Summer never sounded so sweet!

Wine doesn’t have to be the only game in town this summer because for us lucky suckers lurking around the Napa and Sonoma wine country, there is free music to be had. And while I know it is hard to peel your eyes off the plethora of cable TV’s finest (HBO’s Entourage, Showtime’s Weeds, the tail end of FX’s raucous Rescue Me, and the pending arrival of TNT’s hot little ditty Mad Men) there is a time in life where the outside world must prevail, because as much as I hate to admit it, the days of summer will be getting shorter soon enough. Thankfully, the technology gods invented DVRs, TIVOs and if you must, VCRs which leaves you no excuses for get your cool indoor summer habitat and out in to a free summer musice scene. I challenge you, not to have a good time, slurpin up the strumming guitars, nature’s natural acoustics, and some sultry singers with this summer's finest mix of music. So over-stuff your picnic basket (no one said you had to forgo wine with your entertainment), pack up your comfy chairs and beach blankets and slide over to the outdoor melody of choice. There is something happening on just about every night of the week, so go on, give your pie-hole a rest and let someone else do the talking, or singing so that you can get back to basics: tunes, food, friends, and friends.
Here’s some of the rundown:
Tuesday nights (weekly) Healdsburg Plaza 6-8PM (go early and hit the fab Farmer’s Market)
Thursday nights (weekly) Calistoga's Pioneer Park 6-9PM (BBQ, brews and vino available for purchase or BYO)
Thursday nights (bi-weekly) St. Helena's Lyman Park 6-8PM
Friday nights (weekly) Napa’s Veteran’s National Park 6:30-10, 3 bands
Sunday nights (weekly) Santa Rosa’s Juillard Park 5-7PM

So, open up your ears, shut your trap and close eyes and enjoy the gabobs of free strumming summer sounds while it lasts.Wacky WineSense Rating: 5 grapes!

July Jams at Chase Family Cellars

I’m not sure where you were Saturday night, but if you weren’t at the Chase Family Cellar’s July Fest extravaganza, frankly you missed the taco boat, pardner. And while white men supposedly can’t dance, and women only eat chocolate after dark, and wine can’t be slurped only savored, and 80’s music is as dead as Elvis, this summer showdown stomped out all of those crazy notions, because for the good and bad of it, white men did dance, WRISTROCKET proved that 80's rock will surge regardless of the decade, and slurpin a bounty of fine wines is A-OK in the presence of good company and a downright majestic wine farm setting. Sombreros off to Mitchell's Taco Truck (they perkily served up mind blowing tacos and burritos for a crowd of 500+) and to the grand old folks at Chase, thanks for welcoming us into your family if only for the night. If you yearn to keep the lovin feeling alive all summer long scoop up as much of their zippy Zin that your hot little hands can handle! Wacky Winesense Rating: 5 grapes!

Get in on the ACT!

Whether you’ve always wanted to get in on the act, be the insider at the hottest game in town, or perhaps you’ve just been laid off and you’re bored, now is your chance to do something about it. If you're a life long theater junkie, a newbie hoping to score a part in an off bway-by-way-of-the-wine-country production, now is your chance to ACT! And if that ain’t your game but you happen to know certain somebodies that are the life of every party, popping corks at all the best wine tastings, or entertaining small tables and large during boys and girls night out, it’s time to tell them to put on their shirts and dance (or sing, or act, or write). The Theater Arts Revival (TAR) is auditioning right in your backyard for its upcoming production of PASTICHE! an interactive musical variety show. Auditions will be held at the Tucker Farm Center (1201 Tucker Road in Calistoga): Sunday July 26th at 2PM, Wednesday July 29th 7PM or Thursday July 30th at 7PM. So grab your funniest act, stupendous dance shoes, silly song or just some plain bizarre behavior and show the good folks at TAR what you’ve got. Email Bonnie Zimmerman (707-965-2538) for more information, or make your life and theirs a lot easier by just showing up and any one of the times listed above.Learn more here.

