7.30.2010

French toast and fishing worms

OK, so this photo was not taken in Wine Country. But this is why I love to travel America's state highways and leave the interstates to the big trucks. This sign/door greeted drivers in the parking lot of a busy cafe in a tiny Oklahoma town, along a lonely state road. I was intrigued that a plethora of fishing worms might be in such close proximity to the restroom, and be given equal billing as well. Are the worms perhaps in the restroom? I didn't ask. I did dine in this establishment, however, which had charming mismatched coffee cups bearing logos from other businesses and faraway hotels. Against my better judgment (this was also the back door into the restaurant's kitchen), but nearly faint from hunger, I enjoyed a delicious early-morning, stick-to-the-ribs breakfast. But did not have the fortitude to go looking for those worms.

Wine Country = well being

Let's face it: As places to live, some areas of the United States are just more desirable than others. Case in point: Sonoma County (more precisely, the city of Santa Rosa), which took 5th place in the U.S. in a recent list of the top 10 cities overall with the highest index of "well-being." Only four other California cities made the top 10. The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index uses 42 core questions in a survey that is "scientifically designed by some of the world’s leading experts in economics, psychology and health to thoroughly measure how respondents are faring in all aspects of their lives: physically, emotionally, socially and professionally, as well as to take a daily pulse of how Americans rate the overall quality of their current life and outlook for the future."

Spin the Aroma Wheel

A few years ago, a relative of mine proudly poured me a glass of diesel fuel disguised as red table wine. Produced in a southern state that I decline to identify, the color was correct, but judging by the odor, I feared it was a petroleum product. I looked around nervously for nearby sources of flame. It was undrinkable, yet I choked it down to be polite.

But it's apparently not uncommon to smell gas in wine, because Ann Noble's Aroma Wheel devotes a subcategory to the scents of petroleum, such as diesel, kerosene, tar, and plastic. Twenty years ago, Ms. Noble, a professor at the University of California at Davis, developed the Aroma Wheel for novice and pro wine drinkers "to learn about wines and enhance one's ability to describe the complexity of wine flavor."

If you spend any time tasting wines, either at wineries or with friends, you've likely tried to nail down a particular odd taste or odor that made the experience heavenly, or dreadful. At times like that, it's sort of cool to have the Aroma Wheel at your fingertips, because it can more precisely identify a scent or a flavor that might otherwise elude you. Many of the wheel's categories and specific terms are to be expected (fruity, woody, herbaceous), but the wheel also offers these pungent possibilities: wet dog, wet wool, skunk, burnt toast, and even natural gas – yikes!

Napa, Sonoma, Napa, Sonoma....?

The various place names of Napa, Napa Valley, Napa County, Sonoma, Sonoma Valley, and Sonoma County can be confusing for first-time visitors. It's further complicated when geographically-challenged writers and journalists mistakenly place Sonoma County wineries and attractions in Napa County locations, and vice versa. This type of imprecise reporting happens more than it should, and it appeared again in a TripAdvisor survey. More than 1,000 survey respondents who said they plan to visit a U.S. vineyard this year ranked Napa Valley at No. 1 and "Sonoma" at No. 2. Now, "Sonoma" could refer to the city of Sonoma or even the Sonoma Valley. On a map, Napa County and Sonoma County are side by side. Each county has a small city of the same name, Napa and Sonoma. "Napa Valley" generally refers to the concentrated wine-growing region that runs the length of Napa County and includes the city of Napa. "Sonoma Valley" is a large wine region in eastern Sonoma County that also encompasses the city of Sonoma. Once you visit, it all becomes perfectly clear.