I was recently in my hometown of Santa Rosa (Sonoma County, CA) and a bit of a buzz has started about a gathering of food trucks on Monday afternoons in one parking lot in town. Serving fare from their adorable airstream trailer, Dim Sum Charlie’s had the longest line by far- which of course we waited in. Definitely worth it!

Photo by Erin Gleeson.

Sipping and sharing wine plays a big part in many religions. So to go wine tasting near Jerusalem, perhaps drinking from the same vines that produced wine in biblical times, had more historical significance than your average day at the vineyard. Three friends and I went to a few vineyards in the Ella Valley and the Judean Hills, about a half hour drive from the old city of Jerusalem and less than an hour from Tel Aviv. One we visited, Tzora Vineyards, was larger and more commercial. Another was on a kibbutz.

My favorite, Zafririm Winery, one was on a Moshav– which is a sort of commune in which families do their own thing. After following a few handmade signs in Hebrew directing us down a dirt road toward a mini winery, we found a family of four working away in a wine cellar– I think they said they only produced six barrels. They invited us in for some of the best wine we tasted that day– blends of different grapes creating something like a Bordeuax. We bought a few cherished bottles and spoke with the mother while her husband and sons made wine behind us.

Our last stop, Hans Sternbach Vineyard ,was at  a little winery where a man offered us a (way too long) tour with tasting for $10. Despite the length, it was one of the prettiest places to sit- under a canopy of vines, looking out onto the hills of Judea.. a perfect place to end the afternoon.

The Judean Hills:

Behind the Zafririm Winery is an olive grove and a vineyard:

Making Wine at Zafririm:

Hans Sternbach’s stunning view:

A few weeks back, my bff Kristi, Nate and I stopped by Preston Creek Winery on our way back from the Ladhabhoy nuptials in Healdsburg, Sonoma County (I went to a total of seven weddings this year- that’s IT! NO MORE PLEASE!). Nate had heard about Preston and their organically grown wines from his vino connoisseur pops, so we decided to take a drive out to Dry Creek Valley and check it out.

I’m not gonna spend too much time talking about the winery cause I want to focus on this awesome jug of wine, the “Guadagni” that they have available on SUNDAYS ONLY.

So on Sundays, you get to go down into the barrel room in the back, where oak barrel after barrels are stacked on top of each other. Here is where you can get your special Sunday Guadagni jug of wine.

This is how it goes: someone from the winery will grab an empty 3 liter jug and literally fill up this special Guadagni wine right there in front of you.

Then, she takes a new label and stamps this cute Italo-clown design right onto the label– only then, does she stick the label onto the jug.

What’s so special about the packaging here is not only the outcome of the final product, but the process in which it was put together– it makes the packaging that much more memorable. The jug! Filling it up right in front of you! The label! The stamp! All genius.

God I am such a PACKAGING WHORE.

This has become quite the Sunday tradition for the neighborhood folks, as I saw a bunch of people walk in with their own jugs to get refilled. You get a few bucks off for doing this, plus a new label each time, right over the previous one- there were some jugs that were nearly 20 labels deep! Love it!

The wine itself is an homage to Jim Guadagni, who was the unofficial Dry Creek mayor of sorts. His instincts and knowledge about soil and wine-making ran super deep, and he was much loved by the community. The stamp drawing was designed by Susan Preston, the resident artist/ head mistress of the winery– it reminds me adorable Gelsomina from La Strada.

Guadagni is mostly a Zinfandel blend, with Cinsault, Carignane and Mataro. It’s a jammy, purple wine, which totally reminds me of the cheaper-than-water table stuff we drank every day in Italy.

The jug cost $32, and is the equivalent of four bottles of wine (if I did my math right). I read this money book a few months ago that told me to start buying in bulk, so I’m just following orders here. It lasts for up to six months so I figure I’ll crack it open on Tday or take it to a dinner party. Can’t wait!

PRESTON OF DRY CREEK WINERY & VINEYARDS
9282 West Dry Creek Road
Healdsburg, CA
707.433.3372

*Kayoko currently lives in Cupertino, CA. She had Korean BBQ last night and despite several showers, still smells like a Garlic/Smoke/Beef Factory.

Erin needed to get online for work, and we sauntered around town looking for wifi. We saw a little cafe, Yo el Rey (YeR), off the main road and what a lovely surprise- not only did they have free internet, but it turned out to be such a peaceful coffee-lover’s haven.

Owner and founder J. Kirk Feiereisen opened YeR in Fall 2008. A pristine jewel-box of a cafe, YeR gets a ton of light and paintings line the walls indispersed with whimiscal lines of poetry and quotes written by J. Kirk himself. The space is so funky and artful, I was immediately enamored.

J. Kirk roasts his own organic, fair-trade coffee in-house in this gorgeous Diedrich 15lb. roaster. Swoon.

Proudly made right here in the US of A, in Sandpoint, ID.

Coffee beans go here for roasting. He roasts all his beans to a medium profile.

The large exhaust pipe goes up through the skylight.

YeR’s manual espresso machine, made by Astoria. See that lever on top? Pull that down to make espresso!

Here’s J. Kirk making my double. All the ceramic cups he uses are made by local artists!

J. Kirk is a roaster, artist and poet, committed to serving Calistoga with socially-minded, delicious coffee. He ships his beans anywhere in the US, order here.

Until next time, Calistoga!

YO EL REY ROASTING
1217 Washington St
Calistoga, CA
T: 707.942.1180

Erin was in town for a few weeks and I went up to see her in her hometown near Santa Rosa. What a trip! We killed some roosters together, ate her first meat meal together, and enjoyed the gorgeous Sonoma County sun.

One day we decided to go “into town” to Calistoga- which is a quaint boulevard brimming with restaurants, a few bars, cafes, and hotels boasting hot springs mud baths. Oohh la la. We stopped into one of Erin’s fave joints, Cafe Sarafornia.

According to local lore, Calistoga was nicknamed “Sarafornia” by the city’s founder Sam Brennan back in the day, in a drunken slur of words between “California” and “Saratoga”.

There is nothing fancy about Cafe Sarafornia, which calls itself the “Last old-fashioned diner in Napa Valley.” It makes an effort to use local, organic ingredients (without marking up all the prices) and they have many great local beers on the menu. Here’s one of my recent favorites, Lagunitas IPA, from Petaluma, CA (right down the road).

The other notably important trait here is that they serve breakfast ALL DAY!!!!!!!! Here’s Erin with her spinach and feta omelette.

My cobb salad was no-frills, but I ordered a side of the special bananas foster pancake which was incredible.

How cute is this place?

CAFE SARAFORNIA
1413 Lincoln Ave
Calistoga, CA
707.942.0555

Click here to watch a 10-minute movie about our adventure!

Happy sipping!
-erin