Sacramento and the Mountains

The second full day of our vacation, we decided to go see Fort Sutter in the middle of town. Fort Sutter was established in 1839, as a part of a land grant to John Sutter, a Swiss immigrant who used his land grant to set up an agricultural empire, called New Helvetia (New Switzerland). Sutter became well known as a generous person when he provided aid to the trapped Donner Party in 1847, and as a result, his Fort because the Motel 6 for travelers on the early pioneer route. Eventually, the properties were overrun by gold seekers and Sutter was driven out – the Fort is all that remains. It was restored to its 1847 status based on maps found in Germany. We wandered around the Fort, but we didn’t take the tour. It has the feel of a children’s pioneer exhibit – with lots of people wandering around in costume, showing visitor’s how to make candles or create iron horseshoes. Educational, but just not what we were into that day.

The Crocker Museum is near Fort Sutter, so we went there next.  The Crocker is a fine arts museum (the traditional kind, not modern art), and if you have never been there, go. The Crocker Art Gallery was the brainchild of Judge E.B. and Margaret Crocker, who bought the property in 1868 and commissioned an architect to build them a mansion and an art gallery to house their growing art collection. The Italianate style mansion and attached gallery buildings were completed in 1872. The Crocker’s had amassed a collection of art from their tours of Europe between 1869 and 1871, which included Dutch, Flemish and Baroque paintings and drawings. Margaret Crocker donated the art gallery in 1885, and since that time, the collections have grown to include American art, ceramics, Asian art, and pretty much every style you ever learned about in your History of Art class. The place was huge, and apparently now that a 2010 expansion is complete, the Crocker is now 3 times larger. I want to go back and see how much more of their collection they have on display. At any rate, when you go upstairs, they have a gallery room that is floor to ceiling paintings. I imagine they have the most valuable paintings at eye level, but Jon and I had a wonderful time just staring up at the wall and trying to pick out our favorites. That’s hard to do when the walls in that room were covered with at least 100 paintings.

The Crocker wrapped up our visit to Sacramento, and we headed back up to the mountains to make a visit to Grass Valley and Nevada City. We found a little diner called the Classic Cafe to have a late lunch in, and really enjoyed our burgers.  If you have seen the Hallmark Movie “The Christmas Card”, you have seen the Classic Cafe.

The Owners Home at the Empire Mine

Next up on the agenda after my need for food was satisfied was the Empire Mine. The Empire Mine was an extremely elaborate mining operations, with tunnels radiating outwards and downwards under the earth for several miles. At the mine’s Visitor Center, they have a map showing all the mine shafts, and showing which ones are currently filled with water. Apparently this is the major problem with the mine – the groundwater eventually began seeping back into the tunnels.

I Was Promised that Sacramento Was Hot!

In April of 2009, Jon and I were able to get cheap fares to Reno, Nevada, so we decided to fly there and drive over to Jon’s old stomping grounds, Sacramento. We flew into Reno over the mountains and through the turbulence, but we made it there in one piece. The Reno airport is like being in a casino, with all the slot machines and ringing noises. Fortunately, since I don’t like casinos, we were able to escape pretty quickly after picking up the rental car.

Once we were on the road, we made our way to the interstate and heading towards Sacramento. We got to head over the mountains on Donner Pass, which was fun. Even though it was April, it was still snowing on the pass, and quite cold. I wasn’t dressed for the weather, which made stopping at the rest area a chilly excursion. It was really interesting to see the terrain and the conditions that that Donner Party were subjected to as they tried to cross over the pass 160 years ago. I can imagine even now how difficult it would be without the modern conveniences that we have today – cars and paved roads. Those people stuck it out in the deep snow, starving, with no supplies and no idea how far it was to get back to civilization. It is amazing to think about how strong and brave those people were. And here we breezed over the pass to Sacramento in 2 hours.

We stopped for a little while and had lunch in the town of Auburn. It was a beautiful sunny day and we wandered around town for little while. Me being the nerd that I am, I made Jon pose for pictures with me in the sun. And there was antique mining equipment, just begging to be posed with. So we did.

Mining Equipment in Auburn

When we got to Sacramento, I was struck by how cold it was. Jon promised that it would be hot in April. Like shorts and tank top wearing hot. Really, it was more like jeans and sweater weather. I was disappointed. There was one day that I did get to lay out in the sunshine by the pool, but it was too cold to go in the water, and I even had to cover up with my towel at times. Certainly NOT hot like I was promised.

