you come you need to see it and try those great California wines. It's a lot different now in this wine country. You used to be able to drive up to the wineries and drop in for a taste and a tour. Now, many are by appointment and most charge a fee to taste wine. Times have changed.

Happy Trails.