Southern Sonoma Country Life

The Petaluma Gap Winegrowers Second Anniversary AVA Celebration at Hotel Petaluma A Big Hit with Winemakers & Wine Lovers Alike.

It was fun to attend celebrations with winemakers and friends of the Petaluma Gap Winegrowers Alliance in the ballroom at the Petaluma Hotel this week. There are so many terrific Pinot Noir wines and Chardonnays especially coming out of our region.  Two years ago in January and following the approval of the Petaluma Gap American Viticultural Area (AVA), Petaluma Gap winegrowers were finally able to submit wine labels for approval by the Alcohol, Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB), with the AVA as the source of the grapes for the wine inside the bottle. Today many more wines are bearing “Petaluma Gap” on the label, and many of these are achieving high ratings from notable wine reviewers. Anyone can join the alliance, members include lots of wine loving locals. Click here to check out the website for more info on some of the fun events planned for this year. Each month the Petaluma Gap Winegrowers Alliance (PGWA) publishes a newsletter which includes the most recent 90+ Point reviews of wines crafted from grapes grown in the AVA in a special section called “90+ PT Club.” More than 70 wines were included in 2019 . Coverage of the AVA is also appearing in major publications, such as the newly published 8th Edition of the World Atlas of Wine, by Hugh Johnson & Jancis Robinson, with recognition of the appellation as being “defined by the wind.”    “More winemakers are now choosing to designate their wines as ‘Petaluma Gap’ rather than ‘Sonoma Coast,’ because that previous designation is now considered by many to be too big to be meaningful,” said Mark Theis, Winemaker at Kendall-Jackson. "Putting the more specific ‘Petaluma Gap’ as the AVA on the label validates Kendall-Jackson’s long history of making wines that are focused and exhibit true terroir; it also helps consumers to connect with the unique flavor profile from the region. Petaluma Gap wines demonstrate vivid acidity, structural delineation, and aging potential; they are truly tangible expressions of wind and fog."   In addition to the celebration of two years as an AVA, the Petaluma Gap Winegrowers also announced their 2020 Board of Directors and Officers, with Erica Stancliff (Trombetta Family Wines and Pfendler Vineyards) continuing as President, Tom Gendall (Cline Cellars) as Vice President and Dan Aguilar (Mechanics Bank) continuing as Treasurer. The board is comprised of 12 members including winemakers, growers, and industry leaders from the Petaluma Gap. More information.

About the Petaluma Gap Winegrowers Alliance

Founded in 2005, the Petaluma Gap Winegrowers Alliance (PGWA) exists to educate members of the wine trade and consumers about the Petaluma Gap and to increase awareness of the region’s unique growing conditions and resulting wine quality. PGWA additionally supports member winegrowers and vintners within the region through ongoing programs and communications designed to help them maximize their success within the industry. The group’s membership is made up of grape growers, wineries, associate business members, sponsors and local community members with a passion for the region and its wine. Throughout the year, the group conducts educational events and tastings independently and through the Sonoma County Vintners.

Tickets Now on Sale for the California Artisan Cheese Festival, March 27th to 29th, 2020

