Tag Archives: Sonoma

Of Peanuts and Wine …

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Today we were heading North, crossing the Golden Gate Bridge into Marin County and then on to Sonoma County and Santa Rosa. First stop of the day was at the Charles M. Schulz Museum.

Charles M. Schulz was the creator of the Peanuts, introducing the world to Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Lucy, Linus and their friends. He spent the last four decades of his life in Santa Rosa, California, where he lived, worked and drew the strip until his death. Up to today Peanuts are an important part of Santa Rosa’s identity – and the legacy continues through the museum, ice-rink and and Peanuts-themed landmarks around town.

After lunch in the Warm Puppy Cafe we took the route towards Sonoma with a stop at St. Francis Winery & Vineyards for a quick wine tasting (featuring one of the best Merlots I ever had, as well as a super-smooth Zinfandel); more wine followed at Walt Wines in Sonoma proper – this one providing a great selection of close-to-perfect Pinot Noirs.

To the Ocean …

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The plan for the day was, to head up for the coast in Sonoma county, about 100km North of San Francisco.

As my hosts had to replenish their supply of sparkling wine, we had a stop at the Korbel Champagne Cellars in Guerneville on the way. This winery (as the name might suggest) is specialized in the production of sparkling wine. We had a tour of the winery, to then make it for a tasting and an order. To me the sparkling wines were mostly too sweet, the (still) base wines though were decent.

We continued along the Russian River Valley – until eventually the river made its way into the Pacific and we had arrived at Jenner. We had lunch at a restaurant overlooking the mouth of the river and beaches.

After lunch and a post-lunch port with a superb view, we continued to one of the beaches, we had seen from the restaurant – Goat Rock State Beach, a part of the Sonoma Coast State Park. Here we had a short walk along the beach, including an opportunity for a (toe) dip.

We were now already heading South on highway 1, initially along the coast (with more great views) and then into Tomales Bay with a stop at Point Reyes Station for a bit of cheese shopping (the Sonoma area is a cow paradise, so plenty of milk and cheese) – before making it inland for US highway 101 and the San Rafael / Richmond bay bridge – and finally back to Oakland.