California's Wine Country - A Romantic Guide to the Napa & Sonoma Valleys
By Robert White
5/5
()
About this ebook
Read more from Robert White
Chasing the Wind Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRobin Hood: The Legacy of a Folk Hero Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBonded with Jesus: The Relationship That Matters Most of All Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWhite Jungle Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to California's Wine Country - A Romantic Guide to the Napa & Sonoma Valleys
Related ebooks
Willamette Valley Wineries Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFour Seasons with a Grumpy Goat: How I Learnt to Stop Worrying and Love Life on the Farm Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Meanings of Maple: An Ethnography of Sugaring Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBees and Maple Syrup: Early Voices — Portraits of Canada by Women Writers, 1639–1914 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFood Artisans of the Okanagan: Your Guide to the Best Locally Crafted Fare Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe New Connoisseurs' Guidebook to California Wine and Wineries Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5De Witt's Connecticut Cook Book, and Housekeeper's Assistant Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBluegrass Bourbon Barons Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMaple Sugaring Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOutlandish: Fuel Your Epic Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMoving to Orkney: Life on a Scottish Island Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFrommer's Arizona and the Grand Canyon Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Van of One's Own: A Winter Sojourn Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSeptember to Remember: Savoring the Olde Ways Series: Book Three Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPocket Rough Guide British Breaks Isle of Skye & the Western Isles (Travel Guide with Free eBook) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFine Cider: Understanding the world of fine, natural cider Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWomen of the Vine: Inside the World of Women Who Make, Taste, and Enjoy Wine Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Storage Unit Auctions: A Practical Guide To Profiting With Storage Unit Auctions Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMontana Americana Music: Boot Stomping in Big Sky Country Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGreat Rides of Today's Wild West: A Horseman's Photographic Journey Across the American West Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Outer Banks of North Carolina, 1584-1958 Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Hash Knife Around Holbrook Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMiss Parloa's New Cook Book Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSheep: Small-Scale Sheep Keeping For Pleasure And Profit Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAdopting an Abandoned Farm Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMontana Beer: A Guide to Breweries in Big Sky Country Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsVintage Outer Banks: Shifting Sands & Bygone Beaches Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Stories from Montana's Enduring Frontier: Exploring an Untamed Legacy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Swedish-American Cookbook: A Charming Collection of Traditional Recipes Presented in Both Swedish and English Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
United States Travel For You
A Haunted Road Atlas: Sinister Stops, Dangerous Destinations, and True Crime Tales Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Solace of Open Spaces: Essays Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Lost Continent: Travels in Small Town America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Indifferent Stars Above: The Harrowing Saga of the Donner Party Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer: An Edgar Award Winner Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fodor's Bucket List USA: From the Epic to the Eccentric, 500+ Ultimate Experiences Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDispatches from Pluto: Lost and Found in the Mississippi Delta Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Forest Walking: Discovering the Trees and Woodlands of North America Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/550 Great American Places: Essential Historic Sites Across the U.S. Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dakota: A Spiritual Geography Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5One Man's Wilderness, 50th Anniversary Edition: An Alaskan Odyssey Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Huckleberry Finn Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Fodor's New Orleans Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5How To Be Alone: an 800-mile hike on the Arizona Trail Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Fodor's Best Road Trips in the USA: 50 Epic Trips Across All 50 States Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Lake Superior Rocks & Minerals Field Guide Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAnne Rice's Unauthorized French Quarter Tour: Anne Rice Unauthorized Tours Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Deepest South of All: True Stories from Natchez, Mississippi Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Rockhounding & Prospecting: Upper Midwest: How to Find Gold, Copper, Agates, Thomsonite, and Other Favorites Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Fodor’s Alaska Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Assassination Vacation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Unofficial Guide to Las Vegas Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsConnecticut Witch Trials: The First Panic in the New World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Witch Queens, Voodoo Spirits, and Hoodoo Saints: A Guide to Magical New Orleans Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Ultimate Guide to Free Things To Do in Las Vegas Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Dark Side of Disney Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Magical Power of the Saints: Evocation and Candle Rituals Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for California's Wine Country - A Romantic Guide to the Napa & Sonoma Valleys
1 rating0 reviews
Book preview
California's Wine Country - A Romantic Guide to the Napa & Sonoma Valleys - Robert White
California's Wine Country: A Romantic Guide to the Napa & Sonoma Valleys
Robert & Phyllis White
HUNTER PUBLISHING, INC.
Web site: www.hunterpublishing.com
E-mail: michael@hunterpublishing.com
IN CANADA:
Ulysses Travel Publications
4176 Saint-Denis, Montréal, Québec
Canada H2W 2M5
514-843-9882 ext. 2232 / fax 514-843-9448
IN THE UNITED KINGDOM:
Windsor Books International
The Boundary, Wheatley Road, Garsington
Oxford, OX44 9EJ England
01865-361122 / fax 01865-361133
©2010 Hunter Publishing, Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, transmitted or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Brief extracts to be included in reviews or articles are permitted.
Every effort has been made to ensure that the information in this book is correct, but the publisher and authors do not assume, and hereby disclaim, liability to any party for any loss or damage caused by errors, omissions, misleading information or potential problems caused by information in this guide, even if such errors or omissions are a result of negligence, accident or any other cause.
Grateful acknowledgment is made to the Regents of the University of California for permission to reprint poems 123 and 152 from Songs of Gold Mountain: Cantonese Rhymes From San Francisco Chinatown , translated by Marlon K. Hom. © 1987 by regents of the University of California.
