Sonoma is the land of blackberries, apples, and grapes

Sparta woke early yesterday and immediately demanded a long walk so we stopped by the Visitor's Center in Sebastopol, a good place to get information and coupons for free tastings (vineyard tastings are higher priced here than in Santa Barbara).  They told us about the wonderful trail systems.  Though we kept Sparta on the leash the whole time, she still had a marvelous time during our two hour walk along mostly paved trails lined with delicious blackberries.  We had to stop occasionally to devour these plump beauties.  The trail also has eucalyptus trees and is fragrant with lovely smells.  The people and dogs we met were friendly and enjoyed talking.  After our hike we stopped by Dutton Goldfield to sample their wines and found all of them to be solid, well-balanced boutique finds.  Our favorites were the Gewurztraminer, Syrah, and Zinfandel  (Susan and Frank, one of your wines will be their Zinfandel).  Next we went to a couple of wineries we didn't think were very good, kind of ordinary and over-priced.  Then we discovered a little town called Occidental and bought some fabulous bread at their bakery.  We also stopped by a general store and picked up a couple of mouth watering sandwiches.  Back on the wine trail we stopped by Russian River Vineyards and bought their Cabernet Sauvignon (we drank that with our roasted chicken last night) . . . .we also bought a full sized bottle of great port. . . .guess I shouldn't call it port because they aren't allowed to do that since Port only comes from Portugal.  Sparta met the vineyard dog, Chester, and broke his heart when we left . . . he came running after her as we got to the car and told her he didn't want her to leave.  It was so cute.  Back on the trail our final find of the day was at Hartford Family vineyards where we bought another bottle of Zinfandel.  Last night we baked a whole chicken with celery root, onions, and green bell pepper . . . we also made a German potato salad.  It was a great meal with a lovely wine . . . .Sparta particularly enjoyed the chicken with her dinner.  Today we're traveling to Hog Island for oysters.