Good Stuff in Wine Country Pairing With Fritz Cellars


LOST WEDDING RING FOUND YEAR LATER


By Ron Skaar


SANTA ROSA, CA. ~ One evening over a year ago, Don McGuire, owner of Pops Affordable Rototilling, dis- covered that his wedding band was missing from his left finger. He was upset not just because it was 14K white gold, but had been on that finger for over 54 years! The good news: He thought he knew where it was. That after- noon he had done some roto- tilling for Marion Knox on Mill Street in Santa Rosa. The bad news: It was probably under 12 inches of dirt! He called Marion, then he and his wife Barbara went back to look at the tilled area. They searched for a long time, but to no avail. A few days later he bought an identical replacement.


Case closed?


Not quite! Over a year later, while


GREEN


raking leaves under her apple tree Marion glimpsed some- thing shiny peeking out from a clump of leaves. Sure enough. It was the ring that Don never expected to see again. There are two embel- lishments to this story. Don, being happily married, had no use for two wedding rings, so Byron Blodgett of Jewelry Tech in Railroad Square gave him a very fair price for the replacement ring and reduced the size of his old ring. Also, when Don picked up his old ring Marion gave him some of her Gravenstein apples with which Barbara made a deli- cious pie. Sweet ending to a sweet story!


WINDSOR, CA. ~ In the late 1970’s, San Franciscan Jay Fritz built a wine cellar into the side of a mountain atop the northernmost region of the Dry Creek Valley. In 1978 The Lost Canyon Winery began in a garage amidst the Montclair Hills of California. This urban winery was soon established in a renovated 1900’s ware- house on the waterfront in Oakland. A decade later, a couple of winery brats were born into vin- tage friendly fami- lies and now are partners at Dom Whitney Wines. All three of these, and more,


are


part of a new tasting lounge


across from the train station in Windsor. This place invigo- rates the traditions of old and aligns them with the passions of


the future. Fritz Cellars produces double award win- ning Pinot Noir and Zinfandel


wines. Lost Canyon features three prominent Pinot Noir vineyards in the Russian River Valley, Los Carneros and Sonoma Coast appellations. The “brats”, Dominic Foppoli and Whitney Opperman met in the vineyards and bring with them generations of family wine passion. Dominic also provides the Foppoli Family wines and Benevolo wines, while Whitney has joined forc- es to produce the Friends label, also available on site. The lounge ushers in the future where eight differ- ent wineries provide thirty different varietals, hopefully satisfying all tastes, under one roof.


My host, Clayton Fritz


pours a taste of the 2011 Vino Valpredo, Bianca Mia whose label celebrates his wife and daughter. This blend of 60/40 Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc is crisp with a fine cit- rus acidity and mineral notes. The Vino Valpredo 2010 Chardonnay is light on oak


Continued on page 8...


UPBEAT TIMES • April 2013 • 5


I Love it Here!


Presley Finds everything at Western Farm Center!


Presley is a 3 year old Chihuahua Min-Pin and pretty much knows what he wants when he wanders through the store, owners Casey & Justin tell us. They have come to WFC for over fi ve years and heard about WFC through the V.I.P. clinics held every Sunday on the premises. They come here because other stores really don’t have the complete selection that WFC has and people are very knowledgeable and friendly. “We get all our pet supplies from this store!”


place to shop for your pets & farm animals! Since 1967 we’ve been the favorite Vaccination clinics every Sunday from 9:30am to 11:30 am


www.westernfarmcenter.com Open Mon-Sat 8am-5:30pm • Sun 9:30am-4pm


The man who never alters his opinions is like standing water, and breeds reptiles of the mind. ~ William Blake UPBEAT TIMES • April 2013• 5


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