America overtakes France

It's official: For the first time in history, Americans drank more wine than the French last year. A leading wine industry consulting firm in the San Francisco Bay Area reports that Americans are now the world's top wine consumers by volume, besting the French by many millions of bottles.

In 2010, Americans drank 3.96 billion bottles of wine to France's 3.85 billion bottles. Drinking wine has become increasingly popular among the millennial generation of Americans: the 21- to 32-year-old demographic.

Still, to put this all in perspective, the average Frenchman consumes 12.2 gallons of wine per year, compared to only 2.6 gallons for the average American. Vive la différence!

Best Actress decompresses in Napa Valley

After walking away with the Academy Award for Best Actress on Sunday night, Natalie Portman was spotted this week dining with her fiance at Cindy's Backstreet Kitchen in St. Helena. It's another example of how A-list celebrities, even those who've just been seen by millions of people the world over receiving acting's highest honor, enjoy fleeing to Wine Country to decompress, partake in world-class dining, and –– in Natalie's case –– celebrate in a low-key fashion away from the prying eyes of the paparazzi.

Say goodbye to the recession

If last week's Premiere Napa Valley midwinter trade auction is any indication, the U.S. economy must be on the upswing. Two records fell at the event: the price paid for a single auction lot ($125,000) and the total proceeds of the day ($2.4 million). Optimism about fine wine sales being on the increase apparently lit up the room. As one observer said, "You could feel the buzz from the time the doors opened."

So what does this all mean to the casual wine drinker? Why should you care that wine retailers, restaurateurs, and other wine trade folk from around the world are snapping up cases and cases of great Napa Valley wine at record prices? Think of it as Fashion Week in Paris or New York – the colors, the fabrics, the textures being paraded on the runway today will trickle down into the apparel you'll see before long at Target and Abercrombie & Fitch.

It's the same with the wine market: higher prices for fine wine and higher profiles for certain wine producers will help set the trend for what appears in wine shops, on wine lists in restaurants, and eventually impact prices in the wine aisle of your neighborhood Safeway or Hy-Vee grocery store.

But back to those auction prices. A New Jersey retailer with three wine stores was the top bidder, spending half a million dollars on 300 cases of wine from more than 30 producers. A Japanese importer wrote a check for $125,000 for five cases of a single wine: 2009 Scarecrow cabernet sauvignon. That certainly raises the profile of that particular producer. The vines that yielded those cab sauv berries are 66 years old.

Approximately 1,530 cases were sold at the auction at an average case price of $1,546. That's an increase of 37% over prices at the 2009 auction, and 20% more than the average case price at the 2010 auction. Clearly, those in the industry have put the recession behind them.

Book a class to cook with the best

In some circles, Wine Country is revered more for its food than its wine. And many visitors come here specifically to learn about the relationship of food to wine, and to see for themselves how great meals are made. There is no shortage of opportunities to take cooking classes for that very reason, and the fees are affordable. You'll make new friends, adapt some tried-and-true chef's secrets for your own kitchen, and end the class by feasting on your work.

If you're planning a trip to Wine Country this year, try to build in time for a cooking class. Advance reservations are almost always required, but it's easy to arrange online.

In my latest article for the Napa Valley Register, some of the class options available this spring in Napa Valley are detailed. Read it here:
http://napavalleyregister.com/inv/lifestyles/article_2972eca6-3af5-11e0-890f-001cc4c002e0.html

Town of Sonoma called "worth visiting"

You don't have to tell me twice that Sonoma is worth visiting. Just read my latest post about the town by scrolling down a bit. But now it seems Sonoma is definitely, officially "worth visiting," according to the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The private trust has released its list of 12 American cities that offer "an authentic visitor experience" that includes a strong commitment to historic preservation. Judges called Sonoma one of the most historic towns in the West, citing the Blue Wing adobe and the hand-carved wine barrels and redwood tanks at Sebastiani Winery (the largest in the world is pictured here). There's much more to see, of course, around the historic Plaza and nearby at Lachryma Montis, the name given to the Gothic revival home of General Mariano Vallejo, built in 1851. You can read all about the historic town of Sonoma on pages 26-27 and pages 151-152 of my book "Insiders' Guide to California's Wine Country."

