Recently in California Category

With the many so-called "destinations" in California's Wine Country, it's easy for visitors to miss the forest for the trees. Traveling from one big-name spot to another, the itinerant wine taster regularly passes blissfully by unearthed gems that could make them richer for the experience.

One such gem is Geyserville, a small, unassumingly quiet town settled on the banks of the Russian River and shoehorned between the Dry Creek and Alexander valleys. That it happens to exist in one of the great American appellations (Alexander Valley) is a bonus not just for the winemakers who populate the area, but also for the wine aficionado who prefers a more relaxed pace with his world-class tasting experience.

Geyserville is still a small town, the kind of place that would make Andy Griffith feel right at home. But it is emerging as well, and with the recent acquisition and transformation of a local winery by Francis Ford Coppola (Rosso & Bianco, and the Francis Coppola Winery, formerly Chateau Souverain), the klieg lights on the town will only brighten. Yet a homespun appeal still prevails. And the wineries that flank Hwy 128 in the heart of the appellation continue to welcome guests with a familiar embrace and a selection of wines that rivals the best from anywhere.

By Robert Farmer

In case, like my friend who for the last two decades was lost on a remote desert island somewhere in the South Pacific, you didn't already know that California is the Land of Wine and Food, our beloved governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger was recently trotted out as part of a new campaign to tell you so. In spite of my possibly undetected sarcasm here, I actually think this is a good idea on behalf of the California Travel and Tourism Commission. The Commission has brought out some - if not outright famous - at least recognizable names to promote their new portal for visitors to California in search of the wine and food experience.

Although all the information and then some can be found on the site you're currently reading, I still commend the Commission for recognizing that food and wine are perhaps the Golden State's most attractive reasons for visiting. In addition to "The Governator", the campaign features such personalities as Thomas Keller, famed chef of French Laundry, and Andrew Firestone, the fortunate son of Santa Barbara's Firestone Vineyards, who also blogs for the site. The Commission will market the site via TV spots featuring Schwarzenegger and his wife in major markets beginning this month. In the meantime it can be found here: www.landofwineandfood.com