Tickets are now on sale for the country's premier cheese festival, the California Artisan Cheese Festival, March 27-29, 2020.  This year’s weekend-long Festival  takes place in and around the Sonoma County Fairgrounds, Santa Rosa’s historic Flamingo Hotel, and at various local farms, restaurants, creameries and tasting rooms of artisan producers. The Festival brings together cheesemakers, farmers, educators, authors, chefs, cheese mongers, brewers, distillers, and winemakers from all over California for three days of cheese tasting, education and celebration.     Tickets are also on sale for  the ever-popular Farm and Producer Tours; Saturday night’s Cheese, Bites and Booze! celebration; an exciting new crop of educational hands-on Seminars and Pairing Demos; Sunday’s delectable Bubbles & Brunch; and the weekend’s grand finale Artisan Cheese Tasting & Marketplace.  Some of the noteworthy Seminar topics being offered this year include a Hands-On Cheesemaking seminar where attendees will learn to make mozzarella, chèvre (fresh goat cheese) and burrata; and a Build Your Own Cheese Board seminar where guests will learn tricks for creating their very own visually stunning, Instagram-worthy cheese board. Details about more of Friday and Saturday’s exciting tours and seminars are as follows:   Farm and Producer Tours & Lunch      Back by popular demand are two days of intimate producer tours taking place on Friday and Saturday around Northern California, where guests will explore various local farms, creameries and artisan purveyors. During the guided walking tours, guests learn how cheese, ciders and other products are made, meet the producers, farmers and cheesemakers behind our favorite local products and, of course, taste the fruits of their labor. This year’s Festival is offering six tours on Friday, and two on Saturday, and every tour includes round-trip transportation and lunch.   Many of the tours grant behind-the scenes access to new producers who do not regularly offer tours. For example, Friday’s Tour B gives attendees the opportunity to meet and taste one of the state’s newest cheese and butter producers, Bivalve Creamery, which operates out of the former Cowgirl Creamery space. Guests will also wind their way up Highway One to enjoy lunch in Point Reyes Station at the original Cowgirl Creamery, where their famous Red Hawk cheese is produced using milk exclusively from Bivalve Dairy. Finally, attendees will tour Bivalve Dairy, overlooking Tomales Bay, and learn about their commitment to sustainable farming practices. As always, every tour allows guests to observe behind-the-scenes aspects of the farms and meet the hardworking farmers behind the state’s incredible artisan cheeses. Each tour includes round-trip transportation as well as cheese tastings and lunch. Cheese is also available for purchase at many of the farm stops.    The Farm and Producer Tours are always the first to sell out; for specific details including locations, timing, and to purchase tickets, please visit www.artisancheesefestival.com; $150; Friday, March 27 and Saturday, March 28.    Seminars and Pairing Demonstrations  Bringing attendees face-to-face with the experts who work with and create some of America’s best artisan cheeses, the Saturday seminars and pairing demonstrations tend to sell out early every year. Taking place at Santa Rosa’s historic and beautiful Flamingo Hotel Conference Resort & Spa; Relish Culinary Adventures in Healdsburg; and Kendall-Jackson Wine Estates & Gardens in Fulton, industry experts will engage and enlighten guests on a variety of topics, such as:  “Taste the Future: California’s Newest Cheesemakers,” an intriguing exploration of the state’s rich dairy history and a delectable introduction to the newest cheesemakers on the block with author and cheese expert Clark Wolf;  “Build Your Own Cheese Boards: Get Your Knives and Go!,” an interactive and informative lesson about how to build gorgeous, Instagram-ready cheese boards while sipping wine and sampling cheese with author and cheese board aficionado Laura Werlin; “Cheers to Cheese,” kicks your cheese tasting up a notch by pairing local favorites with fine sparkling wines from California’s acclaimed Roederer Estate, with author, journalist and Planet Cheese publisher, Janet Fletcher and Roederer’s very own winemaker Arnaud Weyrich; “Cheese and Cocktails: The Basics of Bitters, Booze & Cheese,” a flavorful lesson that teaches attendees why bitters and spirits aren't just for happy hour. Vanessa Chang, ACS CCP and Lassa Skinner, Author and Co-Founder of Culture: the word on cheese, will distill the basics of the various spirits, demystify the universe of bitters, and help identify the cheese to round out cocktails like Manhattans, Mai Tais, and more; “Hands-On Cheesemaking: Mozzarella, Chèvre, Burrata,” this hands-on, three-hour class will teach attendees how to make three fresh cheeses while talking through the history of cheesemaking, important facts about milk quality and differences, as well as the complex biology and chemistry behind turning milk into tasty cheese curds and protein-rich whey.  This seminar will be taught by ACS Certified Cheese Professional and founder of FARMcurious, Nicole Easterday; and “Cheese & Wine: Better Together,” a delicious and unique lesson about cheese’s favorite pairing partner with one of Sonoma County’s foremost cheese experts, Chef Tracey Shepos Cenami of Jackson Family Wines. Set at the picturesque Kendall-Jackson Wine Estates & Gardens, Chef Tracey will guide tasters through five cheese courses, pairing each with wines from Kendall-Jackson and her homemade, signature accompaniments.   Seminars and Pairing Demonstrations to take place at the Flamingo Hotel in Santa Rosa, Relish Culinary Adventures in Healdsburg, and Kendall-Jackson Wine Estates & Gardens in Fulton. Tickets are from $75-$125. Seminar details, including price per seminar, location and start time may be found at www.artisancheesefestival.com.    In the week leading up to the California Artisan Cheese Festival, cheese aficionados can expect to find special cheese-focused dishes and menus at some of their favorite local restaurants, tasting rooms, and businesses around the state for the second annual California Artisan Cheese Week. These businesses will be showing support for their favorite cheesemakers and guests will have the opportunity to enjoy their favorite standbys and discover new artisan cheeses in creative dishes, impressive cheese plates, special discounts, unique pairings and more. Specific details on participating restaurants and other businesses to be announced soon.   The Flamingo Hotel and a number of other Santa Rosa hotels are offering special discounted rates on rooms for Festival-goers.   Links for discounted booking can be found here:  https://www.artisancheesefestival.com/lodging.

