Photo credit Laura O’Hanesian   laurao14@comcast.net

Holidays Along Wine Road

Writing this just before Thanksgiving, still on a high from the most incredibly well-received, successful A Wine & Food Affair we have ever had!  The cookbooks actually sold out with the advance pre-sale tickets- that has never happened before in all these 11 years of the event.  Wineries and guests alike were very happy with the success of the event- it was great fun!  Suspect that being on Facebook may have spread the word about the event better than ever before- and also, with the economy in such a state but starting to right itself, the event may have been recognized as a great deal- an economic way to have a great time up here.  Next stop, Winter Wineland- tickets went up on sale just as soon as AW&FA ended- so we are in the midst of our busiest Wine Road time as we careen towards Barrel Tasting in March—but first, must have the holidays!

Just spent a great day out in the Alexander Valley last week with a great group of concierges from the Bay Area escorted up here by Rick Spear of Blue Heron Tours- Wine Road has worked with him for years to spread the word about our lovely Wine Road.  I guess I just don’t get out enough- visited Field Stone, White Oak, lunch at Jimtown then up to deLorimier- wow- I had a blast, as did they- and it made me feel so grateful to actually live here- the vines were brilliant, the sky was hard, cold blue- and we were sprinkled with rain.  I realized today that the weather really has turned colder- at least for here.  We have had great color in the vineyards and surrounding foliage- even have had guests inquire about Leaf Peeping which I really thought was only East Coast, but I guess it occurs now wherever leaves become inspiring- always makes me think of Pookie Adams in THE STERILE CUCKOO who opined that the leaves were only lovely because they were dying—and that is true, though they will be back in the Spring.  For now the days are growing shorter and the weather calls for comfort foods, wines, warm fireplaces and celebrations with family and friends.

Many of our member wineries and lodgings really deck the halls with festive decorations, warm fireplaces, wine specials, lodging specials- you name it- all on our website, www.wineroad.com under Events and also Lodging Specials- members add to the stuff all the time so check back often to get the latest information.  We also have the Holiday Hours up on our website so that you can better plan your trip up—always best to call ahead when in doubt as holiday times can be changeable and everyone wants to take the time off to see family.  It is a fun time to visit us- so quiet, velvet dark nights, the smell of the earth resting as the solstice approaches.  Then comes the New Year- remember: wine is the soul of the Wine Road- be sure to toast the holidays with a remembrance of us in a bottle!

Vines just starting to show their autumn colors - across from Pedroncelli Winery

Heading Out Along the Wine Road…

I am writing this in mid-October during the first in-earnest storm of the Fall – amazing amounts of rain and wind- such a contrast to the easy-going weather of just days ago. I am in Summer Shock- cannot believe it is gone – I was swimming in the River just days ago. Farmers are scrambling to get grapes in and at our next-door neighbor, Optima, they are crushing crazily round-the-clock. The crew is hearty but they must be tired out. It is so exciting to see the bins arrive. Beth and I really get a kick out of it.

Daniel moving grapes at Optima Winery, right outside our office door!

Looks like Fall is here with a bang, which means it is time for the three Wine Road Annual Events to now fall into place in the quieter, at least agriculturally, months of November, January and March. A Wine & Food Affair will be the first weekend in November- and then between that and the end of the year, many holiday-geared events occur along the Wine Road at our wineries.

Holiday photo shoot... wine country style

Wine Road is a year-round destination and each season brings new things of interest. The Thanksgiving Weekend is the    traditional    kick-off to the holidays and also marks the end to the busiest time along Wine Road. Most wineries are closed for Thanksgiving to allow family and friends to spend this most delicious of American holidays together. (We always post as much information as we can gather from our wineries about Holiday Hours and Schedules on our website.) The Friday following Thanksgiving, the biggest retail day of the year, is an exciting day here, too. Many of our wineries have their holiday open houses with great decorations, special foods, gifts, pairings and SHOPPING. Warm fireplaces, friendly staff, seasonal treats and the excitement and anticipatory feel of the season changing to winter make this a special time along Wine Road. Not only is it fun to head out on Wine Road bundled   up for the merriest time of year, but it is a great place to shop for wine for the holiday dinners to come and for gifts. Wine is the embodiment of the romance of Wine Road, the music of its soul. What better gift?

