Beltane Ranch

The most beautiful part of Sonoma county, well, except for the coast, and the redwoods and....is the Sonoma Valley. We live at one end of it and it ends near the city of Sonoma then widens out to the Carneros region which is more or less between Marin and Napa counties. There is much talk of the need to widen Highway 12, a two lane road which  is lined with vineyards and bordered by the Sonoma hills on one side and and the Mayacamas mountains on the other,  but I think it would ruin the peace and beauty of this lovely area.

This morning we drove along Highway 12 to Beltane Ranch to pick up some wine (No Turkeys Left Behind, a red blend, El Nopal rosé, two Sauvignon Blancs and a zinfandel). This a working ranch with sheep keeping down the weeds in the vineyards, chickens with an old Airstream trailer for their coop and several resident burros and longhorn cattle, but it is also an Inn and a spectacularly beautiful place to have a wedding. We have also been there for  wine and cheese under a huge oak tree, a paella dinner next to the vegetable garden and a party to pick up  wine and meet Wally the Wooly Weeder, a bummer lamb who was raised by the shepherd and other staff members.... 

We stopped by the Sonoma Valley Regional park for a walk in the hills with Spike. It's the height of the wildflower season and in addition to the sea of grasses rippling in the wind, we encountered  wild Douglas iris, mustard, fennel and many other kinds of wildflowers. 

We could have stopped at VJB for coffee and to pick up more wine but decided to save that for another day.