Omelets? Petaluma; Sonoma Wine Tasting; A $4.55 Dinner

Today we thought we might get up early to enjoy breakfast at the Coast Guard galley, where their culinary students serve up made-to-order omelets. The only problem was that the galley’s hours of operation were 0615-0700, to fit a military work day. That meant a 0530 reveille so I could walk the puppies while Suzanne meditated. Option B was to be lazy and get up when we felt like it. You guessed it, Option B won out. At 0730, we “rolled out of the rack” and started our day. Omelets would have to be prepared by Chef Ty, who is actually quite adept in creating gastronomic delicacies when the occasion warrants. The smell of bacon and strong coffee got Suzanne going as I prepared omelets with feta, onions, red bell peppers, tomatoes, and salsa. Then a 5 mile run on the Coasties’ PT trail and we were ready for a tough day of sightseeing. 


On the way, we passed through old Petaluma; this town was settled by the Spanish in the 1770s, and later became known as the egg capital of the world (the egg incubator was invented here by Lyman Byce in 1879), and was called "Chickaluma". It also had several brothels on its main street, one of which is now a pizzeria. Petaluma is known for its many adobe buildings in excellent condition for their age, and many of which survived the San Francisco Earthquake without significant damage.This is the old Petaluma train station; Suzanne, being a train engineer’s daughter, couldn’t resist taking a photo. 

Neither Suzanne nor I have been to Sonoma before; we were anxious to see the vineyards and the wineries, so off we went to see if all the hype about California wines was accurate. Being very conservative, we were only going to visit two vintners, Chateau St. Jean and Ty Caton’s. (Unfortunately, he’s not a distant cousin; that would really have been Good Fortune!)  It was a 40 minute drive from the Coast Guard base to Kenwood, north of Sonoma, where both wine tasting rooms were located. This signboard shows only some of the wineries in the area.

The first stop, Chateau St Jean, was easy to find, because it was a very elegant former private estate, but surrounded by acres of vines heavy with grapes. 

The weather, again today, was perfect; sunny and warm. It must rain here, but we haven't seen but a trace or two during our time in California.

Okay, it’s been 4 hours since breakfast, so we’d better have something to eat before the wine starts flowing. Suzanne is a “Grazer”; she found several displays of grape seed oil, olive oil, tapenade, and jellies with bread for tasting. They were all delicious, but we decided to get a substantial sandwich and a glass of wine to keep us going. Eating lunch on the Chateau’s patio was a real treat. The wine, their house Chardonnay, was very good, but nothing like we were about to experience...

Before signing in for the tasting, Suzanne decided that I needed a new cycling jersey to match one of the vintages we were about to sample. I’m not ready to sign up for next year’s Tour de France, but at least I’ll look pretty good biking around The Villages. Brian, our wine tasting host, was very knowledgeable in explaining the vineyard’s selection; a flight of five wines was only $15, and we had a two for one ticket, so the damage to the wallet wasn’t too bad... unless you add in the wine we bought... well, we won’t go there. Let’s just say that the wine you get at these tastings is an order of magnitude better than the wine we usually buy at the grocery store.

Our next stop, at Ty Caton’s, was even better. Caton’s is a boutique vineyard, meaning that their wines are produced in lots of only a few hundred cases, rather than the thousands that the big guys produce. Their wine tasting rep, George Delano, is a distant cousin of FDR’s. He is also a winemaker, and a real wine expert. He gave us more time and advice than we could have expected, and we were glad that we had arrived on a Monday and not a Saturday, when they are much busier.

Neither Suzanne nor I normally care much about shopping, but this afternoon we seemed more inclined to check out the displays. This one, a cookbook for guys, caught my eye... 

George was posing for this photo with his girlfriend; she looked more than a little familiar... she is advertising the winery's Stimulus Package. Maybe more businesses should follow this marketing technique...

On the ride home, after some Starbucks coffee, I drove while Suzanne reflected on the afternoon’s activities. She seemed to be having some difficulty remaining awake; it must have been that long run this morning... 

After our wine tastings of some more than excellent fine wines, we arrived back at the Coast Guard Training Center in time for dinner at the galley. We were anticipating some gourmet creations by the culinary students, perhaps veal scallopini, filet mignon, something really special; here is the menu we found posted for today’s dinner. (Philly cheese steak sandwiches, onion rings, mixed veggies, salad, fruit, and dessert.) 

As it turns out, there are many more students who show up for lunch rather than for dinner. (I’m not sure whether that’s a cause or an effect...) In any case, for $4.55 per person, we couldn’t complain. I think the wine affected Suzanne’s taste buds, because she didn’t find the onion rings as appetizing as did I. You certainly couldn’t complain about portion size; the servers put more food on our plates than we needed. And the patio dining was a treat. The simple meal certainly didn't diminish Suzanne's "enSuzyasm"!  All in all, it was a fun day. Tomorrow, though, No Wine!