foodwineclick

Sonoma Plaza on a beautiful Sunday in November

It’s Been a While
It’s been a few years since I’ve been out to Sonoma and Napa, so when the venue for the 2017 Wine Blogger’s Conference was announced (Santa Rosa) I signed up right away! The conference days are super-busy, so I extended my trip to do a little pre-conference wine touring on my own. I bought my plane tickets months in advance, paid for the AirBnB, reserved the rental car.  Then the firestorms hit the area only weeks before the conference. The organizers assured us the conference was still on, so out I came.  Know what?  Napa and Sonoma are definitely open for business, and they need us to support them now more than ever.

No fires here, just a beautiful Sonoma vineyard in the fall

What About the Fires?
The fires were indeed devastating in the areas they hit. However, if you didn’t know about the fires, you might spend a week here and never see a sign.  You can clearly see some of the burn areas in the hills, and if you happen to drive through one of the hard-hit areas, you’ll know it, but they are limited in extent for a tourist.

The best thing we can do to help is to stimulate the local economy with our tourist and wine dollars

(click on any photo below for a full size slide show. Hit “escape” to return)

Out tasting with wine blogging buddy Martin and his wife, we started out tasting with Steve Law at Maclaren Wine. Steve is the owner, winemaker and tasting room staff!

Things are quiet now in the wineries, as most of the wines are safely resting in barrel

An entire industrial park devoted to wine, nice!

Nothing fancy outside, Tin Barn has a beautiful tasting room.

Beautiful colors in the glass

Always fun to meet in person with blogging buddies

Lowell’s in Sebastopol is a “must visit” restaurant whenever I’m in the area

Lowell’s is casual, friendly, with delicious locally sourced food and a killer wine list.

Pumpkin based agnolotti al plin served with Anthill Farms Dolcetto

A view to the Pivot vineyard at Littorai

Even after harvest, the vineyards are beautiful

Have you been to The Barlow in Sebastopol? Shopping, eating and multiple tasting rooms

Lots to see at the Barlow

Sometimes you notice that there are fewer tourists here, delicious wood fired oven pizza at the Barlow

Can you guess the grape? Atypical for Green Valley

Tasting with Emilio Castelli in Green Valley. In true Italian tradition, we tasted with bruschetta with the last of this summer’s home grown tomatoes

Tasting with the winegrower is a special treat

Pinot Noir (no surprise), Sangiovese (surprise!), Nebbiolo (surprise!!)

Emilio Castelli grows Nebbiolo and a tiny bit of Sangiovese in Green Valley. Who knew?

I’ll be finishing up my personal touring in the next day or so, then on to the 10th Annual Wine Bloggers Conference!

ISave

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save