Mendocino & Anderson Valley Wine Region - November 2005

The fall is our favorite time of the year to visit the wine country. The vineyards are spectacular with their patchwork of fall colors.

From Highway 101 in Cloverdale, we head west on Highway 128 to the Anderson Valley.  The Anderson Valley stretches 15 miles between the small towns of Boonville and Navarro. The climate is cool during the growing season and Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Gewürztraminer thrive in this region.

It has been about two years since our last visit to this area and we see a noticeable change in the Anderson Valley. There are several new tasting rooms along the way and the tasting rooms have a lot more visitors. The area has obviously been discovered.

Navarro Vineyards is ideal for a picnic lunch. They have several tables that overlook the vineyards of the Anderson Valley. We enjoy our delicious picnic lunch with a glass of the Navarro White Riesling. The setting is absolutely gorgeous. What a way to spend an afternoon!

The next stop along the way is Handley Cellars.  The Handley wines are very good and are excellent values.  The tasting room is a wonder with pieces of international folk art displayed throughout. Our favorite wines are the Pinot Gris and the Gewürztraminer.

The weather begins to change and it looks like a rainy weekend is in store for us.  The next stretch of highway leading to the coast is absolutely stunning. The road winds through the Navarro Redwood Forest. The road is lined on either side with majestic Redwood Trees. We stop along this forest road and hike in about a quarter of a mile to check out the beautiful Navarro River. The river is low and tame but with the next heavy rains, the river will be roaring to the Mendocino coast.

For this getaway, we have decided to rent a house instead of a B&B. We love the B&B’s in Mendocino but we thought with the rainy season we might be better off in a home equipped with a kitchen.  We have rented the Alderwood House in the area known as Surfwood Estates just a mile north of Main Street in Mendocino. We booked the home through Mendocino Preferred, a rental agency.

The house is a one-level Craftsman style home. It has a spacious kitchen and family room. It is beautifully decorated and very comfortable.  We are very pleased with the service of Mendocino Preferred and highly recommend them.

We quickly unpack, get organized and head back into Mendocino.  Mendocino is a town that does not change. The zoning laws are strict and the buildings and storefronts have not noticeably changed in the last 50 years.  After visiting a few shops we take a stroll along the Mendocino headlands as we do on each visit to Mendocino. We walk down to the trail from the last store on Main Street. The coast is very rugged here and the ocean views are spectacular. You can leisurely walk the small peninsula in less than an hour. There must be a kite and a Porsche convention this weekend because there are hundreds of kites in the air and Porches galore in the parking areas.

For dinner, we dine at Moosse’s Restaurant. Yes, that is the correct spelling. The restaurant is at 390 Kasten Street in Mendocino. Our party of four has a fabulous meal. Our entrées are all delicious. We rate Moosse’s a 4.25 on our “Five Point” rating scale.

The next morning, after a hearty breakfast at the house, we head off to Van Damme State Park. It is an on-and-off drizzly day but the air temperature is ideal for a hike. Our plan is to hike the Fern Canyon Trail. This hike parallels a small stream deep in the Redwood country. The hills on the either side of the trail are lined with tall Redwood Trees and thick groves of sword ferns. The trail is a very gradual climb to its end at 2.3 miles. At about the one-mile mark there are several very secluded individual picnic areas. Each one has a picnic table with benches and a BBQ pit. At the end of the Fern Canyon Trail, one can choose to hike up another trail for a hilly two-mile trek to the Pygmy Forest. The Fern Canyon Trail is one of the most gorgeous hikes in all of California.

Following our invigorating hike, we head back into Mendocino for lunch in the Mendocino Hotel’s Garden Room. This is a good spot for either breakfast or lunch. The food is delightful and is much needed after our brisk hike.

Following lunch we are ready for some window-shopping. We have three favorite stores we always visit when we are in town. The first is Fittings, a store that has Mission and Craftsman style furnishings and accessories. We always pick up some decorating ideas at Fittings.

A visit to the Gallery Bookstore on the corner of Kasten and Main Streets provides a warm and cozy place on this rainy afternoon.  The Gallery Bookstore has a book section devoted to Mendocino. If you are a movie buff, there are several titles detailing the movies that have been filmed in Mendocino as well as books about the actors who have starred in these movies. The most famous movie filmed in Mendocino is East of Eden, starring James Dean.

Across the street from the Gallery Bookstore is Out of This World, a science shop. The store has telescopes, microscopes, and all types of science toys and games. The very least one should do in this store, is look through one of the telescopes for a great view of the coastline and Pacific Ocean.

Now it is off to the Point Cabrillo Lighthouse just about 2 miles north of Mendocino. This 1908 lighthouse has been completed restored. The lighthouse signal lens is only one of three found in the United States. The light signal can be seen about 20 miles away, perhaps less on this day which is very foggy and rainy.  If you take a glance out the back door of the lighthouse, you will know why a lighthouse is needed in this spot of the Pacific Coast.

We head back to Mendocino and decide the weather is too rainy to go out for dinner that evening. We stop at the Mendocino Market and Deli at 45051 Ukiah Street and buy a supply of interesting delicacies to eat later that night with some of the Anderson Valley wines we have purchased. It’s a great choice and we enjoy a casual dinner followed by a competitive game of Yahtzee.

The next morning we check out and head for wine tasting in the Anderson Valley. The first stop is Husch Vineyards. Husch has a very small but warm tasting room. Like the other wineries in the area, Husch makes some delicious white wines and a very good Pinot Noir.  Further up the road is another favorite winery of ours, Greenwood Ridge. It is right next door to Navarro Vineyards. Unlike their neighbors, Greenwood Ridge has vineyards in a wine appellation known as Greenwood Ridge. These vineyards are on the top ridges of the mountains of the Anderson Valley and the climate is much hotter than the valley below. The mountain ridges are usually above the daily summer fog that is characteristic of the Anderson Valley. The Zinfandel is tops at Greenwood Ridge. This is another good spot for a picnic lunch.

Now it is back home after a couple of days of nature, good food, wine, and great friends.

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