read it here
They have a nice article mostly about going to the Ceago Biodynamic Vinegarden, makes of good wine, and you can boat up to the place!
Though it's still morning, we're dying to check out Ceàgo — we'll have just a sip, we rationalize. We head north toward the lake's western shore, passing Clear Lake State Park. We briefly consider stopping here for a hike (the park has boat access as well), but decide against it, figuring that today should be all about boat rides and decadence. A few miles northwest of the park, we glimpse the dock of Ceàgo, looking like an arm outstretched in a gesture of welcome. After we've chatted with the fishermen, we tie up the boat and walk up the dock into a Mediterranean-style garden that could easily be mistaken for one beside Italy's Lake Como. A lavender-lined path leads through gardens framed by olive trees. In front of us is a courtyard where a fountain burbles and festive music plays. People come and go in and out of a tasting room tucked into a series of hacienda-style buildings. The place feels more like a spa than a winery — and in fact, it will eventually be both, Jim Fetzer tells us.
Fetzer, whose family produced an annual 2.5 million cases of wines in the 1980s and '90s, discovered Lake County as a teenager, when his father used to take him on grape-buying trips. After the Fetzer family sold the company and the name, Jim bought a 163-acre piece of prime lakefront property in the then not-so-nice town of Nice (pronounced like the city in France) and set about creating the county's first resortlike destination. He plans to break ground on the spa as well as a restaurant in two to three years.
"Lake County could be the fun center of the wine country," Fetzer says, gesturing out to the lake, where a seaplane is floating, flanked by a group of teenagers sunning themselves on inner tubes. After calling out a welcome to the group — which, it turns out, is celebrating a birthday out here on the lake — Fetzer tells us about the seaplane access he's just created, and the ferry system he's working on putting in place. He talks about Lake County's clean air (the best in the state, he claims), the lack of fog, the tremendous birdlife. "Being on the lake, making wine, it doesn't get much better," he says.
On the way back to Lakeport, at Fetzer's urging, we stop at Rodman Slough, a wetlands preserve just a few miles west of Ceàgo. We kill the engine, and slowly, an Audubon scene comes to life before our eyes: A great blue heron stands stately in the tule reeds; a grebe dives for its prey. I say that I can't believe all the birdlife here.
"Why not?" my husband replies. "It's a pretty nice place to hang out."
ahh the good life...
No comments:
Post a Comment