Winter Wineland 2024

                               This year the Sonoma County Winter Wineland is finally back to normal. 

Starting at DeLoach in 2022 and 2024

 The Wineroad's event is always held on a weekend near my January 17th birthday and we've been going on Sunday for many years. But for the last 3 years because of Covid there were irregularities. In '21 it was cancelled altogether because all the wineries were closed during the lockdown. Then in '22 and '23  the wineries required reservations in hourly time slots, which was a drag. SO We didn't go at all in '23, but this year we could register for the Winter Wineland event and go to any participating Sonoma County winery whenever we wanted between 11 and 4.

All the wineries had wine tasting but only a few offered food pairings. Here at Sunce, just up the road from De Loach, they had a Mamadios food truck offering Philadelphia porchetta sliders with brocolli raab and red peppers. The chef, who proudly hailed from an Italian family in Philly was very friendly and filled us in on Philly cheesesteak sandwiches and Italian bitter greens. I went back for seconds and  planned to reproduce the delicacy at home. They were delicious!

Dean sporting his visor on this Sunny Sunday at Mazzocco

Then on to Mazzocco near Healdsburg which makes many excellent zinfandels. Lots of delicious zins but no food. The setting was so beautiful on this perfect winter Sunday we didn't mind.  

Above is a video which shows the surrounding landscape in all it's green glory, punctuated with the loud croaking of frogs, happy for all the recent rains. We were happy as well. Don't forget to turn on the sound and click far right icon for full screen.

A cold January day at Mazzocco, with my modest Zin purchase. Many left with cases of wine

Farther North, we visited the Francis Ford Coppolla winery promising pasta Bolognese and more wines.

The wines they served were very good and the small cups of pasta Bolognese prepared in their kitchen were excellent. They too were generous with seconds and thirds. This luxurious winery is one of the only venues with its own kitchen. Most others that offered food pairings had to hire caterers in food trucks.

Inspired by the Coppola Bolognese, I made Marcella's version at home

After our fourth winery, we headed back home, intoxicated by the picturesque scenery and, of course, the wines

On Jan. 17th 2021 the weather was unseasonably warm and sunny as you can tell from my outfit

Here I am at DeLoach again on my birthday in 2021. All the Sonoma County wineries were closed due to the Covid lockdown, so we created our own event. We drove around the scenic country roads looking for a place to picnic and finally decided to sneak into De Loach, which had an open gate and picnic tables. We brought cheese and fresh baguettes from the Cheese Board in Berkeley, which was open Sundays during that period. They served customers from a doorway in their store, and though the lines were long it was worth the wait.