Wine Country
We had one full day in wine country, Sonoma county to be specific. Having combed through our Lonely Planet guide, we had a list of a few vineyards and other points of interest along the way. Most of them were just north of where we were staying on the outskirts of Santa Rosa.
That morning we poked through the literature in the room and saw that Santa Rosa had a farmers market on Saturday. It was 10:30 and the market closed at noon, so we grabbed our gps and guide and hopped in the car. We made it with plenty of time, as the market wasn’t huge in the off season, but there was still plenty of good stuff. We ended up with a loaf of bread & a wedge of yummy goat cheese.
It was a grey day as we drove through the valley. You could see the clouds hanging on the tops of mountains or cutting in swaths through valleys. It was certainly pretty, but you could see how gorgeous it would be with the sun shining down.
Our first stop was Preston Vineyards. We picked because it was an organic vineyard, and the homebaked bread the owners make was highly recommended. As we drove down the half-mile driveway, we noticed a fair bit of the plants seemed fenced in. and there were… big, white rocks? Suddenly we realized there were chickens! The lumps we mistook as rocks were really sheep, and there were 3 pigs as well. On our way into the tasting room we were greeted by some charming kitties. Inside we poked through their books, grabbed a fun tshirt & a bottle of wine & chatted with them about the vineyard animals. The chickens scratch the ground & eat bugs, the lambs mow the lawn, when they bother getting up that is. They had just introduced the pigs that day. They’re hoping they rototill the soil, although there’s a danger that they’ll dig up the roots of the grapes. The roots go fairly deep though, so they’re hoping they’ll do far more good than harm.
After walking around the grounds and communing with the critters we thought we’d get some food. Our guidebook talked about a vineyard where you could enjoy your wine with one of their wood-fired pizzas, but when we got there they looked at us like we were crazy, and the restaurant they recommended in Geyserville was closed. Thankfully there was another, really good place just a few doors down. Then we took another scenic drive back to the hotel. We skipped dinner and cracked open the yummy goodies we picked up along the way.
