“Just months after [the] wildfire tragedy, Sonoma remains California’s most blissful holiday destination/…/ The Sonoma locals are just as bright and lovely as the California sunshine,” said Heather Lowrie in a travel reportage for The Scottish Sun.
Together with “hubby” Alan, Lowrie sampled Sonoma County gems from east to west and noted that, during the couple’s first trip to “this utterly gorgeous region,” they did not see “one piece of evidence of the infernos which hit some of California’s wine-making regions.”
During their Sonoma sojourn, Lowrie and husband Alan tasted wines at Buena Vista Winery (“think Great Gatsby meets Liberace”), did sightseeing in the town of Sonoma (“it is just picture-postcard small town America”), ordered Pastis-scented steamed mussels at the Girl and the Fig, along with a Sonoma Mountain Beef Burger (“huge, juicy, and mouthwatering, came with another mountain fries. God bless America!”) – and much more.
Click through the gallery above to see what else Heather and Alan got up to during their first Sonoma County visit (their itinerary sounds pretty good to us), and what they recommend to Scottish readers.
Like a little caviar or truffle with your vodka? Or perhaps a touch of wine with your gin? Then eccentric vintner and ultra-luxury lover Jean-Charles Boisset has an elixir just for you: JCB Spirits.
Boisset’s recently launched line of spirits comprises three vodkas and a gin, all distilled from pinot noir and chardonnay grapes from the Côte d’Or in Burgundy. The new spirits collection includes not only a classic vodka and botanical gin, but also two uber-fancy vodkas: one infused with French caviar, and another with – wait for it – black Périgord truffles.
“JCB Spirits is the culmination of my dream of many years to create the ultimate elixir,” says Boisset, who has worked with master distillers in Burgundy for 15 years to develop the vodkas and gin.
Boisset is the owner of several luxury wine brands, including three local wineries – Buena Vista Winery in Sonoma, DeLoach Vineyards in Santa Rosa, and Raymond Vineyards in St. Helena – as well as the eccentric JCB Lounge in Yountville, which pours still and sparkling French wines from Boisset’s signature JCB brand.
Handpicked, sustainably grown pinot noir and chardonnay grapes are barrel fermented and aged for six months, then distilled five times, in order to create JCB Spirits. The JCB Gin is infused with 44 herbs, spices and biodynamically grown plants, alongside the classic ingredients of juniper, rose, and coriander.
The infused vodkas are meant to be “elegant, but not overpowering.” The truffle vodka has a unique, earthy umami flavor, while the caviar flavor is delicate with a touch of brine. Both aren’t for the faint at heart, everyday happy hour sipper: they retail at $150 a pop (the non-infused vodkas and gin start at $125).
The bottles, in usual Boisset style, are works of art – or over the top. Inspired by Boisset’s collection of antique decanters, they feature diamond cut adornments and look more like glamorous perfume bottles than your regular Tanqueray or Smirnoff. Learn more at jcbcollection.com.
Mother’s Day is around the corner. Cue the search for a gift for the woman who wants nothing, really, other than to spend time with her family and maybe a few hours alone with some peace and quiet. Of course she deserves both of those, but here’s a collection of Sonoma-based gifts ideas if you’re looking to surprise her with something boxed up with a bow – click through the gallery above for details.
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis rock the Bottlerock crowd on the Jam Cellars stage at the Napa Expo. (John Burgess/The Press Democrat)
April kicks off festival season in California with two weekends of live music, camping and dancing at Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. Luckily, Sonoma County isn’t far behind. Over the past few years, Wine Country has continued to ramp up its music scene and now features several local festivals that will save you the drive south. Click through the gallery above for a list of local festivals to catch in the coming months.
*Of course we can’t possibly include every festival, but once you get out to one this summer, you’re sure to find many more that fit your mood and interests.
Life is busy. Take time to float once in a while. Sonoma County’s Russian River is a perfect place to drift the day away during summer. Here’s some basic equipment to help you eke out all the leisure possible. Click through the above gallery for details.
Three Sticks Wines in Sonoma. (Courtesy of Three Sticks Wines)
On Earth Day, April 22, millions of people around the world will explore ways to help preserve our planet through eco-friendly practices. For wine-lovers, this is an opportunity to swap their regular reds and whites for green. In Sonoma and Napa wine country, there are plenty of planet- and palate pleasing wines to try. The region is home to some of the finest sustainable, biodynamic, organic and natural wines in the world, crafted by winemakers who care deeply about the environment and produce healthy wines devoid of chemicals and additives. Click through the gallery above for five eco-friendly local wineries to check out.