Cave at Bella Winery decorated for winter events...photo by Nicole McKee

The city of Healdsburg holds their Downtown Merchant Holiday party on that Friday following Thanksgiving with the annual Tree Lighting on the Plaza on that Sunday, sponsored. Events are added daily to our wineroad.com by our members and show on the Events section. December is lovely here- not too cold with empty vines with green grass sprouting in the rows after the browns and umbers of autumn. Christmas Day and New Year’s Day are quiet with some closures (see our website or just give a call ahead). With the New Year, we will gear up for Winter Wineland (January 16-17, 2010- MLK Holiday Weekend) followed closely by our 32nd Annual Wine Road Barrel Tasting the first two weekends in March- 6-7 & 13-14, 2010.

Winter sunset along the Wine Road...photo by Susan Williams-Pellegrini

A WINE & FOOD AFFAIR

Fall in the vineyards along the Wine Road...

Fall is finally here.  The days are still very warm, but the nights are much cooler than during the summer; harvest and Crush are in full-swing.  The cool, green Russian River, unfettered by summer dams is crystal clear and sparkly.  There is an almost electric anticipatory feel in the air these days- so much activity with the grapes and in the wineries.  The Wine Road has more visitors this time of year than any other.  It is an incredibly lovely time along the Wine Road.   With the advent of fall and less daylight and a settling down towards the winter, thoughts turn to comfort foods.  Comfort foods are oh-so-much more comfortable when paired with wine- the perfect recipes for the best of life, each and every day.

Our newest cookbook...Volume 11

Which is such a great segue to our next annual Wine Road event, our 11^th annual A Wine & Food Affair, always held the first weekend in November, this year November 7 – 8.  The event planning has been going on for months.  Each winery participant chooses a special recipe that they will prepare for the Event and pair with their perfect wine(s).  This recipe needs to be chosen way back last April because of the editing and printing demands for the TASTING ALONG THE WINE ROAD Cookbook Volume 11.  It is a big production- right down to the professional editing each recipe undergoes, to the winery photos by Lenny Siegel to the special foreword done this year by Chef Tom Schmidt of John Ash & Company at Ferrari-Carano presents Vintners Inn.  Our cookbook also contains recipes from some of our member inns where many of you will be staying.

Ticket sales are off to a grand start- I love seeing each and every order come through my email- folks are going to attend from all over the US and Canada.  I have such fun helping guests plot their itineraries and find their lodgings.  For me, it is like travelling Wine Road vicariously, because during the Event, Beth and I are pretty much here in the Wine Road office/warehouse, “womanning”  the telephones and emails.  Our eticket voucher ticketing system generates an RSVP list that allows us to logistically plan and “arm” our wineries with the correct amount of wristbands, Wine Road glasses and cookbooks.  The Wednesday prior to the Event we hold a Event Meeting to inform the participants of what to expect and the Standard Operating Procedures.  We hand out all the glasses, wristbands, cookbooks, RSVP lists, programs, maps and the Calistoga water in the 5-gallon bottles to hydrate our guests.  Our warehouse is buzzing with activity- we often do hire some “young man” help with the heavy lifting- 80 participants coming on through is amazing- an orchestra of organization.  Beth often gets a wee bit cranky with me because I tend to chat and hold up the assembly line- but hey, I only see a lot of our members during our three annual events, and I have thoughts I really want to impart.   But that you may already know.

Check it out:  http://www.wineroad.com/annualevents/2 .

Social Networking or Social Disease?

Instantaneous, easy e-communication is addictive. You are never alone.  There is always something new.  There is a feeling of forward motion.  My Wine Road, winetimewithTR.com, facebook, twitter, LinkedIn, wineroad.com, email, youtube- yikes- alternative reality!   As the Jets told dear Officer Krupke, “no one wants a fellow with a social disease”.  And yet this is an epidemic of immediate, constant, never-ending e-communication, and we are all caught in it.

My children say that facebook is ruined by all the businesses and “older” people jumping in there.  When facebook started, only students with a legit university or college affiliation and email could be on it- and it was ALL personal stuff- pure social networking.  All that changed with the influx of businesses into e-communication- facebook was just way too good to pass up as a fantastic way to conduct business.  After all, is a Cookie Lee or Weekenders party really a PARTY?  Or are they all merely business opportunities masquerading as personal events?  I thought that friends do not ask friends for purchases.   Weaving spiders come not here, even if all this is on the aptly named World Wide WEB.

