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Published: December 16th 2008
Winehiking: Sipping into a Recession.
Sonoma, Lake, Mendocino & Marin, Oct. '08
Vineyard, Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma County
We had planned this winehike since last May, when we had flown out from Miami to backpack at Point Reyes National Seashore. We spent the last two days of that trip up in Sonoma Valley and had joined the Landmark Vineyards Heritage Wine Club after being plied into submission by a very good Chardonnay. At the time we promised each other we’d return for their annual Heritage Days festival in late October.
But my how times changed. Fuel skyrocketed. The Stock Market, well, the Stock Market
crashed and the economy took a nose dive. I found my company (an airline) wanting me to take money to go away, so they saw the back of my head as I fled, and that reclassified me as unemployed.
Our position in this “economic situation” revealed itself when Landmark informed us that they were shipping the first four bottles of wine we had agreed to buy - their new releases - in late September. (They wisely don’t ship in the heat of the summer.) We both raised an eyebrow when we saw one bottle of Chardonnay was $53.
In a belt-tightening measure, I called up the nice Wine Club director at Landmark and begged myself down to two bottles a quarter, even though it meant we wouldn’t get two free tickets to the Heritage Days. I mentioned possibly flying out for the event, and he said he’d gladly hold two complimentary tickets for us if we came.
So we were still on, although it was time for some serious scaling back. The flights weren’t a problem, since they gave me (and my wife Debbie) free flight benefits when I took “early retirement.” So that got us to California, but how to inexpensively get to wineries, trailheads and campgrounds?
Debbie was shocked to find a major rent car company (Dollar) was offering a car rental for an unbelievable $1 a day, as long as you picked the car up in Los Angeles and delivered it to San Francisco. (We were told the reason for the glut of cars in LA was that European guidebooks told their tourists to drive the Big Sur highway southbound, so they’d be closer --about eight feet -- to those spectacular ocean-side vistas.)
So we lost $35 in gas and five hours of our life driving up I-5 from LAX to a campsite in Sugarloaf Ridge State Park in Sonoma County, only a couple of miles above Landmark on Adobe Canyon Road. But for a car for 12 days for $24.13 (including taxes and unlimited mileage), we knew that drive was worth it.
We passed those famous spas and inns set in the vineyards of the Valley of the Moon (Sonoma Valley) at $200 a night and drove up to our campsite at one tenth the price.
Campsite in Sugarloaf Ridge State Park.
Sonoma Valley, Sonoma County
Sugarloaf Ridge State Park, Sonoma County. (campsite: $20/night.)
We spent our first day provisioning, including buying two wine glasses for a dollar each along with forks and spoons (we’d forgotten) at 25 cents each at the thrift shop on Santa Rosa Avenue, and for food used a $100 Costco gift card given to me by a friend whom I had done a favor for back in Miami. We were having a hard time spending money. We hit two wineries that day: B.R. Cohn, owned by the Doobie Brothers long-time manager, and Chateau St. Jean, both neighbors of Landmark.
Picnic, with Chardonnay, at the B.R. Cohn winery, vintage cars in the background.
Which brings us to our
First Wine/Hike Pairing: Recommended: the 2007 B.R. Cohn Sonoma County Chardonnay ($24) after hiking an extended loop of trails in Sugarloaf Ridge. In fall, both the hills of the park and the wine have that same color of golden straw, and the vistas are as intense as the balanced wood and crisp fruit of the wine.
Wild turkeys with Bald Mountain behind, from the campsite.
Landmark Heritage Days:
Sunrise on Heritage Day.
We woke early on Saturday in our tent ready for the Landmark event starting at midday only 3 miles down the winding road. But since Sugarloaf Ridge had no showers, we decided to take a morning drive over to Bothe Napa State Park near Calistoga to use theirs, since we didn’t want fellow wine enthusiasts to comment that the bouquet of the Chardonnay had a smoky quality before realizing that it was just us. We took the scenic road over the mountains to Napa Valley and back and were dressed in our fancy duds extracted from our backpacks, ready at our campsite to drop down on Landmark by noon.
Landmark Vineyards in Sonoma Valley on Heritage day.
They couldn’t have asked for better weather for the late-October celebration. Clear blue skies and 75F. About 80 wine aficionados attended the gathering. We found our names on the guest list and started by heading over to the library wine tasting being held at the crush pad. My favorite was the 2001 Landmark Kastania vineyard Pinot Noir poured from magnums; it was $110 a bottle but worth every cent -- a perfectly balanced Pinot Noir at its peak.
Pouring the 2001 Landmark Kastania vineyard Pinot Noir.
A trio played light jazz and a little country, and guests ate at a catered buffet followed by a game of badminton or Bocce ball, or they took a wagon ride around the property.
1940 "Model A" tractor and a game of bocce ball, with the Mayacamas Mtns. in the background.
Wagon ride at Landmark's Heritage Day event.
I left Debbie at our table and headed to refill our glasses in the tasting room. On the way back, I ended up in a long conversation with Bruce, marketing director at Landmark, about the Rhone varietals planted around the estate. When I returned, Debbie was gone.
