Along the Wine Road in Spring

I have a profound affection for California, but spring always makes me think of my childhood in Siberia, and my almost hopeless dreams of warm weather after the dead of long winter.  With the awakening of nature, my first perception was always a sense of complete bliss, a sweet ache at the sight of new life around me.

On these days, when I am driving Healdsburg side roads, I am in that familiar mood, but marked by a craving for luxury of vivid California colors of blue, green, yellow, rose and orange.

All life is Spring!

Barrel Tasting: Young Wine to Sip and a View to Enjoy

First day of March dripped rain, and the world of Sonoma County became pale, wet and beholden.

With a simple pleasure that never grows old, my husband and I joined the group of our dear friends for the barrel tasting tour. This was the 36th year of a sneak-peek wine tasting event that covered 100-plus wineries in the Dry Creek, Alexander and Russian River valleys.

After breathing the fresh air and tasting young wines and hearing the stories of winemakers, I felt like I'd lived life a little more happier than if I'd stayed at home. I still remember this wonderful feeling of sipping wine in the wine cellar at Rodney Strong, wandering beautiful and sleepy lands of Truett-Hurst, looking at the wet fields from the balcony of Chateau Diana, listening to the happy chatter of the crowds at Sbragia, and tasting wine and tri-tip sandwich at Wilson.