Now we have Wine Road on facebook for all to follow who wish to become fans. My blog is there and our featured wineries, lodgings, events and such.  When I became a fan, I had to sign up to be a member of facebook- and my kids allowed me to “friend” them.  Eerily, I often learn more about my daughter’s life in Seattle from what her friends write on her wall than I do from her.  I have become friends again with kids from my high school class of 1974- people who I have had no contact with in 35 years have found me and I have had a peek into their lives.  Reminds me of that scene in ANNIE HALL where Alvy Singer, as an adult sitting in his former classroom, asks the children where they are today: “I used to be a heroin addict- now I’m a methadone addict.”  Well, it is addictive, seeing all those photos, comments and wall-writings.  Oh yeah, and I follow Wine Road, of course.  But I sometimes feel like I emerge from facebook after days have passed and I am engulfed in a separate, more attractive reality.

Our ED, Beth, pictured (ahem) at left, is also on twitter where she tweets. (Why is it “tweets” when “twitter” is itself a verb or a noun?  Why does one not simply “twitter”?)  We often joke that I am the ‘friendly one”, but there is Beth tweeting away.  And she is LinkedIn as am I.  All this instantaneous, immediate communication is informative- but it is also time-consuming to not only read but to produce and post.  People have just got to get tired and tune out sometimes.  Wine Road is a fun place- so our fans enjoy seeing what is going on along it- and can immediately follow their favorites.  We never want to intrude- merely offer.  With Wine Road, it IS personal.

The Dark Side does exist.  Our IT/Creative Team refers to the backside of our website as the Content (DisContent?) Section, but I know it to truly be the Dark Side.  Wineroad.com- the sunny side that our guests see, is truly the portal to all things Wine Road: all our member wineries, lodgings, new wine releases, lodging specials & lodging availability calendar, Ticket to the Wine Road, Event Tickets, Winter Wineland, Barrel Tasting, A Wine & Food Affair,  member and community events and the pertinent and related More Fun Stuff- with our favorite restaurants, wine tours and transportation, shopping, wedding sites, wine shipping companies, recreation (biking, canoeing, ballooning, massaging, gambling), art venues – well you get the idea.  We even have a section here called EVEN MORE- get it, More Fun Stuff, Even More?  All visitor related information of note- like local chambers of commerce, redwood groves, Charlie Shulz Museum (everyone loves Peanuts!), the Sonoma County Airport (fly direct on Horizon/Alaska- ask about  taking cases of wine home on the planes!), the Wine Museum, non-wine museums, the Wine Institute, healdsburgmenus.com- a plethora of insider information and tips.

All this valuable stuff is disseminated without the pesky need to actually speak to a human-  I am kidding here, as I love to speak to guests who call us and answer all my emails with, some say,  awfully eager (alarming) alacrity, but I have a dear friend who always tells me that the LAST thing she wants to do when planning a trip is to actually speak to a person on the telephone- I nicknamed her Rasputin- but maybe that is just part of the phenomenon of web and e-communications- no more voices. (No, not referring to the ones in my head.)

We have tried to make our wineroad.com site very user friendly- every time we think of something cool to add, we do so and that is when I enter the Dark Side- always reminds me of Alice Through the Looking Glass.  For instance, if you want to know what winery has picnicking, you can check  by doing an amenity search- ditto wine varietals- categories cascade down when you click on them- go to Wineries and then work with the box in the middle of the page.

And on the Light Side, you see the changes and improvements- we hope.  We want to get you started on all you might need- and then you can just click over to Contact and request a free Wine Road map and sign up for our email blasts and newsletters- and click onto Beth or Tracy if you want to drop us an email.  Our number is also there- 800.723.6336- we are eager to chat (not quite like Quest- but a different sort of chatting) and help you plan out your visit.  We love to hear from you- we can help you plan the perfect getaway along the Wine Road- and then you can avoid the Dark Side.   It is always sunny in wineroad.com.

Event planning is like throwing a dinner party for ten, getting only four RSVP’s, having everyone show up late, bringing a friend  who has food allergies- and toting in some babies, young children and a couple of dogs.  Along the Wine Road, with our three annual events- A Wine & Food Affair (5000 attendees), Winter Wineland (7000 attendees) and Barrel Tasting (20,000-30,000 attendees) – it sometimes seems like we are staging a battle, but with 40,000 Wine Road glasses and wristbands instead of WMD’s.