I found her at the table of the proprietors, Mary and Mike Calhoun. Mary, a most gracious hostess greeting her guests, had stopped by and talked to Debbie, and seeing her alone, insisted that she join their table. And approaching, I was also invited by our kind hosts to have a seat. The irony did not escape me. Here we were, campers in the hills above the winery who originally had wondered if we were usurpers at the festivities, now sitting at the table with members of the John Deere family, proprietors of Landmark. After a short while we took our leave and headed over to taste the newest release of their 2005 Syrah, named “Steel Plow” for the tool their antecedent had invented, before his name became synonymous with the green tractors.
Mary Calhoun, proprietor of Landmark and gracious host, at the event.
Michael Deere Calhoun, Landmark's proprietor, starting the still-running motor of his priceless yard art, a 1940 John Deere tractor.
It was a wonderful afternoon, and by five we were “wined out,” and headed the short distance up to our little campsite (54) at Sugarloaf Ridge, where we changed back into campers. We sat and watched the deer and listened to wild turkeys as we watched the golden rays on Bald Mountain turn to dusk, end to a most beautiful day.
Clear Lake State Park, Lake County (campsite: $15/night)
Several factors drove us north to the wine country above Napa. One, we had to flee from the tasting room fees in Napa/Sonoma, which for library wines could be up to $20 a person. We had been shocked at Chateau St. Jean when told a first: that the tasting fee was NOT applicable toward a wine purchase. We knew that once out of that “zone,” the tastings would be nominal or free.
Lake County
Second, Debbie is a big Sauvignon Blanc fan, and Lake County is known for its vineyards of the grape made by many wineries into the quintessential Sauvignon Blanc wine.
And finally, we had never been there before, and heard the area was quite scenic.
Clear Lake is the largest natural lake “in” California, since Lake Tahoe apparently is half out of it. Mt. Konocti towers shore-side on Clear Lake’s southwest bank, and the lakeside state park sits on the shore a few miles north of it. Being late October, the park (along with the rest of the campgrounds we stayed in) was 2/3’s closed for the season and the remaining third was virtually empty. We had no one near our site.
The colors in the hillside vineyards were in every hue of yellows, reds and purples, a patchwork quilt of fall.
2006 Rosa D'Oro Vineyards Lake County Estate Bottled Chardonnay.
We visited two wineries in the tiny town of Kelseyville, and visited a first, a “gothic” tasting room, minimally decorated; the dominant color of what décor there was, such as the napkins and the label, a definite black. We had a feeling the proprietor’s intriguing young daughter, Emily, pouring the wine at Rosa D'Oro, had a hand in the tasting room’s look. Their wines were mostly Italian varietals, and all quite good.
Second Pairing: A 2007 Mackinaw Lake County Sauvignon Blanc ($10) after a loop walk through Clear Lake State Park.
The lake was as deserted as the state park on this fall mid-week day, and the views of the lake through the autumn-leafed trails were spectacular.
Hike over, we opened the MacKinaw, a second-label wine from Wildhurst Vineyards, known for their Lake County Sauvignon Blancs. The citrus nose, with hints of grapefruit and lemon make this an excellent “fish” or “sundowner” wine.
Mendocino County
Hendy Woods State Park, Anderson Valley, Mendocino County (campsite, $20/night)
Next stop was in the Anderson Valley, at Hendy Woods State Park. The redwood preserve is nestled on the Navarro River, across the bank from an organic apple and berry farm near the town of Philo.
Barn, truck and vines, with the Little Hendy Grove of redwoods in the background.
We were in one of maybe six sites occupied midweek when we were there.
We hiked the Little Hendy Grove to the Hermit’s Huts the first morning, and toured Anderson Valley wineries and vineyards in the afternoon, finding the vineyards and orchards ablaze in fall color.
Redwoods in Little Hendy Grove.
Not a 'cathedral ring,' a 'cathedral wall' in Little Hendy Grove.
Vines in an array of autumn colors.
2006 Handley Gianoli Ranch Mendocino Ridge Zinfandel -- as big as any coastal redwood. From Coast Range vineyards, big, complex, with an endless finish.
Campsite in Hendy Woods.
On the second morning, we hiked the Big Hendy Grove, before heading northwest to the coast.
Big Hendy Grove of redwoods.
3rd Pairing: A loop hike through Hendy’s redwood groves, followed by a 2007 Husch Mendocino Cty. “La Blanc” white wine ($9) with its flowery nose thanks to a bit of Muscat grape in the blend. What better wine to complement the majestic silence in these giant trees than a wine named “Husch.”
Husch La Blanc white wine at a picnic at the winery.
Van Damme State Park, Mendocino Coast (campsite, $20/night).
Fogless, clear skies and hot: not exactly the weather we expected near the coastal town of Mendocino, but somehow that’s what we got. We found a spot in the meadow loop at Van Damme, tucked into a coastal canyon on the Little River. Too cool for vines here, although they do grow Pinot Noir far up on the ridge of the Coast Range, above the usual fog.
