California Dreaming

California dreaming - yes, this is my story so we are speaking of wine. As Joe said, we had a room pre-booked in Healdsburg (unheard of on this trip - and particularly with the man I am traveling with...but I had convinced him that in Sonoma you can't just roll into town) at the H2 Hotel, a new, modern, and green hotel. We arrived late, and after checking in decided to have dinner at the apparently happening Spoon Bar restaurant in the hotel lobby. Their fountain outside was a nice tribute to the name.We were happy we did. Local wines, beers and good food was a nice start to our time in the region. We loved our room, the pool, the organic soaps and pretty much everything about this place...including their own complimentary water (flat or sparkling - carbonated on site - if you please!). They had taps located throughout the hotel where you could refill any time you wanted.

Our time there included the use of their bikes, a picnic lunch and free tastings at sustainable wineries in the Dry Creek AVA of Sonoma Wine region. Biking in a hilly wine region in 98F sun proved to be a bit challenging.

Although it does look idyllic here, and I'll admit we're glad we did it.I swore I have never had to work so hard for my wine! But again it was worth it as we had some good ones in some beautiful locales with friendly people who were happy to have us rest up and enjoy their space until the next leg of our journey. So after making our way through a few wineries on the route, we returned to the hotel for a swim, and then wandered about the town square to visit some local tasting rooms of again small boutique or cult winesbefore having dinner at the well known Dry Creek Kitchen of Chef Charlie Palmer.

The next day we went to a few more local wineries - mostly sustainable and interesting small producers...but we couldn't resist stopping in at Francis Ford Coppola's winery. Really, it is a huge tribute to wine as well as his own accomplishments in film making...not only can you go drink his wine, eat his favourite foods (the pizzas are in fact pretty good) you can see all of his awards and some iconic props from the movie sets like the godfather's desk.After visiting Sonoma we decided to take a drive through Napa. While Sonoma does have some big producers, Napa is obviously more about the production from what we saw. We drove by huge vineyards which contrasted dramatically with the mixed farm productions we saw in Dry Creek where figs, olives and grapes all grew side by side as they did at Preston Winery (yep I was in my glory!!). At Truett Hurst where the farming and vineyards grew along side the Dry Creek where you were welcome to take your wine and enjoy it under the trees beside the water.
You could also visit with some of the locals on your way back to the tasting room...
We did just have a quick visit and drive by in Napa. Perhaps Napa has some of the small boutique wineries as well - and perhaps it calls for another visit, just to be sure...