The Wine Country Online
sonomapicnic.com, The Wine Country Online is an outgrowth of and continuing update to the recently published Sonoma Picnic, a California Wine Country Travel Companion. Scroll on for highlights excerpted and updated from this handy little book!
By the end of June, the coast of Northern California is regularly enveloped in a thick, cool fog that may or may not persist into the afternoon. It is not uncommon to find oneself driving from a fiercely hot inland valley into a dense afternoon fog that hangs like a damp sponge over the beach. This is great if you are seeking relief from the heat. But if it's the sun and sand you're after, we recommend you call our friends listed below for a weather report before you go. Check out our friends at the Tides Wharf Fish Shop or call them for current information on locally landed fish.
835 Hwy 1 Bodega Bay 707-875-3554
Fresh halibut openings will be from mid-May through June. The end of August through September is the time to come to the docks for fresh albacore tuna. Surf fish should be in through the end of June; then start looking for smelt. Rock fish should be in all summer, weather permitting. Local clams can be taken if you have your fishing license. Abalone season runs April through June and August through November. You are required to have a fishing license and abalone endorsement sticker. For up-to-date information on summer ocean fishing or bird- and whale-watching trips, you might give our friends at Bodega Bay Sport Fishing Center a call at 707-875-3344. Call the good folks at our local surf shack for up-to-date shore conditions.
707-875-3944 www.bodegabaysurf.com
Summer Events by Month: Art Events are listed on our Sonoma County Arts Update
For late (between-issue) inclusions see our June A month of color and long, warm days.
Mendocino County, 800-760-3739 www.atasteofredwoodvalley.com
Festival of Art and Wine in Duncans Mills
Russian River Blues Festival
Russian River Rodeo
Art and Artisan Show
Ox Roast
July You might see the vineyard crews cutting fruit from the vines and tossing it onto the ground. This baffled us our first season in wine country. It's called thinning, and although seemingly wasteful, it's an essential movement to the farmer's dance, for it isn't the amount of fruit on the vine, but the quality of the remaining fruit that counts. Thinning helps concentrate flavors in the remaining grapes. The Sonoma Land Trust invites members and friends to Time on our Lands 2002 on Saturday, July 27, from 4:30-8:30 p.m. at Griffin Villa at Healdsburg's Hop Kiln Winery. The Trust provides beverages, dessert, music and river-related fun for guests, who bring their own picnic.
World Pillow Fighting Championships
Healdsburg Harvest Century Bike Tour
Sonoma County Fair
Living History Day
Saturday Concerts in the Plaza
Sonoma County Showcase and Wine Auction
August The month of wait-and-see: Cellar crews are busy preparing tanks and barrels for the coming crush.
707-546-3276
Gravenstein Apple Fair
Healdsburg Guitar Festival
Street Dance on Healdsburg Avenue
Healdsburg Farmers Market Zucchini Festival
Accordion Festival
Sunday Concerts in the Plaza
Bodega Bay Seafood, Art and Wine Festival
Old Adobe Festival
Wine Country Film Festival
September From late August to early October, experience the full-tilt excitement of the harvest. Norteño, Mariachi or Tejano music blasts from the boom boxes, according to each crew's tastes. The pickers race with lugs of fruit held overhead to the bins where the foreman records the tally. Everyone's on the run. It's the focal point of our year.
Harbor Seal Watch
Russian River Jazz Festival
Valley of the Moon Vintage Festival
Women's Weekend #2
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