Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Harvest Photography in Dry Creek Valley

I love Dry Creek Valley... It is a beautiful little slice of the world located in Sonoma County. It offers a simple, rural lifestyle where you can drive along narrow winding roads passing vineyards and farmhouses where you may see fencepost signs selling natural eggs or heirloom tomatoes, olives and fresh breads... many sold on "honor system" tables by the roadside. Dry Creek Valley is also filled with some of the best Zinfandel vineyards in the world. You also find Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, Cabernet Franc and a little Chardonnay, among others. Two of my favorite wineries in this small idyllic valley are Michel-Schlumberger and Bella.

Jacques Schlumberger along with winemaker Michael Brunson have built Michel-Schlumberger into a beautiful example of a sustainably farmed benchland winery. An exhibit multimedia clip will feature the winery for it's impressive practices and trendsetting in the area of organic & sustainable farming in the vineyard.

A relative newcomer in Dry Creek, Bella Winery has seduced me with it's comfortable, non-pretentious atmosphere. It's almost new age and traditional at the same time. The wines are big and rich...tasting that "Lily Hill" Zin in the wineries hillside cave makes me one happy camper!
Bella is a small winery making handcrafted wines. The grapes are pressed in a medium size hydraulic basket press. These little gems employ old world pressing technique & design in shiny modern stainless steel versions with computer monitored accuracy.