Dr. Cocktail #7 at Spoonbar restaurant in Healdsburg, California. Heather Irwin, Press Democrat
Oh, the wine is so very fine, but Sonoma is also a great place to have a cocktail. Local artisans continue to expand their food and drink wizardry into the mixology realm, and here are a few items to inspire some classic cocktail-making. And since the “signature drink” is all the rage, draw from these finds to mix your own creation – click through the above gallery for details.
12/31/2009: B1:
PC: The Sonoma County Coast looking towards Goat Rock from Highway 1, Thursday May 14, 2009. From Jenner north past Fort Ross, a plan to harness wave power is in the works as an alternative to producing electricity. Another site would be just south of Gualala. (Kent Porter / The Press Democrat)2009
Highway 1 stretches for 655 miles along the California Coast, running through Sonoma County for about 56 of those miles. Bodega Bay, Jenner, Fort Ross and Sea Ranch are a few of the towns you’ll pass through when you are making your way along the spectacular North Coast.
Whether you have out-of-town guests and want to show them the view, or you’re just looking for a close-to-home scenic escape, browse the gallery above to see where to go and what to do when you’re on a classic Highway 1 road trip.
Suzanne Hagins pours a glass of Hops and Honey hard cider at Horse and Plow winery in Sebastopol, California on Wednesday, July 27, 2016. (Alvin Jornada / The Press Democrat)
What crop is at the heart of Sonoma County? In the last few decades, grapes have been all the rage. But look a little closer at local history, and you’ll discover a diversity of plants. Botanist and horticulturist Luther Burbank famously experimented with hundreds of varieties of fruit at his Santa Rosa home – from potatoes and tomatoes, to cherries and plums. In 1890, Burbank became instrumental in bringing another crop to the area when he advised local farmer Nathaniel Griffith on planting Sebastopol’s first Gravenstein orchard.
The Gravenstein, derived from Europe and named after a Danish palace, soon transformed west Sonoma County into one of the world’s premier apple growing regions. In the 1940s, nearly 15,000 acres in the county were planted with apples. In 2016, that number had declined to just over 2,000. Nevertheless, apples remain one of the county’s million-dollar crops.
Today, some local orchards grow Gravenstein, Granny Smith, Pink Lady and other apple cultivars to use in fermented, alcoholic ciders. With some 10 cideries and a growing number of taprooms, Sonoma County’s cider scene is reviving the local apple industry. In time for the Apple Blossom Festival on April 21 and 22, sample the legendary local fruit – in its liquid, golden state. Click through the gallery above for the best places to sip locally made hard ciders in Sebastopol.
Shortribs at the Geyserville Gun Club in Geyserville. (Heather Irwin/Sonoma Magazine)
The most beautiful woman in the world is looking at my sad, soggy state of rumpledness with judgment in her eyes.
Wine Country’s spring rains have turned into a torrent of misery that has frizzled my hair, turned my makeup into runny streaks of color and transformed my already-compromised running shoes into floppy sponges that squeak and squish with every step.
Actress Sophia Loren at the Geyserville Gun Club in Geyserville. Heather Irwin/PD
Fortunately, I’ve found a pair of fuzzy slippers in the detritus of my car, and slipped them onto my pruney feet. They refuse, however, to stay on my feet properly due to the fact they are two sizes too small.
From her perch at the Geyserville Gun Club, Sophia Loren watches my sad shuffle. My plastic soles smack on the floor like sarcastic applause, echoing through the nearly empty room.
With her kohl-rimmed eyes, the Italian actress watches me across an ocean of time where she is forever young, forever beautiful in a movie still of the 1955 Italian film, “Woman of the River.”
Right now, I am Woman of the Soggy Slippers, and I need a drink and a plate of lumpia, stat.
The Geyserville Gun Clubis a Fellini-esque watering hole that’s almost too absurdly wonderful to be true. Brought to life by Chef Dino Bugica, it’s the flipside of his more tourist-friendly Diavola Pizzeria and Salumeria.
And by flipside, we mean a Pepto-pink bathroom with a stuffed ram’s head peering down at you while you do your business. Sophia, with her legs askew, gazes from an exposed brick wall overseeing the bar, a sort of Madonna of the Manhattan.
Spicy tuna rolls at the Geyserville Gun Club in Geyserville. Heather Irwin/PD
Smokey and the Bandit plays silently on a television screen while the Moody Blues croon from speakers.
