Thank you .. ‘Dirt du Jour’

for the glowing review! "Go ask Alice ... where all the best vineyard gardens are. She's an erudite charmer; you'll have fun!"
California Wine Country

Cool Concept ... Blending Cabernet at Conn Creek Winery

Conn Creek Winery Gardens (Photo: Alice Joyce)

Conn Creek Winery

offers Cabernet Sauvignon tastings in their AVA Room as part of a unique blending seminar for small groups (no more than 10 people).

Above photo: Outside the AVA Room

Conn Creek Winery AVA Room (Alice Joyce photo)

Participants take part in a guided walk-around barrel tasting, sampling wine from single-vineyard sites in 14 sub-appellations – AVAs – within the Napa Valley.

After learning about various techniques and approaches to winemaking, each guest will come away with a bottle they have blended.

Creating your own unique label is part of the fun.

Conn Creek Gardens (Alice Joyce photo)

Under the shade of the pergola in the Garden at Conn Creek, on Silverado Trail in St. Helena, California.

Conn Creek Entry Garden – Alice Joyce photo

New landscaping in front of the winery building & driveway entrance designed by Jonathan Plant & Associates of St Helena.

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California Wine Country

Luxurious Sonoma Lodgings .. Vintners Inn

Summer … Sonoma Wine Country
Vintners Inn – Summer Scene Photo © Alice Joyce

In the mood for a much-needed getaway?

Vintners Inn – Cast Iron Bench Photo © Alice Joyce

Lodgings at the Vintners Inn offer a luxurious retreat set within a 92-acre vineyard landscape.

Vintners Inn – Balcony to Balcony Photo © Alice Joyce

The Inn’s 3 separate buildings comprise 44 rooms and suites featuring French country decor, each with a private patio, or a balcony with lovely views. Book a room with a fireplace and Jacuzzi for a particularly heavenly respite from the workaday world.

Vintners Inn Wedding Pavilion Photo © Alice Joyce

We enjoyed drinks and a light meal in the Front Room Bar & Lounge adjacent to the famed John Ash & Co. restaurant. John Ash is known for having introduced the ‘locavore‘ approach to Sonoma County, with the creation of seasonal cuisine sourcing local ingredients.

Vintners Inn John Ash & Co Restaurant Photo © Alice Joyce

Vintners Inn

John Ash & Co.

We strolled around the new jogging path through the vineyards, with T. doing a bit of bird-watching while I enjoyed the scenery. And when morning dawned, we traveled no further than the Inn’s breakfast room, where the complimentary buffet allowed for a perfect start to another day of wine tasting amid Northern California’s myriad wineries.

The owners of Vintners Inn, Don and Rhonda Carano created a Sonoma destination garden in Healdsburg that I’ve written about many times, at  Ferrari-Carano Vineyards & Winery … included in my book, Gardenwalks in California.  Stay tuned for an update on the Ferrari-Carano gardens!

Vintners Inn Walking Path Photo © Alice Joyce

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New York

Reflection and Dialogue: Eliasson Installation - Bard College

Parliament of Reality – A permanent installation by artist Olafur Eliasson …

Olafur Eliasson Installation – Deborah Esrick photo

in the Hudson River Valley. In this environmental artwork – completed between 2006-2009 – Eliasson achieves a clarity of design with elements focusing upon an island of bluestone encircled by a pond. Commissioned for the Bard College campus in upstate New York by the Center for Curatorial Studies, the setting is embraced by a ring of 24 trees.

Eliasson Installation at Bard College – Deborah Esrick photo

Access to the island is via a bridgeway covered by a steel latticework passage.

Parliament of Reality – Photo: Olafur Eliasson Studio

In the center of the pond, the island’s circular form resonates with distinctive stone paving, forming a 12-point pattern that references the meridian lines of nautical charts and the compass.

Eliasson Installation: Deborah Esrick Photo

Born in Denmark to Icelandic parents, Olafur Eliasson found inspiration for the work in the Icelandic Parliament: the Althingi.
Eliasson Installation – Photo: Bess Reynolds

The Parliament of Reality is located on the north end of Bard’s campus, in a field near the Frank Gehry-designed Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts building.

Eliasson Installation Detail – flickr photo by yooperann
Eliasson’s Parliament of Reality – Photo: Bess Reynolds

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