Russian River

 We escaped the rainy redwoods and headed south into wine country along the Russian River. Grapevines grow wild along the river, but they’ll never produce fruit. Did you know a grapevine only produces grapes when it thinks it’s dying? We prune the shit out of the vine, the plant thinks it’s dying, so it produces grapes to propagate and send its seed off in hopes of survival.  Wild.

 

When you are literally surrounded by vineyards but don’t drink wine, the next best tasting is olive oil! Chacewater Winery and Olive Mill has a terrific sampling menu of various olive oils with sourdough bread bites. From the mild Manzanillo to the robust Tuscan and the flavored Blood Orange and Meyer Lemon, we enjoyed our olive oil journey. The shop carries local artisan fudge made with their olive oil, so of course we enjoyed that, too!