This past Sunday, we decided jump in the car to escape the unusual heat wave (80-90 degrees!) in the Bay Area. Destination? A drive up to Bodega Bay with our picnic backpack full of goodies. Not to mention our new acrylic wine glasses and the rest of our 2003 St. Suprey Merlot. Do you think anyone will notice if we are drinking wine at the beach?
From our house, it's a short jaunt up 101,across the Golden Gate up into Marin County, exiting off of the freeway into Petaluma. Then we simply follow the signs to Hwy 1 and Bodega Bay.
The beauty on the Northern California Coast just can't be beat! And, what drive on the Sonoma Coast is not complete without a stop for some wine tasting? (Actually, I have to confess ... this might have been our first stop of the day!) We were on our way to Bodega Head when we spied "Gourmet Au Bay" along side the road - this little shop is "Sonoma Coast's only waterside wine bar, bottle shop and gift store", owned by Bob and Sissy, who really know their wine!
Gourmet Au Bay is located right on Hwy 1 in the middle of Bodega Bay - just look for their sign, next to the pink and white striped saltwater taffy shop. We stepped into a welcoming shop, extremely well stocked with all kinds of luscious-delicious wine, just waiting for us to have a sample!
Bob and Sissy have a unique idea called "Wine Surfing"; first choose 3 wines to sample from their daily menu, then your glasses are slipped into a carefully crafted "surfboard", then you carefully carry your surfboard of wine out to their beautiful view deck right on the bay! We had a wonderful time meeting people and enjoying the outstanding California ocean sunshine. I wish you were there to see the incredibly blue, blue, cloudless sky. Bodega Harbor was silk smooth - not a ripple, except for the playing of the sea lions and a few harbor seals gliding by to give us a show!
The big surprise for me, was also how Sissy and Bob had incorporated all kinds of cute, fun beach gifts mixed in with their wine selections and pretty coastal wine glasses. Can you see the hand-painted colorful buoys on the wall between the variety of candles? (Cute boy in the black t-shirt is Tom!)
Bodega Bay Beach Signs
Flip-Flop wine coasters!
Had such a great time - can't wait to go back and try more new wine varieties while sitting in the sun, waiting for a chance to spy some more sea lions! Make sure that you stop on your next Bodega Bay trip - cannot recommend highly enough. Here's their website for all the details -
http://www.gourmetaubay.com/index.html
Oh, what did we buy? A 2005 Syrah from Jus Soli, Sonoma Valley and a very nice light Fess Parker 2009 Chardonnay, and yes, we did drink the Syrah at the beach with our cheese and french bread - worked well with the chocolate pudding too!
