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MENDOCINO COUNTY, CA -- Every January for the past thirteen years, Northern California's Mendocino County has been celebrating locally harvested Dungeness crab and award-winning wines from "America's Greenest Wine Region" with a festival that satiates the taste buds of foodies and oenophiles alike.

From gourmet, crab-themed dinners in four-star restaurants, to family-style cioppino feeds, to the ever popular Crab Cake Cook-off featuring local Mendocino chefs, this festival has something for everyone! And to wash down the abundance of crab, local winemakers will be pouring at winemaker dinners throughout the county and also at the official Wine Tasting Competition, held in conjunction with the Crab Cake Cook-off. Visitors will enjoy a multitude of dinners, tastings, demonstrations, excursions, events and lodging specials over the course of the ten days -- hosted by Visit Mendocino County, the Mendocino Coast Clinics, innkeepers, restaurants, wineries and more.

The 2012 festival takes place from Friday, January 20th - Sunday, January 29th. Some special highlights not to be missed include:

Hop on over to Mendocino for a wine tasting extravaganza at this year's Hopland Passport Weekend being held April 30 and May 1st where you will sample the area's sustainable, organic and estate-produced wines paired with local food products. Meet the winemakers and vintners and explore the history and culture of this beautiful wine destination.

Several new wineries have been added to the tasting line up for the first time. Expect to taste award-winning wines from Parducci Wine Cellars dubbed by Forbes Magazine as "America's Greenest Winery," and is the nation's first carbon-neutral winery.

Also new to Hopland Passport this year is Cesar Toxqui Cellars, who recently opened a tasting room in downtown Hopland. Cesar and his family invite participants to stop by and taste his hand-crafted, small-batch artisan Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, Zinfandel, and Heirloom wines, all of which are produced using sustainable, traditional methods.

Mendocino, CA has a flourishing arts community with several galleries and art studios showcasing beautiful work. No exception is Boletus Edulis, a special photography exhibition by Paul Kozal, featuring images of California King Boletus mushrooms. It started out as a temporary photography exhibition just for the Mendocino County Wine and Mushroom Festival held earlier this year, but will now remain on view at Studio 391 through December.

The California King Bolete (boletus edulis) is commonly known as penny bun, porcini or cep. It is highly prized as an ingredient in various recipes and is considered one of the safest wild mushrooms to pick for the table, as there are no poisonous species that closely resemble it. Images were created using a flatbed scanner as camera. and then infused onto a sheer aluminum surface allowing the image to take on an almost magical luminescence.

About the Gallery:
Studio 391 is a fine art gallery specializing in photography, paintings, sculpture, glass, ceramics and mixed media by local, regional and nationally established artists. The gallery is located on Mendocino County's South Coast in Gualala's Cypress Village Gallery District. Gallery hours are Friday through Monday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Visit Mendocino Wine Country for suggestions on where to stay, dine, and taste wine! Or be adventurous and Go Mushroom Hunting!

DECEMBER

December 9 - 12 -- Annual Mendocino Coast Candlelight Inn Tour
Holiday: You are invited to enjoy evening tours of Mendocino area bed and breakfast inns and lodges while you help benefit Mendocino Coast Children through Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Mendocino and Mendocino Unified School Enrichment (MUSE). December 9 Inns of Mendocino, December 10 Inns & Lodges of Fort Bragg, December 11 Inns of Little River and Albion, December 12, Inns of Elk.
Fee: $30 all 4 nightsTime: 4 p.m. - 7 p.m. Phone Number: (707) 964.1228

 
December 25 -- Christmas Dinner at the Mendocino Hotel
Holiday, Dining: Starter:Duck confit strudel, Roasted Pumpkin soup, OR Parsnip,apple and pear salad Entree: Herb roasted cornish hen, certified angus prime rib, OR grilled fresh sea bass Dessert: warm ginger cake, warm apple pudding cake, OR pumpkin mousse. 45080 Main St, Mendocino, CA
Fee: adults $69/child (12&under) $24.00Time: 3 p.m. - 9:30 p.m. Phone Number: (800) 548.0513

By Deirdre Bourdet

If, like me, you missed this year's Wine and Mushroom Festival in Mendocino (November 5-14th) don't delay your shroom-hunting expedition until next November.  Many other opportunities to stalk the wild mushroom await you in the coming months! 

The Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens in Fort Bragg maintain an unbelievable variety of flora on their grounds.  In addition to the meticulous formal gardens, dense pine forest, fern-covered canyons, camellias, magnolias, heathers, and flowered coastal bluffs on the Pacific Ocean, there are wild mushrooms galore.  Every wintry Monday afternoon through January 31, 2011, the Gardens' staff mycologists lead off-trail Mushroom Walks through the funghi's favorite growing areas, and instruct participants about mushroom myths, biology, and identification.  Tours run every Monday from 1:30pm to 3pm through January 31, 2011, and are free with admission to the gardens ($10 per adult, discounted rates available for seniors, Mendocino County residents, and kids). Come prepared for wet weather and messy tromping through the wilds.  18220 North Highway One, Fort Bragg, 707.964.4352x16.

By Deirdre Bourdet

I'd choose crab and wine over roses and song pretty much any day of the week.  Unfortunately, the highly acclaimed "Crab & Wine Days" festival in Mendocino County only happens once a year--at the cold, wintry peak of local Dungeness crab season.  But what better excuse do you need for a winter getaway than the promise of days and days of crustacean revelry and local wines, hosted by California's greenest wine country region?

Those heady Crab & Wine Days will take place January 21st through 30th, 2011, at a variety of locations around Mendocino County.  Events range from classic crab feed fundraisers for local community groups to crab-themed cooking demonstrations, wine dinners, and open house winery tastings celebrating wines that pair with the crabby festival hero.  And because this is Mendocino, everything comes at a very affordable price.