Tent up in Van Damme State Park.
We walked through Mendocino Headlands State Park on the bluffs around the outskirts of the village, where some great movies had been filmed
(East of Eden - ’54, The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming -’65, Summer of ’42 - ’70, The Majestic - ’01.)
Abalone shell, Mendocino Headlands State Park.
Up the coast we hiked out to the restored Point Cabrillo Lighthouse built in 1909, followed with a picnic beside the old brewery on the road to the coastal village of Caspar.
Point Cabrillo Lighthouse, est. 1909.
Coastal view on the northern Mendocino coast.
The following day we hiked the Fern Canyon trail to the Pygmy Forest and back, about 9 miles RT from our campsite, one of the greenest trips we’d ever make. Swordtail ferns covered the steep slopes, with cathedral rings of giant Douglas fir surrounding the burnt stump of the parent tree.
On the Fern Canyon trail.
We ended the day watching the sun set on a fogless Pacific from the headlands at Mendocino.
Sunset scenes in Mendocino.
Lake Sonoma NRA, Sonoma County (campsite: $10/night)
We drove up the coast for a reconnoiter for a future Lost Trail backpack before heading south to our next destination, Lake Sonoma Nat’l Recreation Area above Dry Creek Valley, one of the Wine Country’s most picturesque areas. Camping here was only $10 a night, since there is no water in the Liberty Glen campground.
The tent with Lake Sonoma below.
Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma County
We set our tent up on a hill overlooking the Warm Springs arm of Lake Sonoma a thousand feet below, and over the hill were some of the most dramatic hillside vineyards in California in the fairly new Rockpile AVA (American Viticultural Area), 10,000 acres in vines above Lake Sonoma yielding some of the most intense red grapes on the planet. We were in one of six of the 96 campsites occupied at the campground, and this was a beautiful, blue-sky late-October weekend!
Vineyard in the Rockpile AVA above our campsite at lake Sonoma.
Rockpile (AVA) vineyards.
We spent our afternoons in the vineyards, absorbing those blazing fall colors, or sipping on wines at a picturesque winery tucked off Westside or West Dry Creek Road.
Vineyards at Pedroncelli Winery, Dry Creek Valley.
Vines, east side of the Dry Creek Valley.
The 'last rose of summer' in a Russian River Valley vineyard.
Vines near the late Fred McMurray's ranch, Russian River Valley.
Resupplying Saturday morning for the remainder of the trip, we stumbled upon a Halloween Dress-up Dog Parade on the town square in Healdsburg.
Decorated dogs at Healdsburg's town square.
Marin County
Samuel P. Taylor State Park, Marin County (campsite: $20/night)
We spent our final nights in the redwoods at Samuel Taylor SP, a few miles inland from Olema, south of Bodega Bay.
Look familiar? The schoolhouse used in Hitchcock's "The Birds," restored and now a residence near the village of Bodega.
At Taylor we hiked two trails, the Pioneer Tree trail the first afternoon, and the Devil’s Gulch/Barnaby Peak Trails the next morning.
Campsite 7 in Samuel Taylor SP.
On the Pioneer Tree Trail.
Debbie on the Cross Marin multi-use trail.
On the North Creek trail to Devil's Gulch.
On the Devil's Gulch trail.
Probable first-growth redwood in Devil's Gulch.
In a really big redwood tree.
Barnaby Peak trail. Clouds return on our final (12th day) in the Wine Country.
Barn near Bolinas.
After a short tour of the enigmatic town of Bolinas, we had a final picnic and beach walk at Stinson Beach State Park, before heading back to a hotel near the airport in The City and then home.
Lunch with a 2001 Pedroncelli Bushnell Vineyard Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel ($14) at Stinson Beach State Park.
Final pairing: Hiking Devil’s Gulch in Samuel Taylor SP, then sipping on a 2005 Murphy Goode Alexander Valley Merlot ($25). Gorgeous trails balanced by a big, soft jammy Merlot with sufficient bottle age to balance the intense fruit and oak. A perfect combination.
2005 Murphy-Goode Alexander Valley Merlot.
It was an idyllic trip: Hiking and vineyard gazing as we sipped into a recession, and once we realized we must leave, emptying our glasses into a depression. But the trip taught us we can make it through the hard times. We had found it possible to spend more on our daily bottle of wine than we did on accommodations, gas and transportation combined.
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Mark Pasternak
non-member comment
Devils Gulch wine with Devils Gulch hike?
Why not drink the wine grown at your hiking site for the Marin segment as well? And enjoy rabbit/pork/lamb for lunch produced from the same. Dutton-Goldfield and Sean Thackrey both produce vineyard designated Devils Gulch Ranch (YES, the same Devils Gulch as your hike, adjacient to, and just North of Samuel P. Taylor Park) Marin County Pinot Noirs. And, Devils Gulch Ranch raises artisan rabbit/pork/lamb which pair nicely with the wines.