A new wine district in Healdsburg is born

If you’re the chronic procrastinator (ok I’m projecting), or just afraid to “go there”. Get over yourself. There’s a sweet little movement that is about to bust a grape in Sonoma County. Never one to miss a wine movement, I slipped over to the "Old Roma Historic District" in Healdsburg last Tuesday. Never heard of that wine burb? You really gotta get out more. It’s a new wine district waiting to sweep you into its fruitful arms. And frankly, I’m sick of tourists and locals alike copping out with “too many grapes, not enough time” as their excuse for not exploring the fruits that Healdsburg has to offer (which are many sweet little suckers). So hold onto to your spit buckets because the folks at Hudson Street Wineries are threatening to squelch that grape myth for good. How you ask? By planting six vineyards (aka 6 tasting rooms worth of wine) under one super-hip tasting room roof. It’s called a “collective” my geographically challenged wine cohorts. It just makes sense, cause who isn’t pressed for time and gas these days? This burgeoning nook of a neighborhood boasts over 15 wineries in a one block radius, and did I fail to mention the wines are food, fruit and fiscally friendly? Teira Vineyard served up a zesty 2005 Zin and mouthwatering merlot. I also heard that Teira's grandmother was gal pals with Julia Childs back in the day so one has to believe there was some grape squishing and wine paring secrets to be shared. There’s too many vineyards and fine wines to name them all so hit their website to get the full low down. Then hop just a block down the street and you’ll run into another sweet cluster of wine haunts (Longboard Vineyards, Davis Family Winery, Holdredge Wines, Camellia Cellars, Christie Vineyards and others). So give your GPS system a break (even I didn’t get lost finding all these plucky little grapes) since there all a simple ½ mile jaunt off the main drag of Healdsburg. Wacky WineSense neighborhood rating: 4.25 grapes

Best in Show at July’s CHEERS! St. Helena

This month’s 1st Friday event in St. Helena proved to be a bigger hoot than the last, an unlikely and welcome surprise. Like good wine, it is possible for things to get better over time and to receive more of a good thing than bargained for. July brought more crowds,music, food, a closed off Main Street strip, tastings galore, and let’s not forget the frolic! Three months into a brilliant experiment the event is gaining traction and continuing to offer up a rollicking good time (all “economic strife” conversations tabled for the night thank god). The event was peppered with locals and tourists alike reminding us that cross pollination need not always to be a bad thing. Most store fronts were open, taco and food trucks roamed the sidelines as did small bites and street meat, and did we mention more wine? The diamond in a haystack this month was HayFork vineyard. Their first vintage (2008 Cab) was poured and proved to be a sip worth tasting. As a pint sized family vineyard (90 bottles) where husband Erik grows the grapes and wife Haley is the wine maker, it’s a pairing made in wine heaven offering up a smooth and succulent wine poured by a dynamic duo. Make a pit stop at their St. Helena wine pad (707-227-4438). Small families were in the house once again as Chase Family Cellars poured an assortment of wines, my favorite being their Hayne Vineyard Zinfindel. I was dangerously close to crying over its smooth sensation, but I sucked it up because the night was still young. Be sure to hit them up for their full troth of wines (not a bad one in the lot) and a jolly good time at their annual JulyFest party on the 18th of this month. I fell in love with Orin Swift cellars during my last swing around the June CHEERS! maypole, so I had to hit them up once again to see if their Prisoner Red wine was as good as I remembered (it was), but their stand out this month was the Papillon Red which blends cab, cab franc, petite verdot and malbec. As I tasted it, the best description that came to mind was a feeling of lying in bed smashed between a mixed berry pie (rhubarb, strawberry, et all!) comforter and a toasted campfire canopy, in a word: divine-wine- bliss. And last but not least of my plucky picks is the Behrens Family winery. Their 2007 Sainte Fumée was as tasty inside as the packaging on the outside, the wine was deep, fruity and fun, as was the cheeky/arty label which was what first drew me in. Next CHEERS! is August 7th, so if you know what’s good for your social calendar tack this pup to your date book. Wacky WineSense event rating: 5 grapes (again!)