Cork recycling, revisited

There's an earlier posting on this site about recycling wine corks, but you might be interested in an update. At the Grammy Awards ceremony last weekend, the corks from all the wine bottles opened for music's biggest stars and the assembled industry titans were recycled. Footwear manufacturer SOLE teamed with ReCORK, a cork recycling program, to collect all the discarded Grammy corks, which will be made into shoes sold by SOLE. So if the company is to be believed, you can soon buy footwear crafted with cork that came from a Grammy winner's table.

Don't accessorize your wine, please

I suppose a serious wine lover can't have too many accessories for partaking of the grape, but a couple of items spotted recently in windows in Calistoga made me stop and wonder what I've been doing with my life. Clever ideas, perhaps, but are they really necessary to enjoy wine?

For total slackers, there's the wine glass holder on a stick, designed for stabbing into backyard turf or ocean sands like tent poles. Well, if you don't have to board an airplane with these and explain to the TSA that they aren't weapons, they might be useful in a drunken party situation. I found a similar product online that supports the entire wine bottle. When did just sitting the bottle on the ground at your feet (or in an ice bucket) become so passé?

A friend also alerted me to these ways to attach the glass to your person –– around the neck or strapped to a belt –– apparently freeing up your hands to gesture dramatically, swat flies, and eat standing up. There's at least one problem with these, besides looking geeky: you don't want that nicely chilled sauv blanc or chardonnay warmed by heat from your own body. Do you?

And file this under OMG: knitted hats and scarves for wine bottles. I can't get behind this one at all, particularly because on the day I spotted these it was a balmy 70 degrees.

I've never understood the compulsion to "dress" wine bottles in cozies, clothing, beads, decorative stoppers, cork cages, and all that other nonsense. Just because you paid 50 bucks for a good bottle of red doesn't mean you have to buy it a wardrobe too. Open it and enjoy it. Avoid cute.

Coppola combines winemaking and filmmaking in Sonoma County

The Godfather, Apocalypse Now, Bram Stoker's Dracula, Tucker, Marie Antoinette.... the Coppolas (Francis Ford and daughter Sofia) are filmmaking royalty. Francis also makes wine, and has for several decades. When he bought the former Chateau Souverain property north of Healdsburg a few years back, he envisioned turning it into a fun experience for families and visitors of all ages. It's taken a couple of years to really get it humming, but it's now the coolest must-see winery between Healdsburg and Cloverdale.

Sure, the wines are good (two tasting bars), and the restaurant, Rustic, is collecting favorable reviews. But the real draw is the movie memorabilia. Much of what's on display was once housed in Coppola's Napa Valley winery. When he took that property more upscale to focus on his pricier wine labels, he put treasures such as Vito Corleone's desk and chair into mothballs while renovating the Sonoma County property, now known as Francis Ford Coppola Winery (he took his time coming up with the final name, too).

The Academy Award statues, Golden Globe trophies, and numerous other honors from his filmmaking heyday are here –– along with Vito's desk and chair, other props from the Godfather movies, iconic wardrobe pieces such as the hat and boots worn by Robert Duvall in Apocalypse Now ("I love the smell of napalm in the morning"), the red, sinewy armor Gary Oldman inhabited in Dracula, and the 1948 Tucker automobile used in the movie Tucker. Sofia's work is also represented by furniture, paintings, and the miniature ships seen in her movie, Marie Antoinette. It's part museum-part retail store, with books, tableware, and much more for sale.

Outside, it feels like Europe, with a line of colorful and elegant cabanas facing a huge swimming pool and four bocce courts. When the weather warms up, pack your bikini to take a swim for a modest fee, and bring the whole family. There's also a covered outdoor stage patterned after the Lake Tahoe pavilion that appeared in The Godfather, Part II. A round outdoor cafe, still wrapped up tightly against winter rains on a recent day, will supply the snacks.

This truly is a destination winery that's worth your time, just as Francis intended. Did I mention the FIVE Oscars on display? Take the Independence Lane exit off Highway 101.