We had a couple of days to hang out, so we did some of the touristy things in town.  We went down to Old Sacramento, which is a tourist area right on the river. Old Sacramento was built around the railroad line, and has original old west buildings and others that have been rebuilt according to period specifications. It is touristy, with the shoppes (yes I meant to spell it like that) selling taffy and souvenirs, along with art galleries and a few import stores. They had some neat stuff, but at tourist prices (translate that to: stuff we can’t afford). We had lunch at a fish and chips place, eating our fish and chips the traditional way with vinegar. I just don’t understand why that hasn’t caught on here – it’s so much better than tartar sauce.

Shoppe in Old Sacramento

What was really cool at Old Sacramento was the Railroad Museum. They go chronologically through the history of the Railroad, from the first laying down of the railroad ties by the Chinese workers, to present day. They document the horrible conditions that the Chinese were subjected to, and the dangers of the work. They talk about the experience of laying the line up and over Donner Pass, and how the workers would frequently get trapped in storms like the Donner Party did. The museum has all sorts of different engines and railroad cars that you can look at, and some that you can go through. They have dining and sleeping cars from the heyday of train travel that reminded me of several classic movies. One day it would be really cool to take a cross country train trip for a couple of days, to live the experience. Just not one that is long enough that I’d really be in need of a shower. I’m not sure how that works on a train, but something tells me I just don’t get one. But I digress… The Railroad Museum also had a whole exhibit on railroad toys (my grandfather would have loved this – he was really into toy trains), and it was neat to think back on a time when all little boys wanted to be train conductors or engineers.

Me with a Railroad Car

So, that wrapped up our day – we were tired but happy.

San Francisco Hill Workout in the Pouring Rain (aka Part 2)

The next day, we slept in a bit and got ready. We headed out for breakfast and found a diner with some really good food, but the grumpiest waitress on the West Coast. Geez, you’d think that she had just waited 45 minutes for her breakfast!

We decided that we were going to head over to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. I’m not sure that I had ever been to a modern art museum, and now that we have, Jon and I both agreed to avoid them in the future. I’m not an art snob by any means, but I think that for it to be art, it needs to be something I can’t do. These exhibits were just weird. There was an exhibit of collages made with other artist’s work (kind of a Van Gogh, Starry Night decoupage kids project), a billiard table with no pockets, a canvas painted all red (I could totally do that!), and my personal favorite, a room sized piece that consisted of a white clay baby Jesus surrounded by concentric circles of black clay poodles. Really, what is the symbolism of that? Are you telling me Jesus is going to get taken down during the second coming by a hoard of rabid poodles!? Jon and I were both in agreement that traditional art and history museums are more our style. But I supposed you have to do it so you can say you have.

Baby with Poodles

We left the museum and decided to have a little adventure with public transit. It was pouring, and we wanted to go see the Haight-Ashbury district and Golden Gate Park. Bus fares in San Francisco include the return ride too! So we got on and passed by the Capitol Building with its gold leaf dome, and passed through the Mission district. We got off in Haight-Ashbury and spent some time wandering around in the shops in the area. There was a really cool used bookstore with lots of good history books. And Jon’s favorite place, at the very end of the road… the record store. Amoeba records is like the Costco of record stores. New, used, movies, they had it all. Jon was in heaven! And I was bored. But he tries his best to not make me wait too long. He got a couple of things, and then we took a walk in Golden Gate Park. Mind you, it wasn’t really all that pleasant, because it was raining, so it was a rather brief walk. Once we got on the bus going back towards the Baldwin, we got to drive by The Painted Ladies! They are as cool as they look in all the movies. If I could live there, I would totally move to San Francisco. Something tells me I can’t afford them.

Golden Gate Park Carousel

Later that afternoon, we hooked back up with Pablo, and we got to go to another record store. This one had a weird valet elevator even! After that, we roamed around looking for something to eat, and found a little Thai place with the best food. The meal was delicious and the company was good. The only bad thing was that afterwards we had to venture back out in the pouring rain. By the time we got back to the hotel, we were soaked. My coat was still somewhat wet the next day.

The last day of our trip we only had a half day in San Francisco before we had to head back to the airport for our flight home. I had been curious about the Cable Car Museum, so after we got some breakfast, we walked to it. It was pretty neat. You can stand on a platform and watch all the cables in action. Literally, there are these gigantic cables, wrapped around gigantic pulleys, and the cable cars are pulled along their tracks from this location. They also have antique cable cars on display, and displays on the history of cable cars and how they came to be in San Francisco. And this museum is free too. We did buy a couple of souvenirs in the gift shop to help support the cause.

