A Sonoma day not so long ago

Was it only two weeks ago? September 23. It was our second day in Sonoma County, CA. We started with a quick cruise through downtown Healdsburg and then off to Geyserville for a tasting at Locals. We asked where we could set up a picnic lunch and the friendly guy behind the bar suggested Quivera winery — an organic, biodynamic and solar-powered winery that has a nice picnic area used by wine tours and random visitors, like us. He gave us a map and traced out a route up the pretty Dry Creek Road.

At Quivera we purchased a drinkable and robust organic Zinfandel which we paired with creamy, delicately goaty and yummy Cowgirl Creamery chevre, the last kitchen garden tomato, olives and radishes.

^ Quivera Winery

Then it was back to Locals for their delightful vertical tastings, where we enjoyed Zinfandels from four different wineries tasted side by side — and four Pinots and three Sangioveses. What a great way to taste wine! It’s not about finding the best, but about using one to taste the other, to make comparisons, to find our what you like and to find the wines that fit you. That kind of tasting opportunity is not to be had at an individual winery’s tasting rooms. We bought several bottles from Portalupi, Dark Horse and Ramazotti wineries.

And Carolyn Lewis, the Locals owner who was pouring for us, took a look at a my biz card and a few of my paintings on the iphone and invited me to see her nice new gallery space up the block. She’s interested in the work and wants me to keep in touch — if I ever build up some inventory! A very unexpected and very nice turn in the day.

Then we were off to the Healdsburg Farmers Market for some dinner ingredients — Val found garden fresh long green beans and he suggested a big dinner salad of beans, potatoes, eggs, tomatoes, arugula — a take on a purslane salad we’ve been eating based on a recipe from our favorite Cretan cookbook. We picked up the ingredients. Plus, for Val, some smoked black cod that the fisherman-vendor said was “caught in 600 feet of water, 30 miles out in the Pacific” and smoked by the fishermen themselves. And of course, some pie — marionberry.

We headed out Sweetwater Springs Rd. — one of the trip’s most twisty and beautiful roads — in the low afternoon sun, to the Armstrong Redwoods State Natural Reserve, where we cooked dinner in a grove of soaring redwoods. Beautiful. Quiet broken by the tapping work of woodpeckers. Val made his delicious egg and potato salad and served it up with smoked fish, luscious figs, Quivera Zin — all in a truly grand dining room.

As the light faded and I washed the dishes, bats fluttered overhead feasting on sunset insects. They were so high up, they looked like butterflies. We headed back to the hotel via the easier River Road drive, just as night really took hold.

^ Our redwoods dinner

^ Val at Dinner

^ Clean up in the redwoods

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