Gentlemen, start your instruments

Is there enough sidewalk to go around in downtown Santa Rosa for a couple dozen street performers? We may soon find out. At least 21 musicians and performers recently received free permits to perform for tips on city streets. A new law went into effect to lighten up on the restrictive noise ordinance.

There are conditions, of course. The sound they make can't be heard 50 feet away, they must be at least five feet from the door of an open business, and performance times are limited to 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. weekdays, slightly later on weekend nights.

For number and variety of street performers, Santa Rosa is no San Francisco. But it's a step in the right direction to coax more people downtown to shop, dine and enjoy a bit of free street entertainment too.

New stores, old mannequin

For me, a trip to Sonoma isn't complete without saying hello to the ages-old mannequin in the vintage ticket booth in the lobby of the Sebastiani Theater on the east side of the Plaza. She's a little rough around the edges (literally... check out that nose, and those lips!) and her best days are definitely behind her. I suspect she was dropped a time or two in her former life as a department store model. Some might say she's even a tad creepy. Nonetheless, she's always there to greet moviegoers ("The King's Speech" was playing inside), and sporting the occasional fashion update. On my last visit she was wearing these jaunty new specs and looking quite regal.

During my stroll around the Plaza, I uncovered a new store called Kingston Ellis. It opened late last year before the holidays, and is doing a brisk business in collectibles, gifts, home decor, jewelry, clothing, ribbons, and interesting odds and ends. The color scheme is black, white, and ivory (or cream?). Apparently there is no Kingston and no Ellis –– the owner just likes the sound of the names together.

Kingston Ellis occupies what used to be the humor and costume store called Laughing Queen, where I could always count on finding dirty greeting cards and other goofy items, and have a smile on my face the whole time I browsed. Laughing Queen called it quits after many years and the new shop opened soon after.

Claypot cooking enthusiasts, take note. On the west side of the Plaza is bram, devoted to claypot vessels. Stop by to admire the beautiful craftsmanship of the pots and learn how to use them in your kitchen.

She shakes! She bakes!

Mary Jo gets ready to bake bread

One of the "little" people who keep Napa Valley on the forefront of greatness is Mary Jo Geitner. She represents Trinchero Family Estates, probably most famous for marketing White Zinfandel to the world in the 1980s. But don't hold that against them. The company also has an impressive stable of high-end labels, some in Napa Valley and some elsewhere.

Sutter Home Victorian Inn south of St. Helena

Mary Jo bakes lots of goodies and greets visitors at the company's Sutter Home Victorian Inn, south of St. Helena on Highway 29 in Napa Valley. No, sorry, you can't rent the property for your wedding, and you can't check in like a regular visitor just passing through. The inn is exclusively for invited guests, most working in the wine industry. But you can still stop and smell the roses in the garden (or the other flora flourishing there). And if you follow the link below, you can prepare one of the many luscious recipes Mary Jo whips up for breakfast for the inn's guests.

Read about Mary Jo and the Sutter Home Victorian Inn in my article that appeared on Christmas Eve in the Napa Valley Register: http://napavalleyregister.com/lifestyles/food-and-cooking/wine/article_2750140c-0eff-11e0-ae52-001cc4c002e0.html

Abbey Road zebra crossing now protected

Beatles fans who make the pilgrimage to Abbey Road in London treasure photos such as this –– marching like the mop-tops across the zebra crossing that's kitty-corner from the recording studio. My husband and I dodged mid-day traffic, of which there is a surprising amount, to get this photo.

On the "Abbey Road" album cover the street appears quiet. Perhaps it really was a sleepy residential lane in 1969, when the Fab Four posed for the iconic photograph. (The studio is to the left, behind the low white wall.) But today Abbey Road is busy, busy, busy with buses, taxis, and lorries. Yet most drivers are patient, allowing throngs of goofy acting tourists to pause the flow of commerce briefly for their once-in-a-lifetime photo or video.

Now the British government has "protected" the zebra crossing for its cultural and historical importance. Abbey Road Studios, itself now "listed" by the Department of Culture, Media, and Sport, put in the request to include the zebra crossing, and it was granted this week. The crossing has been given a Grade II listing, the most common protected status, meaning that a building or monument is recognized as nationally important and of special interest. The crossing "can be altered but only with the approval of the local authorities, which would make a decision based on the site's historic significance, function and condition," according to news reports.