Antique Cable Car

After having a weekend of fun, it was time to go home. Any decent vacation is always too short.

San Francisco Hill Workout – Part 1

The first airplane trip that Jon and I took together was when we had been together about 6 months. At that point, I think we were both thinking that we were in the relationship for the long haul. The extended stay trip is kind of a milestone in a relationship, because it is a great opportunity to assess different skills (how does this guy react when he is tired and cranky and the airline loses his luggage?) Plus, there is the other important factor to be considered: will being around this guy 24 hours a day for several days drive me to the brink of insanity? So, to test our relationship (or just to take a vacation, whatever you want to call it), we flew to San Francisco in February 2009. I had never been to San Francisco before, but Jon had been there several times. We flew into the Oakland Airport, and had decided that for this trip, we weren’t going to rent a car. San Francisco has pretty good public transportation options and we are both physically fit and not opposed to walking places. Once we landed, we took the shuttle bus to the BART station, to make our way into San Francisco. It was dark by the time we got to the BART, so we couldn’t see any of the landmarks, and it took us a couple of stops to figure out that we were going the wrong direction – we had gotten on the wrong train… Oops. So, we hopped off, went over to the other track, and got back on in the right direction. That boo boo cost us about 20 minutes, but we were none the worse for the wear, and made it into the city without further incident.

Once we got there, we went and found our hotel, The Baldwin. The Baldwin is located about a half block from the gates of Chinatown, with a nice central location. The pros, it is a neat historic hotel, with a big clawfoot bathtub. Our room had a view into the condo across the alley, which had some really cool artwork and furniture. Of course, we tried not to snoop too much into the lives of our millionaire neighbors, but hey, they left their shades open! Some of the reviews on one of the travel sites said that the garbage trucks going through the alley in the middle of the night kept them awake all night, but we didn’t have any problem with that. The cons, the bed was soft and creaky, and past its useful life. The hairdryer was attached to the dresser in the room, so you couldn’t really do your hair in the bathroom. That was really just a quirk, but odd nonetheless. They didn’t have a continental breakfast, but most big city hotels don’t. They did have coffee and tea in the lobby at all hours, but no coffeemaker in the room.

Once we got settled, we headed off in the direction of Chinatown to find something to eat. The shops were closing, so could couldn’t peek around into any of them, but we managed to find a conveyor belt sushi place that looked decent. We enjoyed a meal of sushi and chatted about what we were going to do in the city. We headed back to the hotel so we could be up early to do some touristing!

The first full day in San Francisco started out with no rain and somewhat overcast. We had a quick breakfast at Starbucks, and then headed out for a walk up the hill to Coit Tower. Wow, that is a hike! Once you are almost at the top of the Telegraph Hill, which is steep, you have to climb up a series of steps to get to the Tower itself. Luckily we weren’t in a hurry! Coit Tower has been a San Francisco landmark providing butt-burning workouts since 1933, when it was completed at the bequest of funds by Lillie Hitchcock Coit upon her death in 1929. When Lillie Hitchcock was 15 years old, she began a lifelong affliation with the Knickerbocker Engine Company Number 5. As the story goes, in 1858, the Knickerbocker Engine #5 was understaffed, and the men were struggling to pull the engine up Telegraph Hill. Lillie Hitchcock was on her way home from school, and threw her books to the ground and began to help pull the engine up the hill, imploring other bystanders to join in the efforts. The Knickerbocker Engine Company never forgot her efforts and made her an honorary member of the department. Although Coit Tower really does resemble a fire hose, the architects insist that it was not intended to portray any sort of firefighting equipment.

Coit Tower is decorated with dozens of murals that were commissioned as a project under the Public Works Administration, President Roosevelt’s Depression Era New Deal federal employment program. The murals were mostly done by students and faculty form the California School of Fine Arts and depict city and rural life, the disconnect between the rich and the poor, and other everyday subjects. The murals are incredibly detailed. You can read the titles of newspapers in the pictures, and each time you look, you will see something different. When we went, it was free to enter the rotunda where most of the murals are (I’m not sure if it still is) – you just have to pay to take the elevator to the top. Since we had never been, we did take the elevator up, and I think it was worth it to see the panoramic views of the City. I probably wouldn’t go up every time though. It is like the Seattle Space Needle, it is the type that you only need to see every 5 or 10 years.

