California, Part 4

(August 5th, 2012) Still maintaining about a two month delay in posts, but after this one get's out the door, and assuming I get up to the next one quickly enough, I'll be, surprise surprise, only a month and a half behind!  Progress.  Of a sorts.

Anyways, the last post in the triumvirate of my California weekend blogging...Now, in the last few posts I had mentioned that everything (or rather almost everything) had been planned very last second.  Well, the few exceptions to that were the bed and breakfast (which we booked a whole day in advance!), and Ridge, half of the reason we went to Sonoma instead of Napa. 

'What is Ridge?' you might ask.  Well, let me tell you...

Ridge Vineyards is the creme de la creme of roughly affordable Zinfandels (at least in my, and several other well respected wine aficionados' opinions). 

Zinfandel grapes

If you look closely, you can see that the grapes have a black spot, like a belly button of sorts, on their tips...that's how you know that these are Zinfandel grapes. I wanted to try a free sample in the fields, but even though our guide was pretty laid back, I have a feeling he wouldn't have liked that too much...
 

The Ridge Vineyard at Lytton Springs

Now, you might think that this photo is about the flowers and nice rolling hills in the background, but in reality, it's actually about those gnarly vines you see.  Those aren't weird black smudges on the camera or strange, sun bathing gypsy moth nests, but rather really old growth vines (for California at least).  I love how twisted and gnarly they get after fifty or sixty years...

And inside the building...so clean and shiny!

The Lytton Springs tasting room was a pretty interesting building in and of itself.  The walls were made out of recycled bales of hay, it was (or close to being) energy neutral with its solar panels and natural cooling, and, best of all, it was a tasting room.  Oh, that was a good afternoon (if only just barely afternoon at some point along the way) of wine.  Some of their varieties are just...how should I put this...scrumdiddilydidillyumptious?  I think that conveys my feelings.  I won't tell you what we came away from there with, but it was worth every penny.

The last stop (prior to the Oakland airport that is) for the trip was to see an old friend from college.  Ken Weaver, in case you've heard me mention him before or if you were at college with me, and his wife are now living in that Sonoma Valley/Santa Rosa part of California, and he's managed to turn his love of beer and creative writing into a mostly full time paying job.  The big piece of news on that front is that Ken has just published his first book!  Not the creative fiction that I was expecting, but something far more utile: The Northern California Craft Beer Guide.  I highly recommend it for you if you'll be in that part of the country, or if you like a book with pretty pictures (all taken by his talented wife) and nice words about beer. I don't live in California, but I have it prominently next to my bed for evening reading material.  So, go click the above link and get your loved one an early Christmas present.  I'll wait.

Back from ordering on Amazon?  Okay, let's continue.

Ken, Kim, and I got together at ... at ... well, I can't remember the name of the little Italian restaurant that we ate at...it was good, but the company was more important.  Unfortunately Ali (his wife) wasn't able to make it, but we caught up after not having seen each other in person for some six or seven years?  Far too long.

Anyways, documented proof:

Me and Ken, down by the Italian cafe...

Maybe you can use your keen powers of observation and let me know the name of the restaurant, inferred from the photograph.  For now, though, it's time for me to head off to bed...