The Sonoma Spiel

There's no physical bridge between Maui and Sonoma, but there is a spiritual one. Our friends from the Maui Visitors & Convention Bureau just happened to be in the San Francisco Bay Area to talk about why you should go visit Maui now, and we tricked them into coming onto the podcast. (We told them they would be our Very Special Guests, and This Time We Mean It.) Sherry Duong and Leanne Pletche...

Rancher, hay baler, contractor, winemaker... if Steve Ledson sat in our podcast studio any longer he probably would have admitted to several other jobs he has had over a varied life in and around the Sonoma Valley. This week on the Sonoma Spiel podcast he talks about growing up in the northern Sonoma Valley area of Kenwood and exploring the woods that would become public parks like Annadel and Sug...

Ginny Krieger with the Sonoma International Film Fest is back on the Sonoma Spiel podcast (three-peat!) to talk about the upcoming film festival (March) and the more than 100 films showing during the big event. Like all the SIFF events there is a curious culinary component and this year it's a fiesta of Italian cooking with "Marcella's Italian Dinner,"  celebrating legendary Marcella Hazan. (This...

You can't swing a cat without knocking over a baby sheep in Sonoma Valley in Spring - and Paul Giusto, a three time repeat guest, is back on the Sonoma Spiel to talk Highway 12 Winery and Sonoma Sips.  While we get the important words out of the way - namely the ones we aren't supposed to say on the radio- we then dive into winemaking, what it's like running a small winery and how to make wine in...

Kathy Witkowicki stumbled into setting up a wildly successful public speakers program when she failed at being retired (life got boring) and Gavin Newsom couldn't make it to an event, but his interesting, film-making wife could. The outcome was the Sonoma Speakers Series, an all-volunteer organization that puts together a world-class program with experts on arts, politics, media, science and sport...

Of course we started the podcast with a report from our trip to the Sonoma Farmers Market, because this week we had a very special guest - and this time we actually mean it- Clark Wolf, the energetic, food-obsessed, speaking-a-mile-a-minute food consultant and radio show host. And cheesemonger. And writer.  Clark rips rapid-fire into tales about Ig Vella, MFK Fisher, Alice Waters, Anthony Bourdain...

Dennis & Diane Mitchell won the Sonoma County "Visitor Center Volunteers of the Year" award and in spite of that pedigree, still came on the Sonoma Spiel podcast.  Though they haven't been volunteering for a long time (two and a half years), they have deep experience working in the wine industry, starting in the Livermore Valley. But wait, they've also worked for several dot-com companies (in...

The Napa to Sonoma Half-Marathon is one of the top runs in the United States, and includes the half-marathon and a 5K fun run, in addition to a food and wine celebration.   Local runner Gretchen Schoenstein talks about the race and the route that takes runners from the vineyards of Napa (where you might see a hot air balloon!) past rustic barns to the farms and wineries of Sonoma Valley, ending up...

"Wine supported my France habit..."  Lori Varsames started in Vermont, studied French, ended up in France doing bike tours, learning about wine, then selling French wine, then moving to New Mexico in search of change, met her husband, and then landed in... Sonoma Valley. Not to strike it rich, but to strike it well. This week on the Sonoma Spiel podcast, Lori talks Sonoma Wellness, especially as i...

He performed the intro music, he did the outro music, he edited the podcast AND he makes sure the mics are plugged in: Bob Taylor from Sonoma TV and KSVY is our Very Special Guest (this time we actually mean it) and we review the year passed and the year ahead. We debate whether or not chocolate chip cookies are actually Christmas cookies (no) and if Bob should eat cookies with nuts (also no, as h...

George Rose is an award-winning photographer whose career has taken him from hard news in LA and celebrity portraits to in-house PR and photographer for some of the best wineries in California.  He stops by the Sonoma Spiel podcast to discuss the convoluted way California allocates water and how many communities rely on shipping it from wet Northern California to drier Southern California through...

Angie Sanchez started the Hola Vida Collective to showcase unique gifts and foods from and inspired by Mexico. Located "right next to the Red Grape (Sonoma's go-to pizza place)" the store has handicrafts and gifts and art that with a Latino flair. "Sonoma Valley is Michoacan, Oaxaca and Jalisco," Sanchez notes, rattling off the home regions for the majority of Mexican immigrants to Sonoma. In addi...