Coit Tower Mural

While at Coit Tower, Jon’s friend Pablo joined us. Pablo and Jon met when Jon lived in Sacramento, and they have been fast friends ever since. Pablo made the trip from Sacramento to join us and spend a couple of days. It was my first time meeting Pablo, but I could immediately see why Jon likes him.

After we left Coit Tower, we headed over to get a look at Lombard Street. Jon told me it was really close to Coit Tower, and at the time, I didn’t know enough to not believe his distance estimations. It was, if I remember correctly, about a half hour away (remember we are walking), down one big hill and back up another big hill (remember this is San Francisco). Some of you have heard Lombard Street called “the crookedest street in the world”. Well, apparently it is not, but it sure is close. The block is so steep that in order to accommodate cars, the street was built with a series of extreme switchbacks. In between the switchbacks are little flower gardens. I’m not sure who maintains the flower gardens, but if I lived there, I certainly wouldn’t want to be out there digging in the dirt when someone came barreling down the hill with no brakes! My theory is that all the little flower gardens are roadside memorials to the residents killed by crazy car-wielding tourists. But it sure is fun to take pictures.

Next we headed over to Fisherman’s Wharf. This was a downhill walk from where we were, but sometimes walking downhill is just as difficult. This walk is dotted with mansions, and I think several are being used as embassies. Tough life working in a mansion… But on the way, we found Patagonia! No, silly, not the geographic area, that’s in Chile and Argentina. The store! And they were having a sale! I found a really cool laptop bag with room to hold extra stuff. It is perfect for traveling with your computer. The only thing that has kept Jon from trying to steal it is the fact that it is lavender, that that Jon’s laptop doesn’t fit in the laptop pocket. Of course, that doesn’t always help. Sometimes he just takes it anyway.

All that shopping built up an appetite, so when we got down to the wharf area, we experienced another of those big city traditions that we just can’t get at home – In & Out Burger! Sometimes I just crave a hamburger, and these ones are so good. I’m sure I don’t want to know how many calories are in them – because I’m convinced that they butter the buns. But after all that walking I think I deserved it.

Down at the wharf area, there is a little museum run by the California Parks Department. It is pretty cool. It shows the location of all the shipwrecks that they know about in San Francisco Bay. There is an exhibit about the dangers of the Bay and the hazards that the sailors experience from back in the 1800s to today. And it’s free! We poked around in there for a little while and then it was on to the big reveal – Fisherman’s Wharf.

Fisherman’s Wharf is one of those ultimate tourist traps. I knew that before we went, but didn’t really know what it would be like. It is built on a Wharf (duh) and is kind of like a big, outdoor shopping mall, with all the stores catering to every imaginable tourist desire. T shirts, music boxes, candy, expensive art and lots of over-priced food. We wandered around for a little while, but it really isn’t that big of a draw for me. I was really more interested in finding the sea lions, but there weren’t very many hanging out on the day that we were there. Locals told us that there have been fewer and fewer of them in the last couple of years (maybe they are all heading up the Columbia River to chow down on the salmon at the dam).

Alcatraz Island from Fisherman's Wharf

 

That night was Valentine’s Day, and the next day was our six month anniversary. So, to celebrate, we walked over to North Beach and found a little hole in the wall Italian restaurant that was actually huge on the inside. The three of us enjoyed a delicious meal and Jon and I split a bottle of wine. Sorry guys, I have absolutely no recollection of what kind of wine it was – something Italian – but it was tasty. Funny though, I still remember that I had some delicious gnocchi, and Jon had eggplant parmesan.

That dinner wrapped up our day, and we walked our overstuffed, happy selves back to the Baldwin. I swear I walked 20 miles that day (Jon says it was only really 7 or 8), so I slept well!

Fat Bird, Skinny Turtle, and some wine

On Sunday, Jon and I decided to make our own “Shirk Your Responsibilities” Day. Instead of staying home and getting laundry done and working on things around the house, we decided to go down to Woodinville and do a little wine tasting. When I suggested it to Jon first thing in the morning, I was amazed at how quickly he popped up out of his chair to get ready to go – kind of like a Jack in the Box.  That was my first hint that he was into the idea…  So we got ready, and drove down. On the way, we talked about where we wanted to go.

Jon was interested in heading to Mark Ryan, which was supposed to be in the Hollywood Schoolhouse. The Schoolhouse is an old school that was built in 1912 and is no longer being used as a school. I was under the impression that the school had been converted in space that the wineries were leasing, and each classroom would be a tasting room. Not so much. Apparently The Schoolhouse is a special event space, that is rented out for weddings and other events. It looked beautiful through the locked doors, but there aren’t any wineries there. Alexandria Nicole has a space at one end of the building, with an outside entrance. Mark Ryan, Andrew Ross, J Bookwalter, and PepperBridge are in a building behind the Schoolhouse. It just wasn’t the same.