Our online ticketing allows guests to choose their starting winery and that totally helps us and the wineries know who to expect (we keep careful RSVP lists) so that we have the correct event supplies at each winery and food and staff are covered.   We have honed our event management and planning very carefully over the years- there is a reason for everything we do and we try to provide the best possible experience for our guests.   And yet, why oh why, with lots of happy guests and great times, do I often best remember the one or two negative comments that come my way?  I dread the emails that start like this:

I’m not sure if you’re the right person to receive this feedback so if you’re not, perhaps you could pass it on….

And here it comes:

I have been attending the annual barrel tastings for years now and I have to say I did not like the changes that were made this year such as having to buy tickets online by a certain date to get them at the lower price and choosing which winery you were going to visit as a starting point. By doing it this way takes away the flexibility and spontaneity this event used to offer. Weather has also been a factor in making a decision which day to go, for me anyway.

Yikes!  We already worked through this with all the wineries deciding how we would be running the event.   Barrel Tasting has become so popular; we needed to provide responsible controls.   And then here it comes again, but this next guest has a different set of thoughts and actually kinda sees why we do it the way we do it- he does not think we are imperialistic martinets just trying to arbitrarily torture guests:

The Saturday (Barrel Tasting) madhouse with big limos and too many people seemingly more interested in getting wasted and making the scene rather than doing some serious wine exploring (not to mention the exasperated looks on the faces of the winery staff) got us thinking about what could be done to tone things down a bit.    Perhaps the new policy for 2009, $20 in advance but $30 at the door is a step in this direction?

I’m assuming the wineries and WINE ROAD are of the same mind as we – wanting this to be a relaxed event for those serious about wines and appreciative of the unique opportunity to taste barrel samples.

Exactly so!  True.

It all sounded like something that the Red Queen in ALICE IN WONDERLAND might ask- or something that Yossarian would ponder in CATCH-22—confounding, confusing, mind-stretching, unfathomable, a backwards-speaking Yoda riddle:

When is a taste of wine no longer a taste of wine?  And when it is no longer a “taste of wine”, why does the guest sampling it have to be standing on a certain, specific type of flooring, with a bathroom and hand-washing station within 200 feet of them?

The answer:

A taste of wine is no longer a taste of wine when you charge the guest for tasting; then the wine becomes “food” and the Environmental Health Department is now involved in addition to the ABC and Sonoma County’s use permits.

Golly.  A whole new state agency to get to know better- intimidating!  But hey, it turns out that really great people work there who want to make everything work- and I got to see that by attending a Wine Road meeting at Enviro Health last week that had a feeling of the peace talks at Yalta- fear gave way to understanding, a plan, and a new mastery of guidelines to make our events and daily wine service even better for our guests-

Charging for tasting- part of Responsible Hospitality as well as a way to offset some very real costs- what other industry samples out their products so freely in Palaces built to do so? The very first thing we learned in the Enviro Health meeting is that Governor Arnold is going to fix the conflicting language in the codes by providing an exception for winery tasting rooms so that this will, soon, no longer be an issue.In addition to our Certified Food Handling classes we will be purchasing an additional permit from Enviro Health.  There are different levels of “risk” associated with the permits with regard to levels of complexity for food preparation- even serving just crackers or bread cubes is regulated.  Temperature maintenance (either below 45 degrees F or above 135 degrees F- NO WHERE in between!), sneeze guards, containers with hinged lids, protective outdoor tents with specific size mesh openings, types of flooring, proximity of bathrooms, hand-washing stations—

In addition to the purchasing the permit, before each event we must submit a plot plan of food service layout, wine-tasting area(s), a list of foods to be served, the method or equipment for keeping the food either hot or cold as well as the plan for storage, as well as details of the hand-washing station(s).

The Wine Road plans to purchase food service thermometers for each winery to help with this- just like the inspectors use!

I was feeling a little shell-shocked but it seems totally doable- though my favorite word of the day was SHELLSTOCK which is the fancy term for oysters, clams, mussels, scallops and such- I never knew that all of those, just like every product used in winemaking, must have a way to track its origin.