04/19/05 Visiting California wine country

Welcome to Vine to wine, this is your host Linda Moran, and on today's program we are going to talk about getting off of the beaten path when visiting California wine country. Recently a good friend I spent about five days driving through parts of California wine country that I have not visited in a few years. Much to my pleasure, they were still as picturesque and charming as I had remembered them to be. We made Santa Rosa California our headquarters and we took day trips from there. The first day we headed out to the Russian River Valley area where we traveled the back roads. Not only was the drive and the scenery gorgeous but we visit wineries such as Russian Hill Estate Winery, and Gary Farrell Winery, which were making stunning wines. Near Sebastopol we visited Iron Horse Winery serving both sparkling and still wines that were outstanding. Never did we have to fight a crowd and the tasting room employees were always cheerful and actually seemed happy to talk with us. The following day we headed out to a winery that billed itself as a Winery and Italian Marketplace. This is Viansa owned by Sam and Vicki Sebastiani. Yes, from the famed Sebastiani family of California. It was truly a very tastefully done "Disneyland" for grown up wine lovers. The wines are based upon Italian varietals grown in California and are only available from the winery. The Marketplace was fabulous with everything from cookbooks and Italian specialty foods to a deli from which you are able to purchase a picnic lunch and enjoy outside on the beautifully landscape grounds. Do not miss these parts of wine country the next time you plan a visit to California. Remember to send your wine questions to Linda at vine to wine dot net and thank you for joining me on today's Vine to Wine.