So after figuring out this Schoolhouse business, we made our way behind the building to where Mark Ryan is. It was a very quiet Sunday, and we were the only ones there. I think it was because Taste Washington, the big wine event in Seattle was that day. At any rate, it was our gain. Mark Ryan has received rave reviews for their wine, and they were delicious. We began our tasting with a Viognier that was very floral. Then we moved into the reds. Mark Ryan has a lineup with pop culture and eclectic names (two of his wines are named after Pearl Jam songs), like The Dissident, The Dead Horse, Wild Eyed Syrah and The Long Haul, and all of his wines, with the exception of the Viognier, are blends. Mark Ryan is into the big, bold Cabernet blends, so Jon was in heaven. The wines for me were all very good, but I found the Cabernet blends all running together. It was hard for me to tell them apart. I liked the Wild Eyed Syrah best.

Mark Ryan’s tasting room follows the pop culture theme as well. They used an antique cabinet as the tasting bar, and had two antique Indian motorcycles. For those of you who don’t know the Indian, it was the motorcycle that BJ Hunnicutt fell in love with in a M*A*S*H episode. It was destroyed in that episode, causing much anguish for BJ. The Indians at Mark Ryan are fully restored (one is a 1928!), and absolutely beautiful. The walls at Mark Ryan are decorated with concert posters, matted and framed in pristine condition. The ambience of the place reminded me of a bachelor’s loft – very hip.

We moved next door to Ross Andrew after that. Ross Andrew started the lineup with a Pinot Gris. I really wanted to love it, because a Pinot Gris is just so rare in Woodinville. It was good, but it wasn’t the crisp fruity Pinot Gris that I really wanted it to be. We also tried the Glaze, which is an affordable Cab blend, which I liked quite a bit. It was smooth and easy to drink, and not overpowered with tannins, like so many Cabs can be. The Glaze is named for the winemaker’s wife’s pottery. The spit bucket in the winery was actually a clay pot that she made, with wine grapes decorating it. It is nice to see a winery that is truly a family affair, down to the Bernese Mountain winery dog Galena (she’s shy though…).

After leaving Ross Andrew, we decided to try to find Chatter Creek Winery. I had purchased a bottle of their Grenache a few months back, not knowing anything about the winery, and it was very good. So, with the help of the GPS and our guidebook that said Chatter Creek is open from 12 – 4 pm on Sundays, we headed over… to find it closed. So much for Chatter Creek, at least for now.

We ended our day with an oldie but a goodie – Matthews Estate. We were there before, a year ago during the Party Bus tour. This year when we went, it was really quiet… there was only one other guy there tasting with us. I was excited that they now have a Sauvignon Blanc, and it was wonderful. Crisp apple taste, perfect for a hot summer day with some Teriyaki chicken on the grill. I brought home two bottles. Their Blackboard charity blend this year is a Cab blend, and I have to say, I just didn’t like it at all. It was very oakey, and seemed pretty harsh to me. I liked their Blackboard Syrah a lot better. I know that they likely change the wine each year, depending on what grapes they have leftover, but I hope they will do the Syrah again. They are still doing their single varietal Syrah, and it is one to be experienced.

Jon and I finished up the day with a little shopping at Molbak’s nursery, and Cost Plus World Market. I managed to walk away from all the beautiful and unusual plants that Molbak’s has, which is good since my yard is totally full. But it was tough. I did have to bring home a fat bird and a skinny turtle with absolutely no practical purpose. But they are cute, and that was enough for me.

Biz Gives Darwin a Run for His Money

So this post is a little different than my typical posts on wine and travel. I’ll warn you now – this post is full of gore and tragedy, so if you have a weak stomach, don’t read on.

Today is April Fool’s Day, which ever since 1992 has been a different type of anniversary for me. On April 1, 1992, my beloved 4 year old quarter horse gelding Biz, tried to run through or jump the electric wire fence in his field – I will never really know what happened. Upon finding him standing in shock in a pool of blood, I stumbled back to the barn to get help. Friends later told me they thought I was playing a practical joke, until they saw that all the blood had drained out of my face. The vet was called, and he received a police escort to the farm when a Sheriff’s Deputy friend heard the call come out over the radio. Friends at the stable tried to stop the bleeding, and one friend held Biz’s head up and out of the way for 6 hours while the vets stitched and stitched to try to close the wounds (a second vet had arrived about an hour later when he finished up another call). Meanwhile, I was also dealing with a sudden onset migraine headache (Dad, I’m still sorry I threw up in your 1968 Cougar). When the vets finally finished up that first night, after 10 pm, Biz had over 1000 stitches in his front legs, and fractures in his knees, over his eye, and across the bridge of his nose. They estimate he had lost about 4 gallons of blood.

