Paradise Ridge Winery, just off of Fountaingrove, on Thomas Lake Harris Road, perched on its ridge above Santa Rosa: Welcome to Paradise....

Paradise Ridge Winery, with arguably one of  the most beautiful views in Sonoma County, sits perched on its romantic ridge, surrounded by rolling vineyards,  gardens and amazing art in Marijke’s Grove, incorporating wedding and meeting sites, daily tastings of their restrained, balanced, food-friendly wines, Wine & Food Pairings, Paradise Found Wine Club,  the Nagasawa Fountaingrove Exhibit, warm hospitality AND an amazing view of the Santa Rosa Plain west to the coastal mountains.  The Byck family story illustrates a perfect blending of people, place and wine.  This is a complete winery experience, encompassing as it does not just delicious wines, but warm presentation, spectacular venue, art, history, tradition, romance, striking spots for picnics, llamas grazing the hillsides, sunsets…a joyful, inspiring, fun, special place to visit.

Wind your way up off of the 101 into historic Fountaingrove:

The history-rich, and aptly named, Round Barn at Fountaingrove.

Watch for Thomas Lake Harris Road- a quick turn to the north (left), off of the Fountaingrove Parkway- meandering through some residential blocks- keep going- you are in the right place:

Watch for the banners and the distinctive signs just to your left (west)....

As you enter the winery grounds along the curving driveway, you will be amazed and surprised by the installations of art, just popping up in this natural setting.

Llamas, non-Dalai....

You betcha! (Ed. note: I said that years before Sarah Palin....)

View west from the deck....

Ditto.

A loaf of bread, a jug of wine...oh yeah, and thou....

Nagasawa Exhibit- romantic stories, winemaking detail and history of Fountaingrove....

Here’s looking at you, kids.

TR

Of Interest, close by:

Fountaingrove Inn

Equus Restaurant

Hilton Sonoma County

Vintners Inn

John Ash & Co. Restaurant

Romance at Paradise Ridge....Thank you Norah Burrows Photography.

34th Annual Wine Road Barrel Tasting, aka #WRBT

Advance Ticket Sales end this Monday, 27 February!  Price rises $10 at the door; Event does not sell out…. ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW!

At Quivira Winery- I cadged a shot off of Facebook...don't miss out on all the thieving!

The weather along Wine Road has been Faux Spring all week, temperatures here hitting 75 yesterday, with blue skies, puffy white clouds and the breezes of Printemps hinting at the warmer weather to come….

Speaking of Quivira, here is how it looked there yesterday....

Vineyard across the street from Quivira. Look at those Sunbeams from Heaven.

Just up the street at Martorana....

Martorana vineyards....

Blossoms along Dry Creek Vineyard, across from the Dry Creek General Store.

Ditto- the other direction.

And back in Healdsburg- the colors are intense greens and delicate pinks, bright yellow….

Love those daffodils and those bushes I like to call "Red Bud", as if I live on Walton's Mountain, instead of Fitch....

"Look at the Red Bud, John Boy! I will be heading into Charlottesville to get Mary Ellen at the bus...."

Acacia...though on Walton's Mountain I think we call it "mimosa"...here that is a delicious breakfast drink, not a yellow hay-fever tree.

Grassy! (mmmmmmm- sauvignon blanc....)

The Russian River, greening up...steel head cavort....

Spring in Northern California- to me, it is Barrel Tasting (I first attended the Event in 1983!) and a roller-coaster of warming weather and chilly rains.  An author I like, Annie Lamott, expresses it beautifully in an article in SUNSET Magazine March 2012:

Northern California spring is not a nice orderly progression that you can recognize from any other part of your life. It’s a kaleidoscope. On almost any day, it can be almost any season. Hot, warm, very cold, rainy, then gray, then blue….Don’t get me wrong — there are aspects of spring that I do not like. Deer ticks, for instance, and everywhere you look, couples falling in love, and the air is saturated with the scent of giddiness and doom.

What a great description of our Heaven Condensed.

Here’s looking at you, kids.

TR

Appreciators of Red Bud....(When I was in high school, I used to be likened to Mary Ellen which really annoyed me as I thought that her acting style was so wooden.)

