Don’t get the wrong idea– we’ve been to Napa and Sonoma — a lot. Love it, naturally. It’s impossible to tire of. Stunningly beautiful, and people there have such obvious and admirable reverence for the soil and the grapes and the food produced. (Imagine the magnificence of the South of France, but everyone speaks English!) This time of year the pruney, sweet smell of the crush is redolent in the crisp night air; it’s utterly magical.
This trip to sunny CA (round trip coast-to-coast $179 bargain dollars) instead of Napa, our destination was a place we’d never been before: the Anderson Valley. Our mission? Great, outside-the-Williamette Valley, made-in-the-USA, Pinot’s. Headed up route 1 from San Francisco along the magnificent coastline through National Parks. We drove and drove and drove some more–a postcard stunner of a ride. Midway up we crossed over and headed through the Redwood Forest. (You know all those ridiculous cell towers dressed up like insanely tall pine trees but that really resemble cheesy plastic bottle brushes? Imagine a whole forest of them, but bigger and wider and—oh yeah—real. It was awesome.)
Unlike the tastings in the more famous valley’s just to the south in this part of California, the wineries in the Anderson Valley generally do not charge you for a flight. Yes, we’re talking free. Hallelujah, sister! Free wine for the asking! We stopped at three vineyards/tasting rooms that are a must for every northern-bound bitch: Navarro, Phillips Hill,Esterlina. Wait, there’s more: one of the wineries didn’t even charge for shipping their bounty. Unheard of.
We loved Esterlina’s Pinot, produced on the side of the hill, and went bonkers for Philips Hill Oppenlander and Toulouse Pinot’s; they produce in a burgundian manner, less fruit forward, more balanced and lean. Look for them. And they were so charming they gave us a very pricy bottle that we brought to dinner with us that evening. So nice.
We left the Anderson Valley very, very happy and drove back through the bottle brush forest on steroids to spend a night in Napa. (We’ll fill you in later on the hotel steal of the century in Yountville.)
All this reminded us yet again of the glory—and savings—to be had off the beaten path.
This entry was posted
on Monday, November 9th, 2009 at 1:52 am.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
In the final chapter of our book we come to your very favorite bitch—no, not you! Your dog. Pamper the Bitch reminds you that sweet yapping Maxie still deserves some special treatment (even when your bankbook is whimpering). But you’ve gotta...
We Love Our Garden Weed
It’s that time of the summer when the weed in our garden runs wild! We’re not complaining, we love our weed, but as good as it is early on the more you use the trickier it gets. Face it, overdosing is not a delicious...
Back by popular demand the best brownies you’ll ever make. Period.
Food fashions fade in and out like pouffy skirts. It’s kind of tricky to know when to bite. The latest seems to be a hot and sweet tongue teasing, and we’re here to...
Blueberries are the best.
At this time of the summer blueberries are readily available and attractively priced. So attractively priced, in fact, that we often end buying more than we can bake, conserve, and munch in a timely manner. Our...
Butterflies and Plants: Partners in Evolution 2008 Smithsonian Institution
It’s been unrelentingly hot where we live. Too hot to walk. Too hot to bike. Too hot to…ok, we won’t go there. So, we’re on the hunt for other...
The Environmental Working Group * released their list of pesticide residue on fruits and vegetables. They break it down into “The Dirty Dozen” those with the most residue from field to market and the “Clean 15” those that have the...
Make the sexiest summer cocktails using St-Germain. The most delicious liqueur ever made.
Made from hand harvested elderflowers the flavor is divine.
We’re totally crazy for St-Germain –it’s not too sweet, softly floral but not...
Where we live the heat is so brutal that it’s sapped, among other things, our healthy cooking drive. We’ve consumed gallons of water, laid around on the living room couch panting, and spent even more time than usual complaining. Never...
With summer vacation on our door we’re thinking about ways to save during your week off and one way is to mix up when and what you eat:
Break the mold and eat fancy for lunch:
We can think of nothing more luxurious than dressing up and and...
Since we live to eat and we love nothing more than yummy, fresh, local produce we’re in heaven now that our local farms are selling their wares. So far this summer we’ve eaten our way through the arugula, lettuces, strawberries, rhubarb...
We loved Esterlina’s Pinot, produced on the side of the hill, and went bonkers for Philips Hill Oppenlander and Toulouse Pinot’s; they produce in a burgundian manner, less fruit forward, more balanced and lean. Look for them. And they were so charming they gave us a very pricy bottle that we brought to dinner with us that evening. So nice.