Biz was so badly injured that our veterinarian did not think he would live. At the time, the prognosis was that he had a 5 – 10% chance of surviving the accident, and if he did, he only had a 5 – 10% chance of being anything more than a big, expensive, lawn ornament. The only thing going for him was that although he had cut himself so badly he had exposed bone, nerves and did extreme damage to the muscle, he narrowly avoided cutting any of his tendons. For a horse, severing a tendon would have been a death sentence, because it would mean he would lose the use of the leg.

So, being the stubborn, foolish teenager that I was, I decided to give him a chance. For the next 5 months, extensive wound care, hand walking, and trying to keep him from reinjuring himself became my before and after school job. As the damaged tissue died, he smelled like death. As the skin around the wound died, the stitches pulled out, leaving holes in his legs that were 5 inches deep. For the first several days, he couldn’t move his legs forward very well, so he shuffled from side to side. The fracture over his eye caused blood to pool in the white of his eye, and looking at him broke my heart. The risk of infection was ever present, especially since the wounds were so large. I breathed a huge sigh of relief each day that infection didn’t set in. Sometimes, when cleaning the wound, I accidentally touched the exposed nerve bundle, causing him excruciating pain. When he got bored, confined to his stall for days, he tried to knock me over with his head while I knelt next to him.

Amazingly, he never fought against his treatment. He took it all in stride. He was as content as ever, with a hearty appetite and a devious twinkle in his eye. When I took him out for a walk, he wanted so much to run and play. He didn’t act like he was as badly injured as he was. It was a struggle to keep him from tearing the lead rope out of my hands, which would have meant a serious risk of reinjury. Fortunately, he managed to avoid hurting himself again. When spring gave way to summer, the risk of infection came again, in the form of flies who wanted to constantly land on his wounds. Fortunately, Biz dodged that bullet too. Every day, the wounds closed a little bit. Every day, a little more fresh, pink skin closed in around those gaping holes in his legs.

It took more than 5 months for the wounds to finally close. Biz defied the odds, and he can do most things other horses can do, although he isn’t the most coordinated guy. But then again, he never was. The vet recommended I start riding again at a walk, a month after the accident, because he had so much energy it was getting tough to control him from the ground. We slowly worked back up to normal capacity. If you didn’t know Biz before the accident, you might not notice the hitch he has in his stride, because those front legs just don’t move quite right now. He has extensive scarring across his front legs, where no hair grows. If you look carefully, his chest is still marked with 5 thin, hairless scars, one for each of the 5 strands of that electric wire fence. The bridge of his nose has a bump, and his back legs are dotted with scars too.

I would like to say Biz grew smarter and more cautious after that, but he didn’t, and he has continued to have a talent for rare and creative injuries and illnesses. I’ve come to accept that it’s part of what makes Biz, Biz. He is almost 24 now, still full of life, but thankfully, he’s more mellow now. For the most part, his flesh tearing injuries have given way to fungal skin infections and the degenerative processes of age. Arthritis makes it difficult for him to get up after he lays down to roll – but once he’s up, he still runs and plays like a young man.

At the time, it seemed unreal to believe that there was any way Biz could have made it through. But now, I still think about that day, 19 years ago, and how friends and people who barely knew me pulled together to help a gangly, goofy horse become a miracle.

The Party Bus

In March of 2010, for Jon’s mother’s birthday, the family rented a party bus for 16 of us to tour the Woodinville wine country. It was nice to have the benefit of a designated driver, although towards the end of the day, I’m not sure what the driver thought of us. That said, the bus was equipped with a stripper pole (I assume for bachelor parties), so in all likelihood we were really tame compared to what he has seen on his bus. The weather was great, it was sunny and I wore a light summer jacket instead of the winter coat I have still been wearing lately. Funny how we remember those details.