It takes a minute for your eyes to adjust to the dim interior, with a backlit bar stocked with every artisan libation imaginable. A crystal elk antler chandelier illuminates the doorway, overseen by a taxidermy stag’s head that stares blankly into the room. Once used as an underground shooting range by boozy locals, the basement of the building is the inspiration for the name, according to chef-owner Dino Bugica.
The historic Odd Fellows building is conjoined to Bugica’s next door pizzeria/salumeria, Diavola, by a kitchen, the Gun Club is a combination bar, lounge and live music venue that’s been under the radar for several years — especially when it comes to the food. Located in the tiny hamlet of Geyserville, it’s an out-of-the-way spot that’s a favorite of late-nighters, afternoon-drinkers, pre-Diavola diners and local music junkies.
Billing itself as “a true working man’s bar,” at 1 p.m. on Friday, there are already a handful of day-drinkers snuggled up with their beers. The kitchen opens early today (most days the bar opens at 4 p.m.), and we’re ready to dig into what Bugica calls his “fetish cooking” from the Gun Club menu.
“The menu is everything I love to eat and cook,” he said in a text from Hong Kong, where he’s on a food adventure. That means an ever-changing menu that’s focused on Asian street food — from ramen and lumpia to spicy tuna hand rolls and nightly raw crudo that recently included live uni. They’re perfect foils for cheeky drinks like the Thai Fighter with Old Forester 100 Bourbon, gum syrup, black Thai Tea, Fernet Branca, allspice dram and sweetened condensed milk. Sweet and prickled with exotic spice, it’s and Thai iced tea’s complicated and brooding older brother.
Lumpia at the Geyserville Gun Club in Geyserville. Heather Irwin/PD
Equally impish are dishes like the Tijuana dog, a hot dog stuffed with cheese, topped with bacon and jalapeno, pico de gallo and “secret sauce”. It’s also supposed to include fried onions and pickled pineapple, but ours didn’t, and frankly didn’t suffer to terribly for the omission. This is the dish Bugica could never get away with serving next door, where stricter codes of chefdom overrule bacon hot dogs, and why Bugica relishes the opportunity to play with his food at the Geyserville Gun Club.
And the pink bathroom? It’s an ode to grandmothers everywhere, who stubbornly held onto their 1950s pastel pink potties and matching sinks for far longer than they should have. Bless their hearts. “It’s your time when you go in the bathroom. You kind of get lost and feel a change,” said Bugica. That and he really likes pink toilets. “It was a fun project to design,” he said.
Overall: Expect serious bar bites that will lay a solid foundation for a long night of drinking. With chef-driven dishes, Geyserville Gun Club has plenty of secret sauce, paying homage to the average Joe, but keeping irreverence and absurdity on tap.
Best Bets
Cocktail at the Geyserville Gun Club in Geyserville. Heather Irwin/PD
Lumpia, $12: Maybe the best lumpia ever, stuffed with meaty sausage and shrimp rather than too many veggies. Fried to perfection. Little bits of sliced veggies decorate the plate, and would be a delightful accompaniment if they were pickled.
Korean short ribs with red curry mac: Fall-off-the-bone short ribs in a whoa Nelly spicy sauce studded with birds eye chilis. Creamy mac douses the fire in your face.
GGC Burger, $14: I am a bit of a cretin when it comes to hamburger. I don’t love the slightly gamey flavor of some grassfed beef. I grew up in the Midwest where the poor cows only saw feedlots and corn.
This burger has an honest grassfed flavor, topped brilliantly with American cheese (so daring, so delicious!), caramelized onions and secret sauce. Next time, we’ll try it with the Impossible Burger, a vegetarian ground beef substitute.
Mmmmaybe:
Spicy Tuna Handroll, $8: What look like giant threads of saffron stick to spicy tuna in Japanese Kewpie mayo. If you like the salad-dressing style mayo, you’ll love this. If not, you’ll want to pass.
Egg fried rice, $ : Big chunks of pork, with homey stir-fried rice. Maybe a little too homey, because it lacked the smokey wok hay we like to see on fried rice. On the super plus side: Crunchy bits of bottom-of-the-pot rice were a surprising addition.
Spring Alchemy cocktail, $11: Quaffable almost to a fault.
Antler chandelier at the Geyserville Gun Club in Geyserville. Heather Irwin/PD
Next Time: Most of the crudos weren’t on the menu when we visited and dishes were very carne-centric. Previous menus have included a mezze plate, spicy Brussels sprouts and macro bowls. Bummed we couldn’t get the ramen at lunch, which is a Bugica staple. The good news is that the menu changes frequently, so you’ll always have something new to try.