Wishing You a Very Merry Christmas Filled with Comfort & Quiet Cheer

photos via Pinterest

“My idea of Christmas, whether old-fashioned or modern, is very simple: loving others. Come to think of it, why do we have to wait for Christmas to do that?”

Bob Hope

“He who has not Christmas in his heart will never find it under a tree.”

Roy L. Smith

“Christmas is doing a little something extra for someone.”

Charles. M Schulz

“When we recall Christmas past, we usually find that the simplest things - not the great occasions - give off the greatest glow of happiness.”

Bob Hope

“A lovely thing about Christmas is that it's compulsory, like a thunderstorm, and we all go through it together.”

Garrison Keillor 

“No matter how much falls on us, we keep plowing ahead. That's the only way to keep the roads clear.”

Greg Kincaid

Are You Ready for an Unforgettable Virtual Roadtrip From the Sonoma Coast Ranchlands Into the Emerald Triangle? Order Your Copy of Big Green Country Today!

Rain is falling heavily over our beloved Sonoma County and neighboring regions. It's colder than usual for this time of year and nights close in early. Perfect timing for a gripping and gritty new novel. 

Big Green Country is published and I have copies. Please do order directly from me for now if you're in the U.S. It is available online, but prices seem to fluctuate on Amazon and my price of $19.99 beats the big mega beast at the current time. I'm also offering bulk discounts for holiday gifts and happy to ship for free in the States. Go to the homepage of this blog, scroll down to the right to find my PayPal store. 

The Kindle price does not fluctuate, so if you're a tablet reader, head to Amazon for the e-book. 

I can't wait to see books in our favorite North Bay bookstores. If you'd like to support a local author and an indie bookstore this Cyber Monday, stop into Copperfields or Book Passage, or Reader's Bookstore in Sonoma, Point Reyes Books . . . and ask to special order a copy. They are available for distribution by Ingram. Hopefully our local bookstores will decide to stock a few more for the holiday season. 

Also, I will have more details to post tomorrow on my first meet and greet with books at the former Seed Bank in downtown Petaluma this Saturday, December 7th during the annual Merchants' Holiday Open House event. Pick up copies from me during the day. 

 

Windrush Farm Holiday Art Faire — Saturday & Sunday Nov 30th and Dec 1st 10 am to 3 pm

Raymond Briggs "The Snowman" Featuring Steven Harrison, Tenor from The Metropolitan Opera of NYC, Hotel Petaluma Dec 19, 20 & 21 — Presented by Petaluma Shakespeare Company

This December, Petaluma Shakespeare Company presents a Christmas musical animated story time, The Snowman, by Raymond Briggs, a classic, heartwarming experience that brings more than a snowman to life for the whole family. Guaranteed to spread Christmas cheer and childlike wonder. Performed at the Hotel Petaluma in the main ballroom and featuring Steven Harrison, tenor from The Metropolitan Opera of NYC.

I remember when Raymond Briggs' The Snowman movie took Britain by holiday snow storm in 1985. Fifteen-year-old Welsh choirboy Aled Jones' angelic rendition of "Walking in the Air" topped the UK charts that Christmas. I was in my late teens and still living in England. 

When I became a mom to my own three sons here in Northern California, I made it our tradition to watch The Snowman every Christmas Eve. I wanted my boys to feel the magic and simplicity and joy of the message of The Snowman. 

And so I'm really excited to attend the first of three shows produced by the wonderful Kristina Wenz and Petaluma Shakespeare Company, this holiday season, right here in the heart of Petaluma in the lovely main ballroom of the Petaluma Hotel. Won't you join me?

 

• Thursday, December 19th @ 8pm
• Friday, December 20th@ 7pm
• Saturday, December 21st @ 7pm
• $10/General Admission
• Tickets at http://www.brownpapertickets.com

 

The Cardinal Club — A Daughter's Journey to Acceptance — A New Memoir by Southern Sonoma County Author Suzanne Maggio

I'm inordinately proud of my dear friend Suzanne Maggio as she celebrates her debut book launch this week. Her first book, The Cardinal's Club, A Daughter's Journey to Acceptance — published by Adelaide Books, is an extraordinarily vivid and riveting memoir, a story that will make you laugh and cry.