So, we got on the bus and headed to our first winery of the day, DiStefano Winery. DiStefano is a family owned winery. We had a large group, and Jon’s uncle arranged for us to have a mini-wine tasting course, with fruit, bread and cheese plates. It was pretty amusing when random people kept wandering in and the owner had to keep telling them that it was a private party. The owner and winemaker led us through his lineup of wines. They have a Sauvignon Blanc that is delicious, but not a crisp clean, Sauvignon Blanc. This wine is more like a Viognier or a big buttery Chardonnay. Which is why Jon loves it. Curiously, we opened a bottle the other day, and on the third day, the wine does take on a more crisp, apple taste – which made me very happy.

The DiStefano Lineup

We also tasted a red blend called Sogno, which appealed to all.  It is most Cabernet Franc, with a little Cab Sauvignon.  It tastes like berries, which I enjoy in a red wine.

The Rose was also very popular. I really liked it a lot and so did several members of the group. I didn’t get it that day, but I would if we go back soon.  Unfortunately, according to their website, it looks like it is currently sold out. One of the wines that we didn’t try that day was their Petit Verdot, this is a varietal that is typically used in blends, so I’m excited to try this wine.

After we left DiStefano, we headed over to the warehouse district and visited Patterson Cellars. Patterson didn’t make any white wines, but we tried several of their reds.  Looking at their website now, it looks like they have added a white or two to the lineup though.  I thought that their wines were too bold and heavy for my taste. I prefer a softer, more approachable red. Even Jon, who likes a bold Cabernet, was not all that impressed with their wines. Our tasting at Patterson was relatively quick, so we had a little bit of time to head to another winery.

After Patterson, Jon, our moms and I headed next door to try out Edmonds Winery. Edmonds is a smaller shop than many of the Woodinville wineries, family owned and they run the tasting room as well. I have talked about Edmonds before (they have a wine called Bentley, named after the winery dog), but I can’t say enough good things about their wine. The ones that we tried were excellent and very reasonably priced. The low point here was that my mom and I both bought a bottle of their Gerwurtraminer that he was closing out. It wasn’t marked as a sparkling wine, but when I drank it, it definitely had carbonation, and seemed off. It was certainly past its prime. Later, when mom opened hers, it was better, but not great. Lesson learned – you can’t win ‘em all. I’ll still come back.

In between wineries, we had a great time making fun of the long lines of cars that got stuck behind us on the hills.  The Party Bus was like the Little Engine That Could, chugging up the Woodinville hills with the weight of 16 winos.  I’m sure they loved us!  Jon’s cousin did a mixed CD of tunes for the day, so we got to rock out with the best of them too.

Matthews Estate was the last winery on the list for the day. Again, they focused on red wines, and did not have any whites. However, I believe that they now have a Sauvignon Blanc that I’m curious to try. Matthews really knows its business. Their reds were all very good, but with high prices they aren’t everyday drinking wines.  We did buy a couple of bottles of their Blackboard Syrah, which is a charity wine that donates a portion of its proceeds to schools.  At $22, it is nice to get an affordable wine and do something nice for the community as well.

We ended out day a bit happier and louder than usual, but a good time was had by all.

Halbtrocken means Half-dry in German

At work the other day, I proctored two exams for candidates applying for jobs. I know that when you are taking a standardized test , it is stressful and difficult, and I certainly don’t want to minimize that. But when you are proctoring am exam, it is downright BORING. Just watching a bunch of people sitting and working on their Scantrons, listening to people sniffle and cough – it could be considered a form of torture.  Maybe I’m on to something – I could sell this idea to governments, make millions and retire early!  Or not.  I’m not sure how those SAT proctors don’t go insane. I suppose they focus on the fact that it is only once per year. It also makes me wonder who actually tries to cheat on those exams? I guess that a person would have a lot to gain by getting an artificially high score, but is it worth the risk?

The room I was sitting in didn’t have any windows, so I suppose it is just as well that it was cloudy and drizzling for most of the day, otherwise it would have been so painful to look outside and see what I was missing.  Which gets me to the whole point of my post.  The beautiful weather that we had this last weekend got me thinking about a red/white blend that I enjoyed last summer, the Halbtrocken, by Cathedral Ridge Winery. Cathedral Ridge is in Hood River, Oregon, right on the Columbia River Gorge. When Jon and I visited last Memorial Day weekend, it wasn’t a winery that we knew much about, other than just the name. We were pleasantly surprised by their lineup of wines and had trouble choosing which to take home with us. The Halbtrocken is a proprietary blend, and they won’t tell you what they put in it. It is a light, dry wine, perfect for sipping on the patio during the hot days of summer.  It has a distinct strawberry taste, without the sweetness of a fruit wine.  I think it would be perfect with a fresh garden salad with grilled chicken on top and a balsamic vinaigrette dressing.

