Posted by Nancy D. Brown

Inn at OccidentalI love the fall and winter in Northern California, particularly the wine country. The out-of-state visitors have returned home, the crowds have thinned and the package deals begin to appear. I wrote about my winter trip to Sonoma's Inn at Occidental on the Uptake Lodging blog. If you are looking for a place to re-charge your batteries, even for twenty four hours, this is a great place to visit. Of course, I recommend several days in this area, as it is so close to the beach, Sebastopol and wineries in the Russian River Valley.

When I arrived on a misty February Monday, I was surprised to see adults and school children sitting on the curb in the village of Occidental. Cyclists in bright logo gear began to trickle in. I checked into the Inn at Occidental and asked owner Jerry Wolsborn what the fuss was about. Turns out the 2008 Amgen Tour of California was about to wiz by. While the exact route has yet to be posted on the Amgen website, I do know that Santa Rosa will be a staging area for Lance Armstrong and his fellow cycling team in February of 2009.

Located off the Bohemian Highway, the Inn at Occidental doesn’t have cell phonetowers. In fact, the only thing towering overheadare redwood trees. “Having lived in Marin for 10 years, I’d never been to Armstong,” said Wolsborn. The 805 acre State Reserve is “under utilized,”added Wolsborn. From horseback riding, to wine tasting or relaxing at the nearby Oasis Day Spa, the Inn is an ideal launch pad for a wide array of activities.

Osmosis Meditation Garden

Ten minutes away, in the blink-and-you’ll miss-it town of Freestone, I was treated to an Osmosis Cedar Enzyme Bath and a 75 minute Swedish Esalen massage. Before my treatments I was invited to stroll the Japanese meditation garden and sip herbal tea in the sitting room over looking the bonsai garden. I have to say, this was one of the best massages of my life, and I’ve had my share of massages.

Another high point of Freestone is Wild Flour Bread Bakery. Be warned, the organic bakery is only open four days a week, Friday through Monday, including holiday weekends, except Christmas day. The scones are delicious.

Sonoma Lodge Room

Before you arrive, you’ll want to check out the rooms on-line. Each room or suite, offers a distinct personality. All rooms feature overstuffed down beds and fireplacesand include hors d’oeuvres in the evening and a Sonoma Harvest Breakfast in the Wine Cellar dining room.

Room prices range from $259 for traditional rooms, to $359 for suites with hot tubs, to $679 for the two bedroom Sonoma Vacation Cottage. Check on-line for Internet and Mid-Week specials. The Inn at Occidental is a member of Unique Inns. 

Cell phone update: Owner Jerry Wolsborn sent me an e-mail to say that Verizon cell service has arrived in the village of Occidental.  For those visitors wanting to stay connected, this is a good thing.  For the rest of us, hit the "mute" button on your cell phone and have another glass on wine.  Cheers.

Posted by Nancy D. Brown

Romance in Napa Valley Wine Country

As I walked into our small San Francisco apartment, tired from a weekend business conference, I immediately perked up when I opened the door and spied a dozen red roses proudly displayed on our rickety coffee table.  Every room in the apartment was adorned with fresh flowers.  Well, yes, ours was a one bedroom apartment, but the flowers were a wonderful gesture from my young husband.

Romantic Weekend in Napa Valley, California

Fast forward 22 years later and my husband still manages to pull off romantic moments.  Last January I was wisked away to the Napa Valley for a romantic, birthday weekend at the Blackbird Inn.  As we are frequent visitors to the Four Sisters Inns, we were given a room upgrade with sparkling wine and a box of chocolates chilling bedside.  I love little momentos like this and appreciated that the chocolates were made locally.

Romantic Dining at Ad hoc in Yountville, California

Napa, California's Blackbird Inn

That evening we dined in Yountville at Thomas Keller’s Ad hoc family-style restaurant.  Easier on the pocketbook than Keller’s gourmet French Laundry, you can call ahead to the restaurant to see what’s on the set price menu that week.  While I loved everything on the menu, I was disappointed that the dessert was a lemon tart.  Noticing my disappointment, our waiter appeared with piping hot chocolate chip cookies at the conclusion of the meal.  Special touches like that will make me a devoted fan forever.

Vintner's Cottage at Wine Country Inn, St. Helena, California

Add Wine Country Inn to Romantic Hotels List

If stained glass windows, bubble baths and vineyard views turn you on, add St. Helena’s Wine Country Inn to your romantic hotels list.  A stay at the  Vintner’s Cottage will leave you feeling relaxed and renewed.  The family run property caters to couples and oozes romance.

Fireplace Romance

Savory snacks in front of the fire place; no problem.  A bubble bath after an in-room couples massage, complete with Bose speakers in the bathroom, makes this a great place to simply hang out and enjoy the vineyard view.  You can lounge around in your comfy robe, or dine with the locals at nearby Cindy’s Backstreet Kitchen.

Where do you stay when you are looking to put a little va-va-voom romance back into your relationship?

Thanks to Luv 2 Flickr for her beautiful roses photo.

Posted by Nancy D. Brown

How many wine bloggers does it take to open a bottle of wine?  One to open it and 174 bloggers to write about the experience. 

I'm here in Santa Rosa at the Flamingo Resort and Spa attending the first North American Wine Bloggers Conference '08.  The conference is the brain child of several members of the Open Wine Consortium, (OWC) a global wine industry association, featuring an online wine business network, forums and social networking platform for folks who enjoy wine.

The three day conference, taking place October 24-26, 2008, brings together wine industry leaders, media and bloggers to discuss how to better share information to wine lovers across the globe and how to stake our claim in this new generation of wine media. 

So that's the nuts and bolts.  Now lets get into the fun stuff…tasting wine. 

After a kick ass lunch  at Kick Ranch Vineyards, we're now live blogging wines.  First up…

Cupcake Vineyards, 2007 Chardonnay located in the central coast.  Director of Marketing Nicholas Tucker said, "having a glass of Cupcake is like giving yourself a reward from making it through your daily trivals."  The wine retails for $11.99 and is available at Cost Plus World Market.

Kanzler Vineyards 2007 Pinot Noir barrel sample.  "We were one of the first vineyards planted in Sebastopol in 1996, says Stephen Kanzler of Kanzler Vineyards.  The wine will be bottled in January and will release in January for $48.  "We're usually in barrel between 12-16 months," adds Kanzler.

 Sean Minor Wines, Four Bears 2006 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, retails for $17. Sean Minor said they were tired of spending their household budget on wine so he became a winemaker. The four bears represents the four children in the family.  www.seanminorwines.com

Lionheart Wines  Leon C. Glover, owner/winemaker is sharing his 2007 Roussanne from Santa Barbara County.  If you like hawaiian style pizza, Glover said, "it sounds kind of stange, but it's really a good match." You can purchase the wine, which retails for $30, on-line at www.lionheartwines.com. 

Bonterra Vineyard Mcnab 60% merlot, 26% cabernet and 14% petit verdot.  The wines are certified bio-dynamic and organic. "We keep chickens and gineau hens so they eat all the cut worms,"Says Jim Caudill, public relations director.  "The vineyard manager moves the mobile chicken coop around if there are any problems in the area. "  

Well, I'm not sure what I think of speed wine tasting and blogging, but I will say that it is different.

Stayed tuned for more wine tasting and for those of you on Twitter the hashtag is #wbc.