Last Thursday night at the Wine 2.0 Spring Fling at Crushpad in San Francisco (photoessay here), I chanced to meet Linzi Gay, Marketing Director of Clif Family Winery. I was glad to meet her and get an advance taste of the Clif Family wines she was about to pour. After all, I had just days before received four bottles of wine from this winery, plus an invitation to schedule an interview with Gary Erickson and Kit Crawford, the husband-and-wife team who own Clif Family Winery.

A quartet of true California adventure from Clif Bar Family Winery

I wrote a post last summer about Clif Bar Family Winery. But perhaps you didn’t read that post and are wondering about the winery’s unique name. Indeed, before Kit and Gary ventured down the winemaking path, they achieved great success making the Clif bars that many outdoor enthusiasts enjoy.

And how does the word Clif fit in? It’s the name of Gary’s father.

While I enjoyed the wines Linzi poured me last week, the crowded and lively atmosphere of the cavernous Crushpad warehouse didn’t lend itself quite well enough to focused study. I’ve now, however, tasted from those four bottles, and you’ll find my tasting notes below. But before you scurry down to the bottom of this post, you might enjoy taking a moment getting there: what follows is my interview with Gary Erickon and Kit Crawford.

WH: You are the folks that make Clif bars and Luna bars. Tell us the story behind your passion for the outdoors.

Gary: When I was young, my dad took the family from Fresno, and later San Francisco, to the Sierras to go camping, hiking, and skiing. I promptly fell in love with those mountains, and as I grew up it didn’t matter to me if I was on a bike, on skis, or on a climbing rope.

Kit: My parents were into camping and the outdoors, too. We took a lot of camping trips! My family is Canadian, so we often camped all over the Great Northwest. After I graduated from high school, I worked in Yosemite at a concessionaire. I did a lot of hiking, climbed a glacier, and enjoyed some great rock climbing, which I even did in high school. Mainly I went hiking and swimming in the streams. I even hiked recently with my sister in Scotland on the West Highland trail. The outdoors is so much a part of me that it’s second nature for me to work with the animals on our farm, tend the plants, and enjoy the fruits of our garden.

Gary: These days our kid joins us backpacking and climbing, and she’s on a ski team. We both still get out there a lot; in fact we’re climbing Mt. Shasta tomorrow.

WH: Imagine how much I’d love to climb that mountain with you! So how did your outdoor pursuits result in producing Clif bars?

Gary: It was a cocktail of several things occurring at the same time. It came in the form of an epiphany, an idea born on a 175-mile “accidental” bike ride! A friend and I had climbed our bikes to the top of Mt. Hamilton, which we reached at about the 125-mile mark. But somewhere along the way we realized my friend had got the mileage wrong, and we discovered we still had 50 miles to go! All I had to eat was six Power Bars, but as the evening got darker, it also got colder and I ended up vomiting; I just couldn’t eat that last Power Bar. Finally, after a long, dark and terrible descent into San Jose, we stopped at a mini-mart where I bought a six-pack of powdered donuts. I remember thinking at the time, “If I’m ever in a situation like this again, I want something I can eat.”

I decided I wanted to make a better-tasting energy bar. I owned a bakery at the time and I also worked in the bicycle industry, so I took notice of how Power Bars were being distributed. Sixteen months later, in February 1992, I launched Clif Bar & Company. Chocolate, Apricot, and Date Oatmeal were the first three bars we made; the Date Oatmeal later evolved into Oatmeal Raisin Walnut. Today we have 130 different SKUs, including sports drinks, Luna bars, and Shot Bloks.

WH: You’ve come a long way since that accidental bike ride. How did you gravitate to making wine and olive oil?

Gary: We bought property in Napa County over ten years ago. The property reminded us of the East Bay town of Fremont in the old days, with its agriculture and its beautiful scenery. We finally moved there permanently five years ago. In the time since, we have met the parents of our children’s friends, many of whom are growers and winemakers. We became intrigued by their passion for wine, and because we enjoyed wine, too, we began to explore that age-old What If? question. We rationalized that we can’t eat energy bars all day long, so let’s learn how to create wine! It was another “cocktail” of being in the right place and meeting the right people.

