In case it is helpful to anyone recovering from the fires, my law firm created a handbook that it has made available to the public. Please feel free to share the link to this online resource if you find it useful.
It was amazing to go back to Sonoma a week later than my last visit and see the incredible job the first responders, the utility crews and others have done making the Sonoma valley available again. Most of the side roads that were closed last week were open today, and many tasting rooms were open. Please do not cancel your trips to Sonoma, as the wine country is open and available for visitors.
I was in Napa, Yountville and St. Helena last week tasting wine and there was no smoke or really any sign of a fire. There was some traffic because the Silverado Trail was closed. The gentleman at Lewis Cellars told me that don’t expect widespread wine shortages from the fires. He did tell me that a lot of the grapes tested positive for smoke taint. Vinters are figuring out what to do with those grapes if anything.
I’m sorry for everyone who was affected, physically and mentally, by the fires.
On a lighter note, I was pleased to see that The Girl and the Fig, on the Sonoma Square, didn’t have any reservations at 6 this Saturday. So some people are definitely back. Is Warm Springs / Bennett Valley still open between Glen Ellen and Santa Rosa? I think that was right in the fire path, but it’s the most direct route between Dutton-Goldfield near Sebastopol and the town of Sonoma. The Charles Schulz Museum is still closed, doing smoke remediation.
Warm Springs is open in Kenwood but you have to detour off BVR at Sonoma Mountain Rd and loop around to get to it. Warm Springs into Glen Ellen is closed.
Driving around this weekend in Sonoma, traffic was eerily light. A mid-Sunday trip going south on Arnold, through the intersection at Hwy 121, and continuing south past Gloria Ferrer and Cornerstone was an easy cruise. Normally it’s jammed with people this time of year.
I can’t say how long it will last, but now is a fantastic time to come for a day trip or weekend.
This seems like so long ago, Jay yet still so present when you see the devastation everywhere. We were out of the Martinelli barns for a full week. good to be back.
I’m up here for the first time since the fires. We had initially been told by a neighbor that as they drove away at 2am our house was engulfed in flames.
Driving through Glen Ellen was heart breaking.
We are on 40 acres just south of Bennet Ridge, abutting Annabel State Park on the entire northern and eastern sides of the property.
Everything around the house burned. It came up from Kenwood on the north & east sides, up from Glen Ellen/Enterprise Drive area on the south side, and down from the Bennet Ridge to the west. It is a miracle the house is here. All the forest is gone, and most of trees and brush around the house.
Our door mat & flag both melted, but the house is here. No water, septic, phone/internet/TV, and we are finding more stuff by the hour - but the house is here. Thank God for an amazing gardener who kept the area clear, and for stucco & stone building.
Many neighbors were not so lucky. About half a mile west, on the Bennet Ridge, 75 homes are gone, and life was lost.
We own the water companies in Kenwood & a few other areas of Sonoma. Sadly, many customers were also not so lucky.
It’s going to be a long rebuild for so many.
I’ll post pics when I get back to SF and have internet.
I drove through Fountain Grove today. Even when one is expecting to see the damage, it’s jaw dropping. It’s gonna take 1-2 years until they can get moving on rebuilding it.
Mark West Springs Rd from Old Redwood Hwy/Larkfield to Mark West Lodge is depressing. Black sticks, chimneys and ash. I don’t think I want to go that way for a while even though it’s a 30 min shorter drive to Calistoga.
We did go this weekend, it was a good visit but it was pretty emotional at the beginning. We passed the “Grape Crusher” (huge bronze of a guy cranking an old-fashioned basket press, kind of the “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas” of the entrance to Napa) and headed along 12 through Carneros. I’d seen all the pictures on the news, but nothing compares to the creepy feeling that something is wrong. Charcoal hillsides that should be brown. Burned out cars in one driveway. And then you get into the town of Sonoma and everything is just like you remember it. Not that being an observer compares in degree to those who worried about their homes or suffered much worse, but it is unsettling.
We found two small wineries from the Jordan low-alcohol map, and had a great experience. Maclaren is run by Scotsman Steve Maclaren who specializes in cool-climate Sonoma syrah. Pricey, but very good wines and a beautiful and collegial tasting environment. His wife Heather was also working in the tasting room and showed us the locations of the vineyards and described the soil and weather. We also liked Westwood, very “fancy” but many wines of interest and highly personal service. If you’ve ever wanted to try varietal Counoise, or a cool-climate Rhone blend, I would recommend them as well. Bump was recommended as a child tasting room with board games for the kids, it was not kid-friendly (not that I would have otherwise expected a tasting room to be) but there was a lot of neat art. Quite enjoyed the white Rhone blend and sauvignon blanc, both very reasonably priced for Sonoma. Finished with outstanding food and service at Girl and the Fig, per their usual. It’s amazing to see a restaurant operate at such a high level for the price for so long.
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