The Sonoma coma: food, wine and hot springs

Our kind of country: Sonoma, where it’s perfectly acceptable to crack open the wine at 1 p.m. Credit: star5112.

By Valerie Moloney

Having broken through the wrong side of 35 a few years ago, I owed it to my aging self to add a new experience to my travel lexicon: wine getaway. I’m no oenophile – in fact, I couldn’t tell the difference between a Pinotage and Cab Franc – but I do love any opportunity to day drink and actually fall into bed at a reasonable hour.

The time is ripe for another trip to Sonoma County.

Chiller than Napa, this pastoral beauty is effortless in its appeal. In 17 miles, there are enough family-owned vineyards, sprawling ranches and windy roads to fuel any escapist tendencies, and tease the palates of chefs regardless of their knife skills.

Sonoma’s marquee event is the Sonoma Wine Country Weekend 2012, to be held over Labor Day weekend (tickets go on sale June 1, with a Visa pre-sale on April 23) at various sites including the Taste of Sonoma at picturesque MacMurray Ranch. And talk about a perfect pairing: The 3-day festival brings together locally sourced food with sips from hundreds of wineries.

For foodies and foodie wannabes, it’s a chance to pose questions that you might have been too afraid to ask directly to chefs and winemakers: What is a tannin? What wine goes best with red snapper?

While the event is a few months down the road, it’s never too early to start booking flights to San Francisco or scoping out Sonoma hotels. My early pick: the Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn and Spa, an eco-friendly property perched on a natural artesian hot spring.

Guests treat themselves like gods and goddesses here, lounging in two outdoor mineral pools, and finishing with a perfectly prepped meal at Michelin-star rated Sante, the French word for health.

Is it us – or do the locals know something that we don’t?

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