Cathedral Ridge Winery

And to be totally honest, it would have been the perfect accompaniment to my day of exam proctoring. Perhaps it would have made the day go more quickly.

Mimosas: Not just for Breakfast

For some reason, I was craving some champagne this weekend, so we opened up a bottle of the Domaine Ste. Michelle Brut sparking wine.  This is the wine that we had for our wedding toast, thanks to the generosity of Jon’s Aunt and Uncle.

Domaine Ste. Michelle Brut Sparkling Wine

A little Champagne 101 for you.  Champagne can only be called Champagne if the grapes were grown in the Champagne region of France.  Which translates into: the wines that most of us buy and consider champagnes are technically sparkling wine.  Champagnes and sparking wines can be made from any grape varietal, although you will typically see white sparkling wines.  Occasionally you will see a red grape with had its skins removed made into a sparkling wine.  Or even less common, a red sparking wine.  Apex Cellars in Prosser makes a red sparkling wine from Syrah.

I found that Domaine Ste. Michelle Brut is a nice balance between dry  and sweet.  It has a light citrus taste, which is great for cutting the bite on heavier cheeses or buttery sauces.  If you are in the mood to sweeten it just a little more, make it a mimosa.  Fill the flute 3/4s of the way to the top, and then top it off with a little bit of orange juice.  I have found that it mixes better if you put the orange juice in on top of the sparkling wine.  I consider mimosas to be an investment in my health.  Ever since I got that recent sinus infection I’ve been trying to get more Vitamin C.

One thing to remember if you are having sparkling wine without a big group of people.  Open the bottle gently, to preserve the bubbles, because otherwise it goes flat very quickly.   And make sure to finish the bottle within a day or two.  And enjoy – it doesn’t have to be enjoyed only at weddings and New Year’s.

Wine vs. Beer and a Sinus Infection?

So, the last few days it has been storming and blowing like crazy, complete with sideways rain, downed limbs and power outages. March truly has come in like a lion this year. My friend Shelley and I decided to participate in the Runnin’ O the Green 2 mile fun walk, and of course, it rained the whole time. Since a 2 mile walk really isn’t much for us, my husband dropped us off, we walked the race, and then also walked the 3 miles home afterwards. Which wouldn’t have been bad at all, except for the fact that I’m fighting a bad sinus infection, and have been feeling really fatigued for the last week or so. By the time I got home, I was soaked and thoroughly tuckered out, so I took a shower and got warm, then crawled into bed for an hour nap. Then I got up, had some lunch, puttered around for awhile, and decided it was time for another nap. It was exactly what I needed. Unfortunately, all that napping doesn’t really free up much time for doing anything exciting. Sunday I was much improved, and only had to take one nap. Granted, I did sleep in until 9:30 am, but I blame that on Daylight Savings time.

Which leads me to what I have discovered is the other crummy part of a sinus infection. My sense of smell and taste are totally whacked out. I have found my normally beloved wine to be not nearly as exciting lately. It got me wondering about how the professional tasters overcome this clearly critical occupational hazard. In short, what happens when the wine tasters get sick? Do they bow out of judging a competition, or do they taste anyway? You gotta wonder, because most of them seem to work independently, so if they don’t taste, they don’t get paid, right? That’s quite the incentive to stay in the middle of the action, even if you are sick. You don’t want to be the guy with the reputation of calling in sick to the International Wine Competition, do you? And if they do taste, how badly are the rankings skewed because of the judge’s compromised palate?

Back when I was first starting to drink wine (back before the turn of the century – 12 or 13 years ago!), I bought a bottle of Barefoot Wine – I think it was a Merlot, but it might have been a Cabernet. Well, back then I admit I bought based on labels –c’mon, you know you did it too – but also because the tag at the grocery store said that this wine had won some wine award. I can’t remember which award it was, but if I did, I would probably never buy wines that won that award. This Barefoot wine was a dog – YUCK! Thinking back, I wonder if maybe one of the judges for that competition had a sinus infection that day. Hey, who knows?

On a positive note, I also learned that beer doesn’t taste as funky as wine when I have a sinus infection. I’m not sure why this is, but maybe it has something to do with the fact that beer is bitter anyway, and that’s how everything tastes when you are sick. That’s my story, anyway…. So, Saturday night, I enjoyed a bottle of Alaskan Amber.

Clearly, I spend some of my time dreaming up some strange things to wonder about, but hey, I since I was thinking about it, I might as well share it with you.