I think if there was one place that we would love to live, and that we loved visiting, it was California wine country. For me, the combination of agriculture, culture, climate and activities made it one of our favorite vacation spots.
It depresses me to see it burning out of control.
We spent 10 days there, a decade ago. Rented a house. Visited wineries. Cooked. Grilled. Strolled through amazing farmer’s markets. Ate at awesome restaurants.
Chateau St. Jean. In the news now for the damage to their property.
It was one of the first places we visited. Picnic in the gardens while enjoying a glass of wine.
We went to over two dozen wineries that trip. Some of them were known because of our wine dinners at Iron Bridge.
Like Corley.
Family owned. Transplants from Virginia. We still get wines from their wine club, and we hope they are doing OK. They are between the Silverado Trail and Highway 29, fairly far north in the valley.
We first met them at a wine dinner in 2005. Out there, they remembered my husband and were so nice to take us everywhere on the property.
We made other friends out there. One, St. Helena Olive Oil. I would order their oil on line to be delivered here. They lost part of their production facility, although Peggy posted that her house was spared.
The impact on all of us. The loss of produce and fruit. Sonoma was a humongous producer of vegetables and fruit, for the US market.
US olive oils. Hopefully, those old, heavy producing olive trees survived. Otherwise, it could be years before production comes back to normal.
Avocados. Nuts. Citrus. Berries. The melting pot in Sonoma.
Makes me nervous when Florida and California have losses in citrus. Between the hurricane and these wildfires.
Add to it all, the disruption in income when all these businesses can’t open. For them, and their workers.
It’s been a crummy year here in the US, hasn’t it?
AnnieRie Unplugged 