Diverse, delicious Sonoma beckons
Visitors are flocking to this top food and wine destination in a state famous for both
SEBASTOPOL, CALIF. — Duskie Estes is explaining Sonoma cuisine to me at her super- hot restaurant, ZAZU Kitchen and Farm (zazukitchen. com).
“I grew up in San Francisco,” she says over a tremendous lunch. “Nobody in my family was much of a cook so my dad used to take me out to these great restaurants. It was just as the farmto-table movement was starting in California.”
Estes, once featured on the Iron Chef TV show, moved to Seattle and started working for chef Tom Douglas. Now she’s back in California with her husband and daughter, keeping pigs, goats, sheep, rabbits and ducks in their yard in Forestville, a sleepy spot north of Sebastopol in Sonoma County.
Sonoma has long been in the shadow of its famous neighbouring valley to the east, Napa. But it’s arguably a more relaxed, and definitely more diverse, area that encompasses both rolling hills, rich valley lands and a special slice of the California coast.
The world has caught on, and Sonoma is now one of the top food and wine destinations in a state famous for both.
Just a few steps from ZAZU is Macphail winery (macphailwine. com), where you’ll find sensuous Pinot Noirs from a variety of nearby vineyards. Because some Sonoma vineyards are near the coast, the region offers not only the full- bodied, fruit- bomb wines California is known for, but also lighter wines kissed by ocean fog.
Further up the valley in Geyserville is the Francis Ford Coppola Winery (francisfordcoppolawinery.com). They make everything from approachable California reds to sparkling wines to earthy, spicy reserves selling for close to $100 Cdn.
Coppola’s Sonoma complex has a 279-square metre pool with a large lawn and cabanas you can rent for the day. You’ll also encounter a bocce ball court, a Native American teepee for kids’ activities and a gazebolike structure modelled after the one in The Godfather II.
Sonoma is also home to several local breweries; a nice contrast to the wine scene and one that helps illustrate the region’s relaxed atmosphere.
Stumptown Brewery (stumptown.com) in Guerneville is a roadhouse-style joint with dollar bills tacked to the ceiling and a shady patio out back with views of the slow-moving Russian River.
Cape Fear Café ( duncansmills.net/cpfpage.html) in Duncans Mills features clapboard wood- front shops and cute stores selling tea, antiques and knick-knacks. Co-owners Judy Serkissian and Kim Jackson, whose family hails from Hamilton, Ont., smoke their own locally caught salmon and cook everything from scratch in a tiny kitchen.
“Even a lot of locals don’t know about us,” says Serkissian. “But we’ve got this beautiful atmosphere and these great old buildings.
“It’s like time never got here.”