“A Wine & Food Affair” in Sonoma County and a Food Gal Giveaway
Enjoy sips at more than 100 wineries stretching across Sonoma County at the 13th annual “A Wine & Food Affair,” Nov. 5-6.
Visit your favorite wineries and discover new ones in the Dry Creek, Russian River and Alexander valleys. Many participating wineries also will be preparing recipes from the “Tasting Along the Wine Road” cookbook for you to sample.
You’ll receive a commemorative tasting glass and a copy of the cookbook to take home.
Tickets are $70 (for attending both days), $50 for tasting on Nov. 6 only, and $30 for designated drivers (attending both days).
Contest: One lucky Food Gal reader will win a pair of weekend tickets good for both Nov. 5 and Nov. 6. Entries, limited to those who can be in Sonoma County that weekend, will be accepted through midnight PST Oct. 15. Winner will be announced Oct. 17. Winner must provide his/her own transportation to Sonoma County.
How to win?
Just tell me your favorite thing about Sonoma County. Best answer wins the tickets.
Here’s my own answer to that question:
“It could be the more laid-back attitude of this Wine Country. It could be the glorious restaurants to be found here. It could be the superlative wines, including incredible Pinot Noirs. But in the end, it’s the sweet that sways me. The Downtown Bakery & Creamery in Healdsburg is one of my fave haunts. If I’m ever passing through Sonoma County, I just have to stop there to nab a couple of sticky buns. You might think them heavy, leaden cinnamon roll-type creations. You’d be wrong. These are actually more like a croissant dough rolled up into a muffin shape and baked with a crackling sugar top. It’s flaky, buttery heaven.”
Winner of the Previous Contest: In last week’s Food Gal contest, I asked you to tell me which rock star or singer you most want to be — and why. Best three answers win a copy of the new cookbook, “Cook Like A Rock Star” (Clarkson Potter) by Anne Burrell.
Congrats to:
1. Amy Kim, who wrote, “Janet Jackson. Ms. Jackson if you’re nasty. Just loved her in the Control and Rhythm Nation days! As a kid, just wanted to sing and dance like her!”
2. Jane Bonacci, who wrote, “I would love to be Bono. He has had international success doing what he loves most, but more importantly he uses his celebrity to help those most challenged. Cute, sexy, talented humanitarian with a heart of gold. It doesn’t get any better than that!”
3. Amy Ward, who wrote, “Tough call, Cher? Annie Lennox?, Gwen Stefani? I think I’m going with Katy Perry. Talented, young, in love with a hilarious guy. She’s got a great career ahead of her, she always looks like she having so much fun – and she doesn’t complain about the ‘how difficult it is to be a star’ business.”
More Sonoma County Finds: Bovolo in Healdsburg
Wow, nice event…unfortunately we are too far from it.
Hope you have a great week Carolyn 🙂
Sounds like a lot of fun, I think it’s the same weekend I will be at foodbuzz, but for someone who can go it sounds like quite the fun event.
You have been enticing us with so many beautiful posts about the wine regions in Napa, Sonoma and Portland lately! We now feel we need to make a trip to our own Hunter valley for that bit of tasting!
What a fun event!
This would be such a treat to win! My husband and I just moved to the Bay Area, and we love Sonoma wines.
I would say my favorite thing about Sonoma are the small, family-owned wineries making wine the way it used to be made — with knowledge passed down from generation to generation. My favorite winery up there is A. Raffanelli, where the winemaker learned her craft from her father, who learned winemaking from his Italian-born grandparents. When you go to taste, you’ll be met not by some glitzy room with tasting-employees, but by the owner’s daughter, who will pour for you in the back of the warehouse, probably with one of their dogs at your feet. The point of the tasting isn’t to attract tourists, but rather to let you taste their (delicious) wine, hoping you’ll buy some — which we do every time we’ve visited (even when we had to take it back with us across the country). A. Raffanelli symbolizes Sonoma to me, and I love exploring to uncover even more family-owned hidden gems like it.
Oh to be in Sonoma County for that event! 😀
How fun! I love Sonoma…my favorite thing about it is all the gorgeous scenery!
What’s there NOT to love about Sonoma? My own favorite, of course, is that it reminds me of 1 of the best days of my life. My hubby’s proposal!
What a wonderful giveaway. Too bad I won’t be in the area that weekend. Whoever wins will surely enjoy the experience. 🙂
Being a 6th generation Northern Californian I am often asked by ‘outsiders’ do I like living with Palm trees. I laugh and then I quickly explain how beautiful N.Cal is especially when I am focused on Sonoma County. Well, any of the surrounding areas. The weather is incredible. You wake up in fog, drive to the coast line and presto, clear blue skies.You can be standing in a rows of grapevines and 15 minutes later be in a deep forest of Redwoods. Sonoma County is one of the most gorgeous spots in America.
My favorite thing about Sonoma is the coast – rugged and beautiful!
What a nice giveaway!
One of my favorite things about Sonoma County is the wine and learning something new at each winery. But above all, I love Sonoma because I usually head up with a large group of friends and have a nice, relaxing picnic after a few tasting rooms and just enjoy the scenery (and a few bottles!)
Even though I won’t be there, I want to join this competition. I know a couple who would love to win tickets to go that I could pass this on to.
What do I love about Sonoma? I love that it is not as frantic or touristy as Napa. I love that the wineries here have really friendly staff and have more time to share their wine stories with you. Nate and I have driven up the coast and done many a wine-tasting in Sonoma and we have our favorite wineries. We love Ledson right at the northern end for the rich and luscious Old Vine Zinfandels (and the house the winery is housed in is a beautiful place to stop and visit). We also love going to Viansa, situated on a hill and home to the waterfowl wetlands. Their tasting room gives you not just wines, they also have tons of other lovely things for the non-drinkers (like my kids) like cheese, jams, and mustards. Buy some wine, cheese and crackers, wander out into their lovely gardens and enjoy the view of the wetlands as the sun sets. There is nothing prettier!
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