Salvestrin - A sweet little grape at the tip of St. Helena’s wine superhighway

In Wine Country USA the grape vines run deep while tasting rooms can run shallow. Luckily, Salvestrin begs to be different. Stemming from a legacy of fine wine, old world roots and a dash of new school charm they’re all about voluptuous vino, serene scenery, and a memorable experience. As a new resident to the area I’ve made it my mission to crack a dent into the tasting stratosphere. Unfortunately, more times than not I’ve felt less like a wine customer and more like a rotten egg in the middle of a choppy assembly line as tasting room staff herd people through the wine swilling experience like it’s last call at a bad disco dive bar. Thankfully, Salvestrin cuts through that dank line by forking over an adventure that serves up equal parts style, substance, and dare I say service with a smile. You might miss them as you dash down the 29 so be on the look out (397 Main Street, St. Helena) for a white picket archway that promotes the property’s equally charming B&B. This plucky little grape of a property delivers royal treatment tastings that are by appointment seven days a week (707.963.5105). The friendly tasting room manager, David, welcomes you into the Salvestrin family with the ease of a long lost relative (the good kind!) and the panache of a smooth jazz singer on a hot summer’s night. He’s ever-eager to pour you some very fine wine (the Sangiovese and Retaggio were my favorites) and with each sip you’ll feel like you’ve slipped underneath the skin of a bunch of magical grapes. You’ll enjoy your wine in either the indoor or outdoor (my favorite) tasting room (quaint vibe, killer view of the mountains and vines). The vineyard acts as an oasis as it erases the faint memories of the bursting main drag of town. As far as the wine goes, I highly recommend joining their Sangovese wine club, cause that’s the only way your gonna get to sip the smooth and gentle tendencies of this highly-sought after, limited run wine. It’s down right jammy and spanks of the ripe stewed cherries of my granny's famous pie. And if you’re not quite ready to commit (it’s a wine club not a relationship, so just do it!), Retaggio is available to wine clubbers and layman alike. It tastes like a smash-up of dark fruit layered with some subtle spices. For those true wino aficionados, you will get the structured finish you desire. They have a whole entourage of other wines so hightail it over to Salvestrin to get some tastes of your own, and prepare to sit back, sip your wine, enjoy your company and theirs, and revel in a bout of deja vu from the Napa of yesteryear. Wacky WineSense Rating: Sangovese – 5 grapes, Retaggio - 4.75 grape

First Friday St. Helena - Food, wine, art, frolic, and something to CHEER! about

St. Helena is leading the socially outward bound pack by serving up a fantabulous Friday night adventure on the first Friday of each month (next event: July 3). It’s a sprightly event that gives you a reason to CHEER! , whether you’re meeting an old friend, mixing and mingling to rustle up a few more, or simply trolling the town in search of swanky art, edible delights, a perch or ten to swig fine wine, and horn in for some music (hopefully the music side of the house will grow as the events progress through the summer and fall). The event is free to the public, but if you want to sample and slurp wine tickets are available with prices ranging from $5/person for a single taste, $35/person for the night (unlimited tasting) or the season’s pass ($100/person includes all events through October) which grants you access to all future events (through Oct 2009). Once you try CHEERS! on for size, you’ll never go back to your standard fare mundane Fridays, so if you’ve got the upfront cash go for the package deal discount. Whether you’re blazing through town on your way back to the city, visiting the Valley vineyards, or a permanent townie fixture, the night won’t disappoint. In these times it’s not often that something actually over-delivers. So grab your unbreakable goblet from one of the two ticket stands on either end of town, you’re guaranteed to leave CHEERS! perma-grin pasted to your puss for the rest of the weekend and summer for that matter. What a better way to declare your independence! Wacky WineSense Rating: 5 grapes!