Kit: We have about fifteen mature olive trees on our property. Early on, I had gotten to thinking about how to pick and press them to make olive oil. I figured to learn how, and quickly realized that it was more complicated than I thought! But I rounded up the family and, for a few years, we picked and home-pressed those olives every Thanksgiving. It was labor-intensive but fun, and the oil was fabulous! Olives do really well in Napa Valley. But I had to stop asking the family to help pick every Thanksgiving because though it was fun for me, it became evident that it wasn’t particularly fun for them.

Today we still make olive oil from those trees, but we blend our olives with olives that we purchase from other local growers. Meanwhile, we practice sustainable farming methods to produce our certified extra virgin olive oil, and we’re transitioning to organic.

WH: Tell us about your relationship with Sarah Gott.

Kit: We love her! We first met her in 2005 at a health club in St. Helena. She was training for the IronMan Triathlon, and our friend and fellow triathlete Cathy Chesky introduced us. A few years later, we were looking for a winemaker. Joel Gott heard about that and contacted us via email, mentioning his wife Sarah.

It quickly became a perfect fit: we were all three into sustainability and competitive athleticism. Sarah didn’t really want to take on new business, but she was intrigued just the same; like many athletes, she was already knowledgeable about Clif Bars. It wasn’t long before she decided to become part of our journey.

I’ve really admired how Sarah managed to balance raising three small children while training for triathlons, making wine, and doing interviews with Runner’s World and Inside Triathlon magazines.

WH: You produce about 10,000 cases and just last month released your wines nationwide. Are you satisfied with your wine sales thus far?

Gary: We’re very happy with our sales thus far. As newbies in the beverage business, we are getting good response to our wines on both style and price range. It’s hard work, but it’s going really well. We’re hoping to sell all 10,000 cases in one year. Not that we’re trying to grow our business – we just want to focus on quality and sustainability. We certainly don’t want to put the brakes on Clif Bar & Company; in fact, we’re very mindful of our growth. It’s all quite exciting, even if it is time-consuming.

WH: Where do you source your grapes, and why?

Gary: Sarah takes the lead on where we get our grapes. Right now we bottle four wines. Kit’s Killer Cab and Gary’s Improv are committed to being made from Napa grapes, and the grapes for our white Climber are sourced from the Northern California appellations of Lodi, Napa, Sonoma and Mendocino. In the future, we may also source grapes from Paso Robles.

WH: Let’s hear more about that Paso Robles idea. Will there be a Rhone-style blend in the near future from Clif Bar Family Winery?

Kit (chuckling): We’ve actually gotten good leads from sustainable vineyards in Paso Robles. In fact we became fascinated by Rhone wines last summer on an trip through the Rhone Valley in France. Gary rode his bike all over the French alps.

Gary: We loved Chateauneuf du Pape, and we were impressed with the area’s wines in general. We began to ask ourselves, “could we do a Rhone wine?” So we’re toying with the idea of planting Grenache and Syrah on our own acreage on Howell Mountain.

Kit: Sarah, meanwhile, is very proactive about collaborating with us about sourcing and blending.

WH: Let’s talk more about your Howell Mountain land and its potential for producing estate wines.

Gary: Our property is technically on Howell Mountain but is not in the Howell Mountain AVA; it’s on the east side of the mountain. It’s 130 acres, most of which will remain fallow. We may only develop a total of five acres, agriculturally, with only two acres devoted to grapes. That five acres includes fruit and olive orchards. Meanwhile, there is lots of wildlife: cougars, bobcats, fox, rattlesnakes, and raptors. Because we don’t use pesticides, Kit feels good about preserving the land for its many species of birds. When replenishing the farm’s soils, we use manure from our goats, chickens, and horses.

There was an old pond on the property that was used to irrigate a 50-tree orchard. It’s since been filled in, and we use it for our vegetable garden. 2007 was the first year for the garden, and we rotated potatoes, tomatoes and melons. We actively want to see what the land produces, and we could sell seasonally at farmer’s markets. It’s a future possibility.

Kit: We are preparing for planting grapes, and we may also collaborate for storefront sales downtown. We liked that about our visit to Chateauneuf du Pape: neighborhood wineries selling their wares downtown. Why drive when one can walk around and taste twenty different wines? Perhaps you’ll someday be able to taste our wines at Sunshine Market in St. Helena.

WH: Any plans to integrate your clifbar.com website with the Clif Bar Winery & Farm website?

Gary: We would like to integrate them and be more seamless. We’ll test that next year, but first we want to get momentum with our wines.

WH: Gary, Kit, what do you both consider important?