The Bay Area
B & Bs, Inns, Hotels
Restaurants
Best Time to Come
What to Pack
Other Useful Information
Wine Country: Napa & Sonoma
The Paris Tasting
In the Vineyards
In The Wineries
Buying Wine
Weather
When to Come
Napa Valley
Wine Tasting & Wine Jargon
Napa Valley Towns
Sonoma Valley
Wine Country
Sonoma
Glen Ellen
Kenwood
Half Moon Bay
The Bay Area
California's first love story, one that's been sighed over for almost two hundred years, can still evoke a tear. It's actually a true story.
In 1806, Count Nikolai Petrovich Rezanov, an emissary of the Czar in charge of the Russian fur trading post in Sitka, sailed down the coast to try to negotiate trade with the Spanish. The King of Spain had a long-standing law that these far-flung, remote colonies were forbidden to deal with foreigners.
The Commandant of the Presidio was away when Rezanov sailed through the Golden Gate, but the Russian was welcomed by the Commandant's family and the officers of the garrison. The middle-aged Count attended a welcoming reception at the Presidio that first night and danced with Concepcion Arguello. Concepcion was the Commandant's dark-eyed daughter, only 15 years old, but already reputed to be the most beautiful girl in the province.
Rezanov was overwhelmed! During his stay, he wooed and won her. Despite the difference in ages and religions, he gained the consent of her father. The Count sailed away, after promising Concepcion that he would return for her as soon as he received the permission of the Russian Orthodox and Catholic churches for their mixed-faith marriage. Concepcion swore she would wait for him.
Due to the long and tedious nature of travel at that time, Concepcion knew that her wait would be at least several years. But a decade passed, and more, and still she waited. It was 1842 when Sir George Simpson of the Hudson's Bay Company arrived in San Francisco with the news that Rezanov had fallen ill and died. The tragedy had occured at the border of Siberia on his return trip home, 36 years before.
As one writer told the story, a shocked listener said, "But, his enamorada is here... in this room."
After a deathly silence, the faded Concepcion spoke. No, she died, too.
San Francisco Bay was discovered late in history, considering how long explorers sailed up and down this coast, and how often they missed finding it. Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo was the first, in 1542. He almost reached the great bay when severe storms drove him south. A half-dozen others, including Sir Francis Drake, who actually went ashore just a few dozen miles north in Marin in 1579, had no idea they had sailed past the greatest protected anchorage on the Pacific Coast. Not until 1769 was its existence known. During Gaspar de Portola's overland expedition a scout saw the big bay from a hill down the peninsula.
A Presidio and the Mission Dolores were established in what was called Yerba Buena, later renamed San Francisco. The peninsula was mostly sandy so the Mission Fathers pastured cattle on the rolling hills across the bay in what is now called Oakland. When wood was needed for building, or new spars and water for visiting ships, they sailed up the bay to Marin, or Napa Valley.
After Spanish rule ended in 1820 and independent Mexico relaxed trading restrictions, more American ships from New England arrived to trade hides and tallow. The Spanish and Mexicans did little farming and mostly ran cattle, which is about all they had to trade for manufactured goods. This was the time of Dana's Two Years Before the Mast, a good look at the life of the earlyCalifornianos.
Another romance we know of had a much happier ending. It took place in the 1820s when Maria Antonia Martinez, whose father was the new Commandante, met William Richardson, the first foreigner to settle here. (Apparently, all commandantes had beautiful, nubile daughters.) Richardson deserted from the whaler Orion. Within a year he was acting as Captain of the Bay,
teaching the populace carpentry, caulking, navigation and making time with Maria.
Two years later, William and Maria were married. William, now baptized Antonio,
became a naturalized citizen, which put him in line to receive a big land grant. Don Antonio was a busy lad indeed. If you take the Marin ferry, look around before you arrive in Sausalito; you are in Richardson Bay.
Gold was discovered in 1848, about a hundred miles east of Sacramento. Tens of thousands of men flocked here from all over the world, each determined to dig the yellow metal from the earth. For some, there was another reason for taking off for the distant Cal-if-or-ny-ay
: it seemed to be a good chance to start over after a few mistakes had been made. A popular gold rush ballad went:
Oh, what was your name in the States?
Was it Thompson or Johnson or Bates?
Did you murder your wife and flee for your life?
Oh, what was your name in the States?
The few women who came also planned to find gold, although they had no intention of digging in the dirt for it. Instead, most made their fortunes by establishing Houses of Horizontal Pleasure.
In the century and a half that followed, San Francisco became a big city. The other areas around the bay, like Marin, Sonoma Valley, Napa Valley, Berkeley, Oakland and Half Moon Bay down the peninsula, developed into unique places, each with its own charm.
This book offers a number of different ways to achieve a romantic weekend in any one of these locales. The choice is yours.
B & Bs, Inns, Hotels
I have seen purer liquors, better segars, finer tobacco, truer guns and pistols, larger Dirk and Bowie knives, and prettier courtesans here in San Francisco than in any other place I have ever visited, and it is my unbiased opinion that California can and does furnish the best bad things that are obtainable in America.
Hinton R. Helper, 1855, Land of Gold: Reality vs. Fiction
Some places call themselves bed and breakfasts, some inns, and others hotels. Inn
seems to be the preferred title, since both hotels and B&Bs sometimes call themselves that. What's the difference anyway?,
you may ask. Strictly speaking, a bed and breakfast is someone's home; a place where the owner actually lives and rents out a