PS: The Vineyard 29 Cabernet Sauvignon was so good, that even my rich Italian friend here in town, said it was the best wine he ever had. The wine had an affect on body and mind like no other wine.
My Dad knew the owner who was a venture capitalist. The owner of Vineyard29 was also into Nepal. He had prayer flags at his house on the patio and went to Nepal often to build schools and such.
My Dad would buy my wife and I Vineyard29 wine and we'd drive to the winery to pick it up. BTW, Vineyard29 is very expensive and IMO, the best wine in Napa or Sonoma Counties.
One time during the rainy winter, my wife and I drove to the winery, but was told to pick up our wine at the home of the owner. So we went there.
It was cold and rainy. The prayer flags on the patio were flapping in the wind.
I knocked on the door of the house. The owner's wife, an attractive woman in her forties, opened the door. I told her why we were there.
She knew nothing about it, but hurriedly gave us a case of Vineyard29 Cabernet laying around the hallway. It was the expensive stuff.
The wife told us that her piano teacher would be here soon. I took the hint and we said our thanks and good-byes.
As we were leaving, we saw the piano teacher arrive. He was a handsome fit young man with blonde hair and blue eyes. He drove a Porsche.
> New York and Hollywood producers made millions ridiculing Southerners and everything about the South in general.
To be fair, so do some Southerners. Jeff Foxworthy made a very lucrative career out of it. Everybody figured out there's money to be earned in playing into the trope.
I barely remember the controversy of "Try That in a Small Town." I only watched the video of the song once back then. I've lived in a few small towns. They are all different.
When I was 16-18 my two friends and I would drive to the small town summer festivals in the countryside around Lincoln, Nebraska. We were always happily amazed at the variety of people and architecture in the towns. Some were German. Some Swedish. Some Czech.
Some towns had booze. Some didn't. They all had at least one church. The people were all friendly.
Here in Healdsburg, pop. 12,000, in the past 25 years our town has gone from a quiet farming community with a sawmill to a major world famous tourist destination. Home prices have quintupled. The town 25 years ago, was run by locals who cared about the community. Now Healdsburg is run by the hotel owners and the tourist businesses on the Town Plaza.
The wealth from San Francisco keeps spreading north up Highway 101 as people with money flee the city with its crime and homelessness problems.
Visited a lot during my KSFO years. Some of our favorite grape juice is from there. Better than Napa, imo. Good friends/great wine Richard and Alis Arrowwood from Arrowood and Amipola Creek wineries in Glen Ellen snf Moon Mountain; Ferrari-Carono, Dry Creek, Jordon...should have moved there.
Brian, If you bought a house before Hotel Healdsburg was built in 2000-01, houses were reasonably priced. Jordan Winery is a big Democratic Party supporter. Bill Clinton visited Jordan for a fund raiser decades ago. My wife and I did a catering job at Arrowwood. Nice winery. Ferrari-Carano had a tasting room on the town plaza for a long time. The winery was built with money from a big casino in Tahoe.
The grape harvest is going on right now. We've had a very hot summer so harvest time is early this year.
If memory serves - always a challenge - the Sattui fest was done "in house". They have (had?) a well-stocked deli w/baked bread, cheeses and other goodies one could buy - along with some juice maybe - and haul it out to the lawn picnic style. Nice when the weather was nice, which was damn near always!
PS: The Vineyard 29 Cabernet Sauvignon was so good, that even my rich Italian friend here in town, said it was the best wine he ever had. The wine had an affect on body and mind like no other wine.
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g33000-d116687-Reviews-V_Sattui_Winery-St_Helena_Napa_Valley_California.html
Ahh, I've never been to the Sattui Winery. Those Napa Wineries are very fancy. They have the Big Money.
Years ago, my wife and I would visit the Vineyard29 Winery;
https://vineyard29.com/
My Dad knew the owner who was a venture capitalist. The owner of Vineyard29 was also into Nepal. He had prayer flags at his house on the patio and went to Nepal often to build schools and such.
My Dad would buy my wife and I Vineyard29 wine and we'd drive to the winery to pick it up. BTW, Vineyard29 is very expensive and IMO, the best wine in Napa or Sonoma Counties.
One time during the rainy winter, my wife and I drove to the winery, but was told to pick up our wine at the home of the owner. So we went there.
It was cold and rainy. The prayer flags on the patio were flapping in the wind.
I knocked on the door of the house. The owner's wife, an attractive woman in her forties, opened the door. I told her why we were there.
She knew nothing about it, but hurriedly gave us a case of Vineyard29 Cabernet laying around the hallway. It was the expensive stuff.
The wife told us that her piano teacher would be here soon. I took the hint and we said our thanks and good-byes.
As we were leaving, we saw the piano teacher arrive. He was a handsome fit young man with blonde hair and blue eyes. He drove a Porsche.
> New York and Hollywood producers made millions ridiculing Southerners and everything about the South in general.
To be fair, so do some Southerners. Jeff Foxworthy made a very lucrative career out of it. Everybody figured out there's money to be earned in playing into the trope.
I barely remember the controversy of "Try That in a Small Town." I only watched the video of the song once back then. I've lived in a few small towns. They are all different.
When I was 16-18 my two friends and I would drive to the small town summer festivals in the countryside around Lincoln, Nebraska. We were always happily amazed at the variety of people and architecture in the towns. Some were German. Some Swedish. Some Czech.
Some towns had booze. Some didn't. They all had at least one church. The people were all friendly.
Here in Healdsburg, pop. 12,000, in the past 25 years our town has gone from a quiet farming community with a sawmill to a major world famous tourist destination. Home prices have quintupled. The town 25 years ago, was run by locals who cared about the community. Now Healdsburg is run by the hotel owners and the tourist businesses on the Town Plaza.
The wealth from San Francisco keeps spreading north up Highway 101 as people with money flee the city with its crime and homelessness problems.
So, there's all kinds of small towns.
PS: The War of Secession never really ended.
Visited a lot during my KSFO years. Some of our favorite grape juice is from there. Better than Napa, imo. Good friends/great wine Richard and Alis Arrowwood from Arrowood and Amipola Creek wineries in Glen Ellen snf Moon Mountain; Ferrari-Carono, Dry Creek, Jordon...should have moved there.
Brian, If you bought a house before Hotel Healdsburg was built in 2000-01, houses were reasonably priced. Jordan Winery is a big Democratic Party supporter. Bill Clinton visited Jordan for a fund raiser decades ago. My wife and I did a catering job at Arrowwood. Nice winery. Ferrari-Carano had a tasting room on the town plaza for a long time. The winery was built with money from a big casino in Tahoe.
The grape harvest is going on right now. We've had a very hot summer so harvest time is early this year.
Last time thru was to attend the Sattui Harvest Ball. Black tie. Great times. Decent juice.
Brian, I think us caterers called it the the "Spittooi Harvest Ball." But these girls got it right:
https://youtube.com/shorts/wMgNz9ZeY_Y?si=dE9A41rlNgF5ICxo
If memory serves - always a challenge - the Sattui fest was done "in house". They have (had?) a well-stocked deli w/baked bread, cheeses and other goodies one could buy - along with some juice maybe - and haul it out to the lawn picnic style. Nice when the weather was nice, which was damn near always!
That girl is a future labor negotiator!