Gary: Balance! Trying to keep balance in business and in life. Wine is a good symbol of balance. It is good to take time to relax with family and friends and have a glass of wine. We may be swamped with a lot of projects, but we have no complaints, because we feel that balancing our aspirations for our businesses is important.

Kit: Everybody’s busy. It’s easy to get sucked into running from one thing to another. It’s important that people get out to Nature! In other words, spend moments to be in the moment.

WH: That’s certainly music to my ears. And now, lastly, what would you like the readers of Winehiker Witiculture to know?

Kit & Gary: I bet we’re preaching to the choir when we say that we all have to make time to slow down. We created Clif Bar Family Winery with that in mind. Hopefully you will continue to enjoy our Clif Bar products on your hikes, bike rides and even on a busy day at the office. After those adventures, be they work or play, we look forward to introducing you to Clif Bar Family wines. Clif Bar Family Winery strives to overdeliver quality in the bottle as we continue to challenge ourselves to leave a smaller footprint environmentally.

—————————

The following four wines were created by winemaker Sarah Gott for Clif Family Winery.

The Climber California White Wine 2007: 16.5 Winehiker Points*
This unique blend of 81% Sauvignon Blanc, 12% Pinot Blanc, 4% Chenin Blanc and 3% Muscat pours a clear, pale yellow into your glass, offering a bouquet of honeysuckle and guava blossoms that is impossible not to love. Pear and gravel follow, along with a fine balance, supple body, and lovely finish.
13.5% alcohol, 5371 cases made, screwcap closure, $12.50 per bottle.

The Climber California Red Wine 2005: 14.517.5 Winehiker Points*
An intriguing blend of 42% Zinfandel, 31% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Petite Sirah, 9% Syrah and 7% Merlot, the Climber Red shows a deep garnet color in the glass, tapering to rose at the edges. Jammy black currants are underlaid by a dusty pot pourri with hints of fig to round out the mid-palate. Drink now.
14.3% alcohol, 4900 cases made, natural cork closure, $15.00 per bottle.

Kit’s Killer Cab 2005 Napa Valley: 17.5 Winehiker Points*Deep red color with violet edges. A voluptuous fruit basket of ripe blackberries, raspberries and currants with secondary notes of caramel and cedar resins. A little tannic but holding a pleasing mouthfeel and finish, suggesting an aging potential of 5-10 years or more.
14.7% alcohol, 450 cases made, natural cork closure, $35.00 per bottle.

Gary’s Improv Zinfandel 2005 Napa Valley: 18 Winehiker Points*
Similar in color to the Kit’s Killer Cab but with more rust color toward the edges. Red roses, juniper, licorice and a touch of white pepper on the nose yield to cranberries, cigars, bramble and almond on the palate. Not your typical Zinfandel, and definitely open to interpretation – hence its name. A very food-friendly wine, as a zinfandel should be – only this zin would pair best with pork roast served with a cranberry glaze; or perhaps you’ll be more inclined to pairing it with a fennel-sausage lasagna. Age potential: 3-7 years.
15.5% alcohol, 260 cases made, natural cork closure, $32.00 per bottle.

Update: Over the weekend, I sampled the three red wines again, and am happy to say that all of them, most especially the Climber Red, had improved. The Climber Red had softened noticeably, developing a much more broadly-appealing flavor and texture. As a result, I was compelled to revise my score for the Climber Red upward to 17.5.

—————————

I first tried Power Bars when they were handed out free prior to the start of the 1986 Markleeville Death Ride. For years they were the only energy bar available in any quantity. I found Power Bars hard to swallow without also gulping down most of my water; they were also too hard to chew in cold weather.

Therefore I can easily understand Gary’s desire to create a more palatable energy bar with the right amount of moistness for easy eating on the go, and I’ve been a fan ever since I switched to Clif bars in the mid-90s. I still buy them by the case at my local Trader Joe’s. But now we wine-loving adventurers can buy Clif Bar wines by the case, too.

Follow-up: As a result of this post, I got a delicious surprise.

~winehiker

*Wine scores based on the 20-point Davis scale; see my wine scoring sheet for details. Special thanks to Maggie Zeman, Managing Director of The Barn Group, for arranging wine shipment and my interview with Kit & Gary.

My hiking season is in full swing, and I’m now trekking 20 miles or so of trail each week. But it recently became apparent to me that if I am going to keep up this pace, I had better get a new pair of boots. A pair just like my old pair of Vasques, not like their replacement Vasques that I couldn’t seem to break in after nearly two full seasons.

