Sonoma Stories

Saturday 27 March, 2010

I am awake and waiting for the shuttle bus to Albuquerque at 7.15am. I set my cellphone alarm for 6am, got up and got dressed thinking I was very efficient and organised. Then I looked at my watch and it said 4.30am. Eeeeeek. I really needed more sleep too. I triple checked my phone and it was set to the right time on the main clock and on the alarm. Then at 6.05am, it went off. Nowhere on my phone is set for 6.05am. WTF? I think the phone must be set to Truman Show mode and that I am being watched with great amusement by some parallel universe.

I am flying to Oakland California today and I don't even know where it is. I know it is near San Fran and there is wine country involved so I guess that is all I need to know.

Okay I looked it up and I know where it is- North of San Fran is where I am staying. Gail met me at Oakland Airport and we drove to their condo on the waterfront to have a look aroun. They havd a studion apartment in Emeryville on the water looking across to San Fran city. They stay there 2-3 nights per week and the rest of the time up in Healdsburg near Santa Rosa in Sonoma wine country.

We had a lovely dinner at their place which Jess kindly cooked.
After dinner, I got into my jammies and was ready to go nigh-nights. Then there was a knock a my door. Gail was in her robe and said “Do you want to go in the hot tub? Just to let you know I don't wear a bathing suit in the tub. This is California style.” I said “Sure”, thinking eeek I hope it's low lighting out there on the deck.
It was soooo relaxing after 3 weeks of full on crazy hard work photographing just to sit and look at the trees and the stars. The air was not too cold and the water was beautiful. Gail told me some very funny stories while we sat there and chilled.

Sunday 28 March, 2010

We went wine tasting in Sonoma today- I know it's a tough life but someone has to do it. Gail and Jesse were so kind to drive me around the region to try the best wines. Jesse knows what he's talking about because he donucts food and wine tours of the region. He is a lovely man who is happy to answer any questions with a cheeky grin.
We had brunch at their place in the morning with their daughter Tamara and her fiance Travis. I photographed them out in the sunshine amongst the lovely oak trees. What a gorgeous place for Tamara and her sister Erin to have grown up in. There is 2 acres of woodland and trees to explore.
We went to Acorn Vineyard first. The tastings there are by apointment only so luckily for me I got to try their fabulous wines. They are regarded as one of the best, if not the best, in the region. I bought 3 bottles, all 2006 vintage. I loved the 06 wines, but noticed a real difference with the 07 vintage so at least I knew what I liked straight away. It would have been great if Geoff and Mahria were here to share the amazing range of red wines.

Next we stopped at Dry Creek Vineyard where Erin works. We had a lovely warm mediterranean style veggie sandwich in the garden outside before trying their wines. Erin knows heaps about wine and I suggested she should go to NZ to work for a while so she can learn aout the wine regions there too.

We went to Dutcher Crossing where we tried some chardonnay, ziinfandel and cab sav.....Erin's boyfriend....works there.

We went to Daryl Groom's house for a glass of wine. Now he is an Aussie larrikan if ever I met one. He sounds sooooo Aussie. He has lived in Sonoma for 20 years building his wine empire (my description, not his). He was sent over from Penfolds in the Barossa Valley (South Australia) to make wines. He has taken the region by storm, being renowned for his wines. He gave me a bottle of his Barossa Zinfandel to take to dinner in the evening. I did not know that Zinfandel was even grown in Australia, having only tried it for the first time in Santa Fe. It is the quintessential grape for this region.

In the evening, we ate at a fabulous modern Japanese influenced seafood place called Mick's. It is right in the heart of Healdsville. It was my shout to say thanks to Gail and Jesse for such a lovely time.

Monday 29 March, 2010

I have had some really incredible experiences this trip but today was out of the ordinary. Jesse is a wine and food expert and he gives tours of the Sonoma Region. This means he has some insider info about places to go that most people are not going to see. He took me on a private tour behind the scenes at Gallo Vineyard in Alexander Valley, Sonoma. They are the biggest producers in the region. I got to photograph their 600 acre vineyard (closed to the public) and see the secret cooling warehouse where the barrels are left to ferment.
The stats are unimaginable. I think the photos don't even do it justice.
I will provide some numbers now:

Gallo Family Vineyards:
Capacity of 60,000 barrels in the fermentation warehouse. There are currently 40000-45000 in there.
They make 2,500,000 million cases per year in Healdsburg, Sonoma. These are their premium wines. The Gallo Family make a total of 80 million cases per year which includes their lower pice point wines.
On the 600 acre vineyard I visited in Alexander Valley, there are 439,825 vines growing. The equipment used to machine pick the grapes is Aussie designed. Half is hand-picked still too. Jesse told me about the process of pruning and shaping the vines to get the exact number of bunches or arms growins off each vine. It is both a science and an art.

The grapes grown include Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Syrah, San Giovese and Merlot.

The three AVA (American Viticulture Association) regions of Sonoma are Dry Creek Valley, Alexander Valley and Russian River Valley. They are all sheltered from the Pacific Ocean by Mountains which allows for the warm days and cool nights preferred for great wine growing.

While I was out in the vines today, I photographed fields of Mustard flowers which are grown as nitrogen fixers between the vines. They look so pretty. There were also orange Californian Poppies (the State flower) and purple lilacs.

I went into the undergound bunker where they store up to 60,000 oak barrels for fermentation. The temperature is kept at 55F and 80% humidity. It was beyond belief. The smell of wine when you walk in is amazing. The sight of that many barrels in one place nearly made my eyes pop out. To give you an idea of the size of this place, there is a soccer field sized helicopter pad above the warehouse. The wines are stored underground and its existence is kept rather quiet. It made the NZ wine industry feel very boutique and had made.

Jesse also pointed out the many huge stainless steel juicing silos. It was impossible to count them all. Maybe the photos will give an idea.

We had lunch at Diablo in Geyserville- yummy wood fired pizza and asparagus salad.

Jesse dropped me in town so I had a few hours to shop before I met up with Gail at one of the lovely girls stores. I bought a candle and a card for Gail and Jesse, a book, a charcoal felt cloche hat and a ring.

We then went to Williamsons tasting room. Dawn and Bill are from Australia and even though they have been in California for 30 years, they sound way more Aussie than me. What a lovely pair they are. They do free wine and cheese matchings and we tried 8 wines. Of course Bill had to crack the obligatory sheep jokes when I mentioned I lived in NZ. He asked if I had committed some crime and been shipped off to NZ. I reminded him that Australia was the convict nation, not NZ. It doesn't matter where I go here but Aussies and even a super-cynical Kiwi asked me why I live in NZ. I guess they don't know how great it is. For those of us who do, let's keep it our little secret. I was talking to Gail about this and she said that New Zealand is the country that has the most allure in the eyes people she knows. Many are planning trips to NZ in the near future or have already been.

This evening, we ate a turkey salad and did yet another wine tasting at Gail and Jesse's place. This time a French Rose. We talked about their planned itinerary for NZ & Aussie in Feb/March, 2011. I suggested lots of places for them to visit. Great company.