Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
and Sonoma counties (Jack London, Sugarloaf Ridge, and Bothe-Napa Valley),
offer a more “traditional” view of the wine lands than the forests of Armstrong
Woods. If anyone in your party weighs more than 200 pounds, he may be
excluded from the ride for the health of the animal.
Cycling fans will find support from
BikeSonoma
(
%
707/545-0153; www.
bikesonoma.org),
which hooks athletes up with advice, resources, and maps.
Rincon Cyclery
(4927 Sonoma Hwy., Santa Rosa;
%
707/538-0868; www.rincon
cyclery.com)
rents mountain bikes for $7 per hour or $25 per 24 hours.
.
THE “OTHER” WINE COUNTRY
In a way, when you come to enjoy the wineries of this region, you're already learn-
ing all about Wine Country from a local's perspective. After all, what is a winery
tour but, essentially, a backstage industrial tour where you learn how the local
product is produced? And since nearly every winery puts its history and the aspi-
rations of its owners and operators front and center in any introduction to visi-
tors, you'll spend time learning about the locals and their roots. Every day here
can be an education, but there are a few other places you might want to check out
where you can get an even deeper understand of the production of food and wine.
In 2001, a group of Napa winemakers and foodies got together to open
COPIA
55
(500 1st St., Napa;
%
707/259-1600; www.copia.org; daily 10am-
6pm),
said to have cost some $70 million. Think of it as a mini-university for food
and wine, with days full of tastings and lessons in one of several seminar theaters.
If you're nervous about your lack of wine knowledge, I suggest taking its daily
“Wine Tasting 101” at 10:15am (30 min.), where your tasting skills will be sharp-
ened to the point where you won't feel like an idiot when you set out for the
wineries, but you won't be made to feel stupid if you don't get it right away. (It's
very gentle: “What are you tasting?”, you'll be asked. “What's your mouth's reac-
tion?”) You'll even learn useful information that's new to lots of people, such as
how a decanter works. Frankly, given a choice between paying $15 for yet another
winery tour and paying $15 for a class here, I'd come here, where I know I'll
get an introduction to local ingredients and come away with information that
will last.
Outside of peak season, free entry is likely most of the time, which is a terrific,
recently instated deal that has saved the enterprise from ruin after a few lean first
years. In 2008, TV chef Tyler Florence was brought in to revamp the facilities'
offerings just as an upscale Westin hotel opened nearby, but the gist and purpose
is expected to remain the same. Sometimes, such as during the spring Mustard
Festival, there's an extra entrance fee to cover all the extra events on the schedule.
All visitors pay for are the programs they want to take—most of the time, that's
about $15 for an hour's program—and the generally small class size means you'll
be meeting people from around the world and the area. Also, see what's on at the
Meyer Food Forum, a classroom set up like a Food Network kitchen, with over-
head cameras catching everything your instructor's doing. (I did a chocolate
course last time I was there; we made flavored marshmallows and learned about
cooking candy—it was like the most fun science lesson I've ever had.) Not just
food and wine is addressed; how to shop for produce, growing methods, and
other subjects are on the menu, so you could really spend a day or two here,
absorbing new information.
