While you might not drink wine to balance your chakras or gain spiritual attainment (although some wines can make for a religious experience), you don’t have to miss out on your yoga session while visiting Wine Country. Tuning in to the latest trend, several Sonoma County wineries are now inviting guests into their vineyards to become one with themselves – and a good glass of wine. Click through the gallery above to discover 5 wineries offering yoga in Sonoma County.
Santa Rosa is getting a lot of love this month. First, it was ranked one of the “best value towns in the West” by Sunset and one of the “best places to live” by U.S. News. Then, personal finance website WalletHub named the Sonoma County town “one of the healthiest places to live.” As if that wasn’t enough to make us pop a bottle of bubbly, on Sunday, ABC7 made Santa Rosa the destination for the latest episode of their travel show “Bay Area LIFE.” We recently called Santa Rosa the “hidden gem” of Sonoma County (here’s why) – but with all this recent media attention we might just need to remove the “hidden” part of that statement…
Curious to see what ABC7’s Bay Area LIFE had to say about Santa Rosa, we tuned into the show. The host, Lizzie Bermudez, seemed pretty excited about Santa Rosa – to say the least! “Beautiful,” “vibrant” and “blessed to be home to dozens of gorgeous wineries and breweries,” were some of the words she used to describe Santa Rosa in the first part of the show.
During her “perfect getaway to Santa Rosa,” Bermudez first visited Safari West Wildlife Preserve where she met with safari guide Alex Coburn. “It’s sensory overload, it’s beauuuutiful out here” said Bermudez to describe her first experience of the “Sonoma Serengeti.” Couburn mentioned that the giraffes are the most popular animals among visitors to the wildlife preserve – but added that they can be “kind of gross” as they regurgitate food they are fed. Bermudez remained enthusiastic (possibly because the next image showed a couple sipping red wine while watching the giraffes from the “spit-safe” distance of a safari vehicle – and Couburn changed topic to talk about the “glamping” options at Safari West.)
Then, from the savannah to Sonoma County suds, Bermudez made a pit stop at Plow Brewing Co. after mentioning that Santa Rosa is “a mecca for craft beer.” Bermudez chatted with Plow owner Kevin Robinson, who explained some of the similarities and differences between wine and beer (that both beverages are naturally fermented, the difference being that instead of two ingredients for wine, beer has four: water, barley, hops and yeast, making beer almost “overwhelmingly complex.”)
In the intersection between “wine country” and “beer city,” Bermudez continued to Paradise Ridge Winery where she met with proprietor Rene Byck, whose family has been growing grapes for some 35 years. Byck talked about the development of the Santa Rosa winery and its iconic sculptures.
Bermudez ended her getaway at Belly Left Coast Kitchen in downtown Santa Rosa where she talked to Gray Rollin, owner and executive chef at Belly and “rock star chef” (as in having been the Tour Chef for real rock stars and bands like Mötley Crüe, KISS, Black Eyed Peas, Sarah McLachlan, Katy Perry, Blink 182, Godsmack, and Tori Amos). Being on the road for years, Rollin has picked up culinary ideas from all over the world.
Did ABC7 get it right, is this the “perfect Santa Rosa getaway” and the best things to do on a visit to Santa Rosa? Let us know in the comments.
As the long hot Sonoma summer begins, have a cold one in the shade. Click through the gallery for nine of the best brewery patios around.
Geyserville, located in the Alexander Valley of Sonoma County, has a main street and a handful of businesses (not a gas station among them). Although surrounded by the hustle and bustle of Wine Country commerce, there’s not a lot going on in this quaint tiny town. But, just off main street, there’s a concrete and glass building, two stories high, that houses the studio of textiles designer Dallas A. Saunders.
The modern building stands in stark contrast to the leafy vines that surround it in early summer, creating an interesting showcase for the natural fiber pillows, blankets, and bedding Saunders displays and sells to designers and the public.
Recently, Saunders added a rotating collection of one-of-a-kind fine art tapestries, featuring the works of renowned artists, including photorealist artist Chuck Close, who has exhibited his installations at museums of modern art in New York, San Francisco, and around the world.
Saunders moved her business to Geyserville one year ago, in hopes that she’d attract “a few people wandering down the beautiful driveway.” Saunders says her location helps her connect with designers who frequent Geyserville on their weekend wine-tasting trips.
Saunders’ inclusion of tapestries came from her familiarity with Magnolia Editions in Oakland, a fine art print studio. The studios were inspired to help create technology for large scale tapestries after artist John Nava was commissioned to do artwork for the Cathedral of Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles when it was built in 1999.
The church had initially envisioned etchings for the walls, but plans were switched to tapestries, due to a problem with acoustics. The challenge was in how to put large-scale artwork on tapestries to be hung on the contemporary church’s massive walls.
Thus a collaboration was put into action: a blend of Magnolia’s computerized large-scale printmaking and traditional Jacquard tapestry weaving techniques by artisans in Belgium.
A series of other artists later participated in this new medium, putting their detailed artwork into intricately woven replicas involving hundreds of colored strings. Among them are April Gornik, Gus Heinze, Ed Moses and Kiki Smith, whose works are currently hanging in Saunders’ studio.
