Sonoma County Sunday Part Deux

So... like I was saying... my daughter and I headed up through Dry Creek a couple of weeks ago in order to explore some of the Sonoma County wineries that I thought she should know about.

The favorite spot, for both of us, was the funky farm and wonderful Rhone-inspired organic offerings of Preston Vineyards.

It really is impossible for me to say enough about this winery/farm. Every time I go, I feel like I've come home. From the moment I turn off Dry Creek and onto Yoakim Bridge Road (which leads to both Preston and Bella) my mouth waters with anticipation and I feel my spirit begin to rise. As I make the turn down the driveway (which I almost always nearly miss)I feel like I am being transported into an alternative universe, and the fact of the matter is, that it is precisely what is happening.

What Lou Preston has created is a combination winery, working farm, and educational museum dedicated to the ideas and practices of sustainable farming. In addition to their wonderful wines (I AM a Rhone freak after all) - Sauvignon Blanc, Cinsault, Zinfandel, L. Preston, Syrah-Sirah, Petite Sirah, and Barbera - you will also find olives grown on the land and bread baked fresh by Lou right there at the winery. They even have a lending library of books on various aspects of sustainable farming and slow-food culture. The wine, olives, and bread serve as a doorway (or perhaps a looking glass)through which you are invited to step and begin to explore a way of being that is more than just food and wine, but is at its heart all about food and wine... and people.

One of the great wine highlights at Preston only happens on Sundays. Once a week the winery offers a sort of field blend of Zinfandel, Malvoise (Cinsault), and Carignane (which, fortunately for me, happen to me some of my very favorite varietals) in a big 3 liter jug (the equivalent of 4 bottles) for $30! Sunday is the only day you can taste it and the only day you can buy it, but this lovely wine - named for Lou's former neighbor Jim Guadagni - is one of those amazing finds that only come along once in a while. Unfortunately, due to all of the Winter Wineland festivities, Preston curtailed this extra special offering for the Sunday we were there. The following week, while I was busy tasting the lovely ZAP offerings in San Francisco, Jen piled a bunch of her friends into a van and headed out to the regions we had previously explored. their primary stop was of course Preston where they loaded up on this red gold.