Impromptu Epicurean Adventure

On Thursday night we made an impromptu decision to go away for the weekened.

Tanya had a hell of a time finding accommodation, turns out it was peak season. Even so she did manage to find a B&B off the beaten track in Guernville.

There were two restaurants in the area we wanted to go to and luckily the one closest to the B&B had availability on Friday night...but only early.

So we raced through Friday peak traffic, managed to make it to the B&B just in time to check in and run off to our dinner reservation. The food was great and we tried a local Pinot Noir, which was nice but not stellar.

On Saturday we went to Porter Creek Vineyard, which was recommended as a smaller, less touristy winery. They had an excellent 2001 Syrah, which was the first Syrah that's really stood out since we've been over here. The Syrah style seems weak and watery in comparison to the gutsy pepper of an Australian Shiraz.

Next we went to Garry Farrell Winery, very upmarket with beautiful grounds. We're not huge fans of white wine but are making the effort to explore them. The chardonay was delicious, with a subtle, almost nutty aftertaste.

We figured two wineries was enough and headed off to Healdsburg, with the plan of going to the Costeaux bakery for lunch and scope out where Bistro Ralph was (our dinner reservation). The town was packed for the 150th anniversary celebration and Costeaux was closed, they were presenting a ginormous 6 tier cake for the town to devour. So we located Bistro Ralph and retreated to a cafe for a light lunch.

When they put 'Not to scale' on a tourist map you should translate that to 'Only vaguely accurate'. Tanya saw a town named Asti on the map and we thought it'd be fun to go take some photos as Tanya's childhood pet dog was named Asti.

After a few wrong turns, a dead end and lots of cursing of tourist maps we found 'Asti'. The entrance was marked by a large wooden sign proclaiming 'Asti, since 1881'. The place was pretty much deserted except for two security guards, standing next to their patrol car and chatting. We pulled up and they were kind enough to give us a quick 1 minute summary. Turns out it's an old Italian/Swiss colony that grows grapes and makes Italian style wines. We took a few photos and headed off to Windsor, which apparently had a charming, recently renovated old town.

Windsor sucked, the old town looked like a movie set with hardly a soul around. The whole thing was surreal, all the buildings looked brand new but they'd tried to make them look old and renovated. The candy shop was the only thing that was worth looking at and we later discoverd it was a franchise with another outlet in Healdsburg.

Dinner at Bistro Ralph was excellent. We shared a half bottle of 2005 La Crema Pinot Noir along with

DQ

• sauteed chicken's liver with pancetta lardons, caramelised onions and a balsamic reduction. Easily the best chicken liver I've ever had.
• roast duck breast with blackberries in a balsamic reduction, served on a bed of creamy polenta

TQ

• soup du jour - cauliflower
• grilled swordfish served with succotash (turns out it isn't just a cartoon curse word)

The guy at the table to our right struck up a conversation, seeing that we both had the same appetizers. We ended up talking with him and his friend for ages, another chance meeting with interesting people.

Then the couple to our left struck up a conversation as well. They were Dutch but now lived locally and knew the winemaker at Geyser Peak winery, who's apparently a well know Australian winemaker.

Sunday

Following directions from the host at the B&B we went to a tiny, family run Portguese cheese factory. It's literally run out of their back room. I bought a 10 pound wheel of cheese, a Sao Jorge (or St George), a mild, creamy cheddar. Tanya's only requirement being I didn't eat it all myself =)

Next we went to Wild Flour Bakery, a co-op bakery a short drive away. The place smells fantastic and they have some truly sumptiuous breads and baked goods. We bought a Nigella Flat, a flatbread with nigella seeds throughout and topped with Za'tar and a fougasse, filled with 3 cheeses, onion and capsicum.

It was time to start for home so we headed off to Bodega Bay via Joy Rd, a narrow winding road with wonderful scenery.

We had fish and chips for lunch at Lucas Wharf then stumbled on Hog Island Oyster Co. The guy that was serving gave us a brief 'intro to oysters', including how to shuck them. He was also fine with us buying a mixed dozen to try out the different types they had. He even gave us free ice.

After that it was just the long drive home along the windy bends of Highway 1. We had some spectacular views along the cliffs. The fog obscured the horizon making part of the drive a quite surreal experience.

We had a Rochioli Pinot Noir and fresh oysters for dinner, an excellent end to a terrific weekend.