The Wine Country
We left Monterey and headed for Napa, the heart of “the wine country”. We were not especially excited as we both harbored feelings that the wine country embodied everything that is annoying about California – that pretentiousness, the smug superiority that says sorry for you living in Michigan. But we went. And it was lovely. Napa was charming, the vineyards beautiful. It is exactly like you think it is.
We went to a winery – Threfethen. I had not heard of them, being a low brow Yellow Tail girl, but it was pretty, of course, and the vineyards were marked “Cabernet 1987”, and so on and that looked interesting.
We did a tour and tasting. I can paralyze you with wine facts, e.g., the best wine is made from vines that are 125 years old, oak casks are used four times only, the price of vineyard land is $800,000 an acre, (and the Trefethen family owns 500 acres), stressed vines = good grapes and to that end, they work hard to make the soil really bad and vines are never ever treated with fertilizer, and so on and so on. The tasting was also interesting. This is a nice winery and the wine is pricey. I tried a red called Dragon’s Tooth that was listed at $139 on the tasting card per bottle, though available for about $80 on the internet. I found it to be rather an acquired taste, one that requires some cultivation. It is not “easy drinking”, so to speak, and one should pretty much devote all one’s attention to it and not be snacking on Cheetos. I think there is not a great chance I will be cultivating a taste for it. But it does linger in my mind all these weeks later, so perhaps there is something to that Dragon’s Tooth.
I love the cork tree!
Grass Valley
We went to visit my brother and his wife. It was good to see them and we enjoyed our time there with them. Grass Valley and its neighboring city Nevada City are nestled charmingly in the mountains and surrounded by the tall pines. The downtown areas are rather preciously western, but there are great shops and quite nice places to eat. I did not think it was possible to have a more expensive dinner than at Bobby Flay’s American Bar in NYC. Wrong. You just have to put your mind to it and decide now is the time to try that absinth, perhaps some port, etc. Thank you to our hosts and next time, our treat.
We went to Tahoe for the day as Jason and family were there in the cabin. It was an unexpected treat to see them and such a nice day. How lovely to see my darlings in such a beautiful place!
Bodega Bay
If Texas taught us about wind, the coast of California taught us about fog. Of course, we all know what it is – kind of whitish cloud stuff. Well, on the coast of California, fog is an entity. It can come over you in a wave and blind you. It can break off into little pieces that waft down the street very like a ghost. If you leave your door open, it might come in and have dinner. It can act with such speed that you can look outside and see the beautiful sea sparkling in the sun, put on a T-shirt and go outside and find it all gone, invisible behind a white wall. It is a presence -- and nowhere quite so much as Bodega Bay.
There were days – or moments – when the fog magically lifted and Bodega Bay was revealed as the beautiful place it is.
And there were birds.
Least Sandpipers
Marbled Godwits
One day, nearly driven mad by the fog, we went up the coast to Sea Ranch and Gualala where it was very lovely and sunny.
The ride there was a bit harrowing. They have an interesting road theory there. It is the only place where I have found the combination of narrow winding road on an 8% grade bordered by a shear drop on one side, vertical hillside on the other and free range cattle. I don’t know much about these things, but I don’t think I would put those things together. I’m just sayin’. Add Labor Day traffic and a few 40-foot motor homes and you have a heart-stopping trip indeed.
So you are driving along…
Driving, driving . . .
What?
Love the updates - keep them coming!
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