P.S. I just looked up “Red Bud“- it can be “Red Bud” or “Redbud”- aka “Judas Tree” (hmm?)- and it is a town near the Walton home….but the mystery flowering bush here will still be Red Bud in my heart….

And now, James Thurber:

Welcome new Wine Road Member, Cellars of Sonoma, on Fourth Street, on Railroad Square, in Santa Rosa.

Cellars of Sonoma, where you discover wine one sip at a time, is a cooperative tasting room, featuring the wines of nine Sonoma County vintners, very handily located on Fourth Street in Santa Rosa, just off of Railroad Square, where daily tasting, education, and wine & food pairings partner up with after hours events including live music, social media broadcasts and also where you can book your very own next private event (think wedding, rehearsal dinner, business lunch and meeting, family reunion….).  This is a spectacular space and setting, with cork & stave ceilings, historic bar from Mixx and romantic lighting setting the stage, two levels for warmth and stage presence.  Hey, and I did not  yet even have a chance to mention their wine club!  Their blog explains it all.  They are open many hours longer than traditional TR’s- so catch them on your way north or on your way south- or make them your destination…they are a one stop shop and will entertain and delight you with their Jordan family staff- Angie, Scott and kids- personal.

Great AVA, area maps....

Barrel staves for the ceiling- with cork accents....

Texture....

What an amazing, historic, welcoming bar!

Great lighting, Mr. DeMille...

Again- romantic lighting in a table for intimacy by the front window, tucked away.

Many wines.

What a bar!

Here’s looking at you, kids.

TR

Williamson Wines (Healdsburg) has opened their second location: W2 Williamson Wines in Geyserville....

W2 Williamson Wines is now open in Geyserville, the southern-most tasting location there, convenient to many fine restaurants, more details are available here at W2  Wine Road.  I had an awesome photograph of their new W2 white sign, high up there on Geyserville Avenue, but somehow, with the vagaries of my camera and my PC, it is gone into the ether….but I can describe the glass-fronted, welcoming, beckoning, hugely-soaring-high-ceiling-ed, huge-barred, fireplace-warmed, special event or everyday tasting space, back patio-ed-special event area as completely warm, welcoming and choice, a lovely sister to the original Williamson Wines in Healdsburg, just up from the Plaza.  This is a spectacular venue- and you can secure it for your special events, too!

Soaring ceilings and sparkling glass....

Crackling fireplace....

The same space during a special event to celebrate the Grand Opening- thank goodness for Facebook to provide such great pics! (Caterer- white coat on the left- is neighbor Domenica Catelli from eponymous restaurant....)

Hand-crafted, award winning, delicious array of Williamson Wines.

The view from the back terrace area towards the TR.

Even in the dead of winter, this space rocks....

The Williamson Wines are food-friendly- after all, it is all about the total experience: the Wine & Food pairing….(Geyserville location and Healdsburg location have different options- please check with them for more detail.)

Per the Williamsons:

In water one sees one’s own face; but in wine one beholds the heart of another.

Here’s looking at you, kids.

TR

Bill and Dawn Williamson- one of my favorite pics of them!

Claypool Cellars tucked away in the Gravenstein Station in Sebastopol welcomes you to their Fancy Booze Caboose....

Claypool Cellars is where Les Claypool and crew  working with winemaker Shad Chappell lovingly hand-craft and produce small lots of wine, including Russian River Valley Pinot Noir, known as The Purple Pachyderm, sporting the very cool, Les-designed elephant logo, his artistic rendering of how the wine is big, well-balanced with a beautiful, magnificent nose.  Sometimes there is also Pink Platypus, currently sold out, a rose of RRV pinot, delightfully tasty- especially during the warmer months.  Here, in their Fancy Booze Caboose, actually a real, retired SP caboose, Fancy Wines for Semi-Fancy Folks are tasted in this comfy railroad car, decked out with circus memorabilia including some great posters- and of course, M & M’s to add to the tasting experience.  The Gravenstein Station houses this inside railroad right in downtown Sebastopol, just off the main drag.  Special happenings  showcase the wines and add to the fun of this very much a labor of love artistic endeavor of wine and hospitality- when I visited, I met Les and Chaney Smith Claypool, as well as Monika Michalak, adding to the personal vibe.  Nice folks, great wines, convenient location; and of course, the history of Primus to add to all that….this is a winery with a great sense of humor, a way with entertainment and compelling wines.

