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Living in California Wine Country as we do, we’re literally surrounded by wine. Sonoma County is home to literally hundreds of wineries, from a small family-run winery like Mounts to much larger vineyards like Korbel. We love being able to go wine tasting any day we want, and indulge our [...]
So I have some tough choices to make. I have a high school friend coming to visit this weekend. She’s in need of some R&R and her husband’s packing her off to Wine Country for the weekend. Now, they’ve been here before. They spent some time exploring Napa, and had [...]
For Father’s Day we went wine tasting (and why not when you live in Wine Country, surrounded by more than 200 wineries?) We’ve spent a lot of time exploring other areas of Sonoma County like Dry Creek Valley (with wineries like Armida and Fritz) and the Russian River Valley (with wineries [...]
We recently moved into a new home. The house is pretty new and most of the work we’ve been doing is cosmetic. The backyard, however, was another story. Picture the Sleeping Beauty forest. Without the castle, the princess or the prince. Or any magic. It was as if they’d planted [...]
We LOVE roses. (Ok, Wendy does). So, when we found out that San Jose had a public rose garden, we got very excited and couldn’t believe we were just finding out about it. We had visions of a leisurely stroll through hundreds of blooming bushes, bursting with color. We’d soak [...]
This past weekend we headed out with the family and some friends to check out the new restaurant in downtown Santa Rosa. Ever since the Cantina closed, we’ve been looking forward to checking out its replacement. The restaurant is set right on 4th Street, which is a great location at [...]
Balletto Vineyards and Winery is set amongst fields of grapes. It has a peaceful pavered patio, covered with a pergola and centered on an olive tree growing out of a large water feature. Inside, the cozy tasting room is staffed with friendly people who are very knowledgeable about the wine [...]
This family-owned winery has a lovely tasting room in a tranquil setting just outside Healdsburg in Sonoma County’s Dry Creek Valley. Their hand-crafted, estate-grown wine is made from organic grapes and the tasting room is set in the middle of one of their biodynamic vineyards. There are solar panels on [...]
Dutton Goldfield Winery has a new tasting room on Gravenstein Highway North in Sebastopol. They used to participate in the Visa Signature program, but sadly have stopped. They now charge a $10 tasting fee for 4 wines, which is rather steep for Sonoma County. The fee is refunded with purchase, [...]
Walking up to the Deloach Vineyards tasting room from their parking lot you pass through a tranquil Biodynamic garden. There is a lovely brick courtyard complete with umbrella shaded tables for those who prefer to take advantage of Sonoma County’s fabulous weather and do their tasting outdoors. Inside, the tasting [...]
We were on our way home from one of our favorite wineries, Armida, when we passed a newly opened tasting room. Quite honestly, we weren’t that hopeful – there are a LOT of tasting rooms in Dry Creek Valley and more generally all over Sonoma County. But, since it was [...]
We are blessed with living in the heart of Northern California’s wine country. Even though we live very close to many wineries, we somehow always find ourselves driving to further ones to go wine tasting. So, when we wanted to go wine tasting a couple of weeks ago, we decided [...]
New Zealand holidays are a great choice for adventure types. While traveling in New Zealand we were introduced to all sorts of new death-defying activities along with others that the Kiwis have made famous. On offer were bungee jumping (in many different forms), canyoning, heli-skiing, hang-gliding, skydiving, zorbing, sweebing and [...]
The holiday season brings a number of wonderfully lit houses to Wine Country. Recently we visited this beautifully decorated house on Arabian Lane, in Santa Rosa, California. The street is only a block long; tucked into a quiet subdivision. The lights from the house shine brightly enough that we knew [...]
Traveling in Wine Country with children? There are lots of holiday events to keep your little ones happy! December 2nd we headed to downtown Windsor for the lighting of the 2nd Annual Charlie Brown Christmas Tree Grove on Windsor Town Green. Windsor is located right off the 101 Freeway, in [...]
Sonoma County is Northern California Wine Country, so there are plenty of attractions to keep the adults in holiday cheer. But don’t think the kids get left out! This past weekend we checked out a recent Santa Rosa tradition. Every Saturday and Sunday in December, as well as the Friday [...]
It was yet another gorgeous fall day here in Sonoma County so we decided to take advantage of the weather and head out to lunch. We chose a place we’d been to many, many times. Thai Cuisine is in a large, old Victorian house that’s been converted to other uses. [...]
Today was an absolutely perfect fall day in Sonoma County. Sunny and warm, with the highs in the high 70s (25C), it was the perfect day to head out into the spectacular Dry Creek Valley. The grapes are in full fall colors with brilliant splashes of red and yellow painting [...]
Wendy’s cousins came to visit and requested that we visit some Napa Valley wineries. So we solicited advice, and off we went to tour the best of the Napa Valley, starting with Duckhorn Vineyards Estate Winery. The winery charges for tastings. A regular tasting is $15, and the reserve tasting [...]