In addition to the spectacular fine art pieces are samples of Saunders’ own work: printed Belgian linen pillow covers produced in collaboration with various artists, and prints of reinterpreted designs by Julia Morgan and 16th century watercolors from the Huntington Library.
Saunders’ studio also showcases finely woven tweeds and wools, available in exquisite leather trimmed throws and bedspreads that are cleverly designed by Saunders to achieve an optimal draped fit.
The current rotation of must-see tapestries will remain on exhibit until August 20. These original fine art tapestries are for sale – be sure to bring your friends with 18-foot walls.
Add a fine art gallery to the list of few, but extraordinary, things Geyserville has to offer. Who needs a gas station?
Dallas A. Saunders studio is open to public Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 11 AM-6 PM and during the week by appointment only, 275 Highway 128, Geyserville, CA 95441, 707-708-9065, dallasasaunders.com
Memories of sweltering summers in Manhattan slowly fade as Simon and Heidi Williams slip into their Sonoma lifestyle, sitting out by a pool surrounded by a Pinot Noir vineyard and ancient olive trees.
They left Greenwich Village behind because they wanted their daughter Gemma to grow up in a small community where she could enjoy a rural life and ride her bike to school. Sonoma beckoned, and four years ago they moved into what was once the 2009 HGTV Dream Home, a mock Victorian that didn’t quite suit their style. So when Simon saw the perfect property near downtown Sonoma hit the market, they scooped it up, eventually razing a 1930s four-room cottage near famous wineries to make way for the one-story abode taking shape in their imaginations.
They chose George Bevan, an architect whose reputation for luxury-living homes is fast rising. Bevan+Associates, his Sonoma architectural studio, has seven new constructions and a remodel currently in the works.
Bevan designed a 3,300-square-foot modern farmhouse featuring a massive great room with a 21-foot-high ceiling and a wall-width Fleetwood door that completely opens the living area to the outdoors. High dormer windows wash the mostly white room with even more light. The kitchen at one end is defined by an island so substantial Heidi admits they once danced on it. “Only for a few minutes,” she laughs. It’s the touchstone of the family and where Gemma loves doing her third-grade homework. The Dornbracht Maro faucet at its center is one of the couple’s favorite finishes.
Fronting the island is a walnut dining table made by Simon’s son Johnny Williams. Above it hangs the focal point of the room, a stunning hand-blown sculpted glass chandelier designed by John Pomp.
The L-shaped main house has a private wing with a family room and three bedrooms. Gemma’s room is decked out in pink and includes her only request upon moving into the home, a hanging bubble chair. The master suitebath opens to a private patio, and is pristinely tiled in Zen-like gray and white with a freestanding tub. There are two windows in the shower. “This is my favorite room in the house,” Heidi says.
Simon believes one of the best decisions they made was doing the home construction, by Landers Curry, Inc., and the landscaping, by Magrane Associates, simultaneously. The family moved in a year and a half ago and the grounds are already lush and maturing. The Riptide infinity pool is flanked by a guest suite and changing room. There’s an outdoor kitchen, gas fire pit surrounded by chairs and additional outside seating areas with Tuuci umbrellas. Under the 160-year-old transplanted olive trees sits an old-fashioned picnic table custom-made of reclaimed redwood.
“We are both keen on Pinot Noir,” Simon says, and he can hardly wait for their first harvest next year. Meanwhile they rely on the stash in the 800-bottle capacity wine room off the kitchen. Heidi can’t get over the floating-shelved pantry, where she keeps among other things her collection of Nambé ware and her late aunt’s Wedgewood Old Vine china she’s had for 30 years. “I have had bedrooms smaller than this,” she says, thrilled to be living in a home so different from their urban past.
Simon is the CEO of SterlingBrands, a branding strategy and design firm he founded, with offices in New York and San Francisco. Heidi, a marketing expert, also works for the company, although these days it’s only part time from her home office. Simon still goes to New York frequently and sometimes Heidi and Gemma join him. Much as they appreciate that their little girl is growing up in the country, they are proud that she easily adapts to the Big Apple. “She can read a subway map and likes us to let her hail the cabs when we’re there,” Heidi says.
Gemma is an 8-year-old who already understands the meaning of “the best of both worlds.”
The 2017 Wine Spectator Restaurant Awards winners have been announced, and we’ve got the scoop on which Sonoma and Napa restaurants made the cut. Click through the gallery above for all the details, and read about the awards below.
Created in 1981, the Wine Spectator Restaurant Awards is the Michelin for wine lists. Every year, thousands of restaurants submit their particular wine selection for a chance to be bestowed the prestigious accolade, and the competition is fierce: the internationally renowned restaurants’ wine lists are scrutinized by wine experts who examine the quality and quantity of wines, how the wine list complements the cuisine, who manages the wine – even the spelling and grammar! The lucky restaurants that make the final selection are then divided into three levels: Best of Excellence, Best of Award of Excellence, and Grand Awards, the latter being the most prestigious.
