JONATHAN RESPONDS, AT LAST
At last, a reunion with Jonathan Hodes, neurosurgeon in Louisville, Kentucky, and a good friend from my UCSF days in San Francisco, who had a major role in my memoir Dogmeat. We met some sixteen months after the book was published. Until then his silence about my book was deafening. Had I offended him in any way?Writers can't help but aggrieve those closest to them. If you write about what you know -and you should - and if what you write is interesting and edgy, it is inevitable that some acquaintance, friend, relative might be displeased with how they were[...]
LOST COLONY TO VIRGINIA DARE; NEW COPPOLA PROJECT PART II
Already in possession of two major wineries in Napa and Sonoma, Francis Ford Coppola has now acquired a third, currently in transition, temporarily named The Lost Colony. A recent serendipitous visit to this new winery revealed insights about the reason behind the acquisition and what is to come.Keep in mind that Coppola is a visionary with an eye on history and drama, and a long term perspective in transforming his acquisitions. For more details on his accomplishments so far, see my prior blog.The motivation behind the new Geyserville purchase, so close to his flagship Coppola Winery lies in what Coppola[...]
THE LOST COLONY, A NEW LONG TERM PROJECT BY COPPOLA; PART I
Famous movie director Francis Ford Coppola has added another winery to his list of acquisitions, one he hopes will complete his vision of a unique wine destination, a family friendly resort in Sonoma of a sort that does not exist elsewhere.Located near Geyserville, two exits north of his flagship Coppola Winery on Highway 101, this thirty-three acre property, formerly of Geyser Peak, is presently in a state of transition. It has been temporarily named Lost Colony, a label that refers to Roanoke, one of the earliest settlements in North America. The tasting room is replete with artifacts that depict the[...]
A NEW ULTRA-PRIVATE, PERSONALIZED TASTING, PART II: CARPENTER WINERY
Following Skipstone Ranch, our next tasting at Carpenter Winery, also arranged by our Healdsburg B&B, took us to the far south end of the Alexander Valley. Along an isolated stretch of Chalk Hill Road our hostess Laura Carpenter Hawkes greeted us at the entrance of a vast vineyard and we followed her Volvo station wagon on a dusty dirt road to the tasting spot she had set for us.There was no winery there, nor a tasting room. In fact there were no buildings anywhere, just acres of vineyards all around. We parked our car in a clearing between rows of[...]
A NEW ULTRA-PRIVATE, PERSONALIZED TASTING, PART I: SKIPSTONE RANCH
The sample tasting that began in the wine country as a marketing effort akin to those of a bakery or produce stand, keeps evolving into more elaborate, previously unimaginable experiences. Recently, during a weekend in Sonoma, we encountered the latest in two back-to-back visits. Welcome to the new world of the ultra-private, personalized wine tasting. Honor Mansion.It began with a word of mouth referral from our B&B in Healdsburg, Honor Mansion, itself a small boutique outfit where the owners Steve[...]