Miscellaneous: A Photograph that Sums Up the Sonoma/Napa County Experience

In the past, when people have asked me what life is like in Sonoma County, I've tried to explain the dichotomy between the wealth here—much of it generated by the wine industry—and the rural character that lingers. I've called Sonoma County the land of Porsches and pick-ups. Recently, in Napa, I came across this parked Mercedes in front of an upscale hotel, fully loaded with hay. It seemed to sum up the same idea nicely.

The Cocktail Glass Collection: Fagiani's in Napa

Another neon cocktail glass--this one at Fagiani's in Napa (813 Main St., in an interesting old building). The glass here appears to be a ready-made, as I've seen ones of identical shape before (in fact, the last example I posted appears to use the same glass or a very similar one--Mario & John's Tavern, in Petaluma). Still, the effect with the Fagiani's script is not bad.

To see others in this series of photographs, click on the "cocktail glass collection" label. 

Found Art: Glass and Shadow (November 7, 2011)

A few weeks ago I went wine tasting in Napa with a guest from Japan. At Opus One there is a covered balcony that overlooks the vineyards. The shadows of the lattice overhead and my empty glass looked like art to me. Found Art.

For more found art, see my blog Serendipitous Art.

Places I'm Visiting: Napa and Sonoma Winery Visits (October 2011)

Last weekend I accompanied a visitor from Japan on visits to a number of wineries in Napa County (on Saturday) and in Sonoma County (on Sunday). I rarely visit the Napa wineries on my own because the tasting rooms are generally expensive tourist traps, but it's interesting to see what's going on from time to time (the Sonoma-side tasting rooms tend to be smaller, more personal, and friendlier--not to mention much cheaper, often free). In Napa, we visited Rubicon Estate in the morning (the historical Inglenook winery, until recently the Niebaum-Coppola winery; not long ago the high-end Rubicon Estate wines were brought together at the Inglenook property, while the mass-produced Coppola wines were transferred to a new location in Geyserville). We moved on to Opus One (pictured above), where we tasted the 2006 and 2008 wines before an excellent lunch at Domaine Chandon, in Yountville, that began with raw oysters with a yuzu, cucumber, and fennel garnish. I generally like raw oysters with nothing more than freshly-squeezed lemon, but yuzu, cucumber, and fennel was tasty and subtle enough that it didn't detract from the delicate flavors of the oysters. I had a duck confit main dish with a fig-based sauce that was delicious, washed down with a glass of the Étoile Brut. After lunch we stopped at Étude, in the Carneros region, which is one of my favorite Carneros producers of Pinot Noir. We tasted Pinot Noir but also a delicious Pinot Blanc in the very friendly tasting room.

On Sunday, we began the day at Wellington, where we tasted the entire range of available wines, which included some interesting port-style dessert wines. A newly released 2009 Chardonnay was a standout along with the current vintage of the Morhardt Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon. I like this winery for its high-quality wines, reasonable prices, and unpretentious tasting room staffed by genuinely friendly people. The 1920s Carignane vines in front of the tasting room were heavy with fruit and beginning to show autumn color in the leaves. We tasted next at Enkidu before having lunch at Café Citti. After lunch we tasted at Chateau St. Jean. On the way back to the airport, we detoured to do some quick shopping at Dean and Deluca (a small part of the cheese selection is shown below) and then stopped briefly at Gloria Ferrer just to take in the view (bottom photo). The deck was packed with visitors taking in the same view along with some sparkling wine. It's always a pleasure to show visitors our beautiful wine country.

Birds I'm watching: Lake Hennessy, Lake Berryessa, Putah Creek

There are between 8,000 and 12,000 species of birds in the world, depending on whom you ask (and some people claim there are many more). A little over 900 have been recorded in North America. The count for Sonoma County, California, where I live, is about 430. There are only a handful of people in the world that have seen more than 8,000 species--or even 7,000--so my life list of 333 (as of today) is rather modest, but any day you see a new bird (a "life bird" as the birders say), is a good day. Yesterday, March 5, I got three life birds. A good day, indeed.

Among them was this handsome Lewis's Woodpecker--a bird I've been trying to see for some time. It's related to the Acorn woodpecker, but much less common, at least where I live. Having never seen one before, it was surprising to see seven of them yesterday, along Putah Creek, near and at Lake Solano County Park, not far from the conjunction of the borders of Napa, Solano, and Yolo counties. I made stops at Lake Hennessy and Lake Berryessa along the way. Lake Hennessy was notable for nearly 120 Western Grebes, many of them displaying courtship behavior, accompanied by odd cries eerie in the early morning stillness.

My other life birds for the day were White-throated Swift--not an unusual bird, but one I'd not encountered before, and California Thrasher, which is not rare either, but limited to habitat I haven't birded much.

For more information about bird watching in and around Sonoma County, see my Website Sonoma County Bird Watching Spots.

Wines I'm Drinking: 2009 Girard Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc

I recently tasted the 2009 Girard Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc.  The wine was an attractive pale gold. The nose was fairly closed, but offered hints of toasted grain, and limes. There was little of the typical Sauvignon Blanc gooseberry scent at first, although, with a little time in the glass, the wine began to suggest its origins a little more distinctly. Crisp but with a rush of fruity sweetness on the mid-palate. Good length. Decent acid. The wine seemed fresh and clean, but I wouldn't have objected to a bit more raciness. Not exciting, but decent everyday wine. Not too outrageously priced at $11.89 at Costco.