See how popular the crossing is at www.abbeyroad.com/visit/ –– it's fascinating to watch all the commotion, and includes audio. Mind the time difference.

Where, oh where, can she be?

She's massive, the "Wine Goddess," watching over the parking lot of a winery tasting room. The work of junk artist Patrick Amiot of Sebastopol, she's festooned with old hubcaps and other salvage yard treasures, and wine barrels are stacked inside her revealing dress. Can you guess where she lives in Sonoma County? Hint: It's not Sebastopol, where much of Patrick's work can be seen up and down the residential Florence Avenue (a great walking tour, by the way). No, the goddess looms large in another Wine Country town.

Volunteer orchestra is a Sonoma County treasure

One of Sonoma County's non-wine-related treasures is the American Philharmonic orchestra, an all-volunteer ensemble of 75 talented professional musicians who can give any paid orchestra a run for its money. The group had humble beginnings, first performing in La Plaza Park in Cotati (and then known as the Cotati Philharmonic), more than a decade ago. Today their shows take place at Wells Fargo Center for the Arts in Santa Rosa, a big step up in size and class.

Called "An American Portrait," last night's performance focused on several American composers. That explains the clever reworking of the iconic Grant Wood painting "American Gothic," shown above, which appeared on the program's cover. But I was there mostly for Gershwin's Piano Concerto in F. I'd seen it performed live only once before –– by the London Symphony Orchestra with Andre Previn at the keyboard –– and more years ago than I care to cop to. I have at least three recordings of the concerto on vinyl and CD (that I can lay my hands on quickly), and possibly more stashed in boxes somewhere, by different orchestras, including the Previn version. At last night's concert, our homegrown orchestra nailed this difficult piece of music with aplomb, featuring Marilyn Thompson on the piano. She has oodles of credentials, and is currently on the faculty at Sonoma State University.

One of the best parts about attending these American Philharmonic concerts is the cost: $0. Technically there is no charge to sit and enjoy the music, and you can show your support by applause only. But they do appreciate donations, and in fact remind you several times during the evening to give what you can. It's not for the musicians –– they play for nothing. But renting the Wells Fargo Center is expensive ($18,000 for the Saturday evening performance and a Sunday matinee) and to pay the bills the orchestra depends on wads of paper money being stuffed into those fishbowls in the lobby as you enter and exit the venue.

The orchestra is so good they've been invited to play eight concerts in China, on a tour that begins right after Christmas. To learn more about the orchestra, visit www.apsonoma.org.

Fresh back from "Fresh": It's a keeper

I just enjoyed a terrific meal for the first time –– and certainly not the last –– at Lisa Hemenway's new venture "Fresh" in Santa Rosa. The name says it all. Open only a month, Fresh keeps the menu simple and offers whatever you need to take-away as well. There's a small sit-down restaurant in the center of the "market," with a wine bar along one side and extra tables near the bakery display. (And when the weather is agreeable, tables on the patio.) Surrounding all that is fresh produce, meats, cheeses, and baked goods. One aisle is all beverages, wine, microbrews, juices. In the back is a pizza oven that was getting a good workout during my visit. When you first walk in the door there's an assortment of gift items –– what I generally refer to as "girly" stuff –– such as bath products, candles, and so forth. But the remainder of the space is devoted to food.

I can recommend the pancetta and onion quiche, one of the best quiches I've ever had, accompanied by a generous side of crisp salad greens. Others in my party of 10 were equally excited about their turkey paninis (with the same side salad), and the curry chicken salad was also luscious. There were nice touches on every plate, from the finely sliced radish and olive garnish to the twisted toothpicks on the sandwiches. But the pizza fans at my table were disappointed –– their two thin-crust pies were delivered barely warm. Our waiter was pleasant and hard working, and even enthusiastic about producing separate checks.

If you visit, be sure to buy a dessert to go –– cookies, cakes, the marshmallow "thingy" pictured here, something called a mocha roll, or one of the butter horn pastries, with huge whole strawberries on top.

Lisa Hemenway has a long, successful history in the restaurant and catering business, primarily here in Sonoma County. Fresh looks like another winner.