Look for the distinctive railroad water tower....near the Welcome to Sebastopol/Nuclear Free Zone Sign.

Right under the water tower....

You cannot miss the Gravenstein Station- lots to cue you in....

Sometimes this banner is out on the main drag....

Les and Chaney on the main drag- Sebastopol Ave./ Highway 12- with the banner....you will find it!

Les clowns with that banner....

Main building exterior.

Inside Railroad....hmmm, would Harriet like that moniker?

The Purple Pachyderm designed by Les: Wine that is big, well-balanced with a beautiful, magnificent nose!

M & M's all the time....

Big-top, circusy....railroady, too....

Chaney Smith Claypool and Les Claypool.

Here’s looking at you, kids.

TR

Our Concierge Group, last stop along Wine Road Fam Tour: Barrel Room, Merriam Vineyards.

Merriam Vineyards, convenient on Los Amigos Road just south of Healdsburg, has a great view west, sitting as it does on top of a knoll, surrounded by rolling estate vineyards.  We are warmed by the hospitality staff, welcoming us out of the rainy, chill day to the spectacular, soaring-ceilinged TR- cheese, treats and great selections of Merriam wines are awaiting us on the bar.

The terrace with that great view- winter is here....

An archived shot of what to expect in more clement months....

Before we start our wine & food pairing, we tour the TR, upstairs, too- and then head over to the winery to view the tanks and barrels and discuss the Merriam story and  philosophy with winemaker, David Herzberg.  (I just realized that David is the son of our now retired family dentist, Tom….small world.)

Winemaker David Herzberg.

Listening to David....

Up on the catwalks above the tanks...continuing our Barrel Tasting education.

Merriam barrel room.

Bar-coding and computer records allow for careful monitoring of barrels and space-effective stacking.

Back to the TR for food and wine pairing and perusal of great gift items and logo wear.  We discuss the wines and some of the large format bottles which are available for sale, as well as the three-tiered wine club.

Here’s looking at you, kids.

TR

Merriam on a sunny day....

Relaxing at the thumbprint lounge, awaiting our personal food & wine pairing....

The third stop on my recent Concierge Fam Tour with Rick from Blue Heron and five SF concierge on parade along Wine Road, finds us at thumbprint cellars, cozy on the downtown Healdsburg Plaza.  We are very comfortable, ensconced on lovely, lounge-y furniture, arranged around a low table, just perfect for the presentation of the thumbprint wines and their awesome Wine & Food Pairing.  The staff is friendly and very knowledgeable and explains that proprietors/winemaker Scott and Erica are uncharacteristically not around today- Scott is recuperating from some rugby roughness and injuries….this winery is a labor of love and altruism, and the owners and staff show their attention to detail.

Shameless plug for a great cause: The Raven Theatre: Mr. Healdsburg Pageant…Scott is running- he is very brave, along the lines of Medieval Warrior, to participate:

The no-appointment necessary Wine & Food pairing is fun, well-matched and showcases the wines in a comfortable fashion; the menu changes monthly and highlights local products and local chefs. Some of the honey and other local products can be purchased in the TR; I love the thumbprint bottles that have been cut down to be drinking vessels or lovely flower vases…since the labels are embossed on the bottles, they are a lovely reminder of your time here….

thumbprint bottles- one concierge quipped that Winemaker Scott must be a HUGE guy....judging from the size of his thumbprint...What would James Badge Dale have made of it on "Rubicon"? (I LIKED that show....)

Reading the scoop- cool photographs adorn the walls....

The day was rainy...the lounge was warm, welcoming, toasty, beckoning....

Delicious...we all enjoy hearing about each wine and what to look for with the food pairing....

The food and wine warm our hearts- and the saucy wine descriptions, penned by Scott, warm our passions….

Here’s looking at you, kids.

TR

thumbprint cellars: The Lounge....