After Suzanne's demanding and self-absorbed mother developed dementia, the author was compelled to apply the wisdom she'd acquired from decades of experience as a family therapist to her own family. 

As one of Suzanne's early readers, I loved her beautifully detailed, tender, compassionate re-examination of a complex mother/daughter relationship. The Cardinal Club is written with graceful prose and kindness — a guidebook to rethinking self-worth through our reactions to loss and grief.

I especially enjoyed Suzanne's nostalgic and moving depiction of her New Jersey Italian/American childhood in the 1960s and 70s as well as her evocative family trips to Italy. Her attention to detail as a memoir writer is remarkable. 

After a 30 year career as a licensed clinical social worker, Suzanne now trains the new generation of helpers as a university lecturer in  Psychology, Counseling and Social Work here in Sonoma County. The granddaughter of Italian immigrants, she grew up understanding the importance of family and the pleasures of gathering around a dining room table laden with good company and delicious food. 

"I have long been fascinated with the human condition, the ability we have to face enormous struggles and come through them, often the stronger for it," says Suzanne. "I have seen it over and over again in the people I've worked with. Resilience humbles me. We are stronger than we know."

Click here to purchase The Cardinal's Club, A Daughter's Journey to Acceptance by Suzanne Maggio, now available on Amazon.com and other major online retailers. 

Hopefully our local bookstores will be on board in ordering copies in support of local authors such as Suzanne who have moved small mountains in getting important new stories into print.

Click here for Suzanne's website. 

photo: Sara Rosalsky

Cover Reveal for "Big Green Country" — A Novel by Frances Rivetti — Available Very Soon (Late Nov 2019)

It's with great excitement and some nail-biting that I'm finally able to announce that after three-and-a-half long years of work my debut novel "Big Green Country"  is available to pre-order on Amazon and will be in print in time for Christmas. An e-book will also be available in the coming weeks. 

I've just decided to add an option to buy directly from me as author/publisher via PayPal as soon as the book is uploaded and ready for print. I will add that button to buy here on my blog site and will share via an updated post and social media. 

Big Green Country is a gripping and unforgettable family suspense story lifting the veil from the shrouded secrecy surrounding the ugly underbelly of Northern California's complex cannabis culture.

Culling from my research as an independent journalist at home at the gateway to the region's infamous Redwood Curtain, I have painted a gritty, graphic fictional portrait of the contemporary Green-Rush from one women-driven family's unique perspective — the lure, the benefits, the potential for boom and bust, but most importantly, its impact on the human condition and the real and present danger posed to young women attracted by large cash earnings.

Big Green Country is a controversial crisis of rural poverty, environmental issues, immigration, addiction, a broken health care system, alternative medicine and the stark reality of human trafficking within the region known as the Emerald Triangle.

This book is suitable for readers 18 and over due to its graphic content.

I'm also delighted to unveil a brand new FrancesRivetti.com website for my books, indie published under Fog Valley Press. 

Please take a few minutes to explore my new site, produced by the wonderful and talented Dana Weitzenberg of Southern Sonoma County-based Lobstervine Web Design & Development. Do sign up for my book release newsletter. I promise not to send too many mailchimp e-missives, only when there's book news to report such as launch events, readings and signings which I will be planning in the New Year. 

I'll be working on getting Big Green Country into physical bookstores as soon as possible, it may take a couple of weeks from the first orders for print books to arrive, so please be patient. The good news is I am printing with IngramSpark and as Ingram Content Book Group is the world's biggest book distributor, book stores should have no problem ordering copies. 

If you do purchase hard copies before Christmas and I hope so, I encourage you to bring them for me to sign at one of my launch events after the holidays. 

 

 

 

Petaluma to the Playa Exhibit, Petaluma Arts Center — Artists Who Create For and Document Burning Man November 23rd 2019 through January 18th, 2020

If you've never been to Burning Man and wish you had — or not, now's your chance to experience a selection of the art and originality of this unique annual gathering of creative, free thinking souls, many of whom are home-based in the Petaluma Area. Petaluma Arts Center hosts Petaluma to The Playa, November 23rd 2019 through January 18th, 2020 featuring work of artists who document for and create Burning Man. 

Exhibition Opening Day — November 23rd, 2019

Hat Making Workshop:  12pm - 4pm Click here to register. 
Bliss Studio Tour 4pm - 6pm
Mutant bicycle decorating and community parade 12pm - 4pm 

See PAC for more info.

Home for the Holidays — Fabulous Women Festival of Trees, Petaluma Hotel, Friday, Dec 6th 6-9pm, Saturday, Dec 7th, 3-9pm