Hey everyone - not your typical podcast this week. This is the recap of the brightest night in wine country: The Lighting of the Sonoma Plaza. Enjoy! If you want to watch the whole show, or some of the segments, find them on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLiSa7rAVobsKpmmTmnfOjx5_W9mqu6xJq Sponsors for the Lighting of the Plaza:   Sonoma Tourism Improvement District City of So...

More than fifty years ago, forward-thinking farmers in Sonoma County created Farm Trails, the oldest organization of it's kind in the United States, dedicated to promoting local farms directly to customers. Carmen Snyder of Sonoma County Farm Trails talks about the origins of the group, their beloved Gravenstein Apple Fair and how visitors can best interact with their seasonal programs. Farm Trail...

Jose Luciano oversees the visitor centers operations in Sonoma Valley and knows where to eat and drink. He started his schooling at Purdue with plans of becoming a veterinarian, but took a detour into hospitality and a career with Marriott Hotels. In this edition of the Spiel he talks about the joys of fried Puerto Rican treats (alcapurrias), as well as where to eat in the Springs (Sante at the Fa...

"It's very stressful and I don't know what I'm doing." Everest, DJ for Sonoma K-pop Hour , thinks this applies to both life in high school as well as being a first time voter. While she is indeed a "very special guest star" and this time we actually, actually mean it, she is also a smart, witty and introspective young woman. In this episode she talks about her popular radio show, the Sonoma K-pop...

We're doing a pomme reading this week on the Sonoma Spiel with Rick from wine country's best cider shop - Pomme Cider. French for apple, Pomme has a selection of gluten-free ciders as well as champagnes and "pet-nat" wines.  We taste three ciders of the 125 we has available, and go through his journey from beer-lover to cider-swiller and what makes his shop special. Rick also answers YOUR Sonoma q...

Susan Gorin has been in political office for several decades (from school board to city council to county supervisor) and is nearing the end of her elected career. What's her take on California's crazy politics where we entrust voters with multiple ballot initiatives.? What did she want to accomplish and what was she able to get done? And does she know that one guy she just ran into at the restaur...

While most of our guests on the Sonoma Spiel podcast are well-versed in what to do during a three to four-day visit to Sonoma Valley, this week's guest has customers that stay a bit longer. Forever, even. Carolyn Fulton got her start working in restaurants in Healdsburg after high school, and has had stops at Agilent and others before she came to the city of Sonoma as the new cemetery manager. She...

Come take a few rounds on the diurnal swing - it's hot during the day, it's cool at night; harvest action is ripping along at a frenetic pace, and the Valley is abuzz with activity! What can calm us down? A kitten. Or a puppy. So Jody Purdom from Pet's Lifeline is on the podcast this week talking about how to adopt a pet in Sonoma Valley, the important work of Pet's Lifeline providing shelter, ado...

We forgot to write down our introduction when we first thought of it, so our intro is about our lack of intros. Luckily we didn't sweat it too much, because Chef Cristina Topham of Spread Kitchen in Sonoma is a laid-back very-special-guest on the Sonoma Spiel. So laid-back she won't follow the recipes exactly as written (sorry, Grandma!) but rather it's a "riff on my own interpretations of Lebanes...

The smell of harvest is in the air: open top fermenters, grapes being crushed and even the "Sonoma aroma" of fertilizer on the fields. And with harvest comes the Valley of the Moon Vintage Festival, when Sonoma Valley comes together to celebrate the hard work of the year's vintage. Robyn Sebastiani of the Sonoma Valley Vintners & Growers details all the happenings at one of the oldest agricult...

Bernie the rescue dog brought Ryan Budlong with St. Francis Winery to the Sonoma Spiel podcast to talk about the Blessing of the Animals, how to take a Vineyard Adventure through their estate to learn about how their grapes are grown and why their culinary garden is now the culinary farm. While Bernie stays pretty quiet, Ryan also details the amazing food pairing experience for which St. Francis w...

Mark Bodenhamer with the Sonoma Valley Chamber is our VERY SPECIAL GUEST this week (and we actually mean it this time) and he has the updates on all things harvest and fall related in Sonoma Valley. Mark talks about fall events like Sundays Music in the Plaza from Music in Place (free concerts), Broadway in Sonoma's finale under the stars in the "Field of Dreams" near the Montini Open Space Preser...

For more than 25 years, the Sonoma Valley Museum of Art has been showcasing local and internationally-renowned artists in their intimate space on Broadway, just a half-block south from the Sonoma Plaza.  Linda Keaton, Executive Director and Chief Curator, paints a picture of what the museum is about and why it's a great place for visitors to Sonoma. She also sketches her journey from a childhood i...