The main reason I prefer boots over trail-running shoes is primarily due to my desire for ankle support. I’ve rolled my ankles too many times in trailrunners – suffering loss of mobility, much less good follow-up hiking – to warrant much trail exposure without sturdy support over rough terrain. Secondly, I like having plenty of tread on a stiff sole – not just for a good grip on the trail surface, but to also avoid feeling every rock and root I step upon. And thirdly is the issue of arch fatigue: the relatively less-stiff soles of trail-running shoes always seem to leave me hobbled after any hike over six or seven miles.

So it was about time I walked away from traditional stiff leather backpacking boots, spend a little of my recent tax windfall, and buy myself a more flexible pair.

Now I’m not one to be so technical as to devour all the gear mags nor know all the technical specs, much less all of the brands of bootwear. That said, I prefer to do my research online as needed, then go try them on. That’s just what I did a couple of Fridays ago at REI’s Mountain View store.

It was a busy evening in REI’s shoe department, with about a dozen or so people trying on shoes and boots, a handful of well-behaved children, and three staffers who were quickly but competently making tiger butter out of themselves in efforts to retrieve their customers’ selections. It was no stretch to imagine that most of these patrons, if not all of them, had immediate weekend plans.

I browsed the available supply of boots on the racks, mentally checking off those I’d been attracted to online, then narrowed my selections down to three pairs of boots that I felt were worth trying on. Before I’d walked up, though, I’d already snagged a few needed pairs of hiking socks and sock liners, since I tend to wear out at least four pairs of each every season. I opened one package of each and slipped them on in prep for a boot-lacing frenzy.

I snagged a passing staffer who, within moments, had me walking the store in a pair of Montrail Torre GTX boots, a leather/Gore-Tex hybrid with a Vibram sole that, while it looked like a comfortable and long-lasting boot, just didn’t seem to feel right after a couple flights of stairs. The second pair, a leather/nylon/Gore-Tex combo dubbed the Asolo Fugitive GTX, was a little too small in the toe and constricted the tops of my feet, despite a little mid-walk loosening of the laces.

I had saved the Vasque Breeze Gore-Tex XCR boots for last, and now tried them on. Instantly I knew that these were the boots for me! But I walked the store in them anyway, climbing and descending the store’s staircases and jumping around upon the shoe department’s miniature rock slope. These leather/nylon/Gore-Tex boots are designed less for backpacking and more for day hiking, but seem to offer the stiffness and support that I desire. What I like about them is that they add a little extra flexibility while removing a bit of the bulkiness of a full-on leather backpacking boot.

The following day, I walked 10 easily-graded miles in the Marin Headlands with no foot fatigue. Sunday, however, found me gliding over 11 hilly miles at Long Ridge Open Space Preserve as if I had wings. It didn’t take a couple of evening hikes last week and a fast-paced hike up strenuous Black Mountain this past Saturday to tell me that I am simply infatuated with my new Vasque boots.

What’s really cool, though, is that I was able to return the previous pair of Vasques – the Wasatch GTX model – which were never quite comfortable. I can’t rightly explain why I chose to Walk Hard so long before replacing them, but the fact that I could furnish a receipt dated July 2006 and get my money back from those nice folks at REI in April 2008 is an incredibly beautiful thing.

And that’s just another good reason why, for years now, I’ve been referring to REI as “Russ Equipment Incorporated”.

~winehiker

Wine 2.0 is, apparently, the confluence of wine and technology that results in purple teeth. Without a whole lot of fanfare, I hereby offer photos from last night’s Wine 2.0 Spring Fling at Crushpad in San Francisco. Many thanks to Cornelius Geary and Jeff Playter of Rad-Cru for hosting what many folks felt was a very successful evening.

Before the human onslaught, a pre-wine moment: Say hello to WineQ.com‘s Marshall Sontag & Brittany Dean, and Wine Biz Radio‘s Randy Hall.

That tall fella is Jeff Stai (a.k.a. El Jefe) of Twisted Oak Winery. To his left are Randy Hall and Patrick Llerena (a.k.a. Oenophilus) of Iridesse Wines. That’s yours truly on the left, blinded by the light, but already purply-teethed. Go figure.

El Jefe, flanked by those ubiquitous rubber chickens, pours his popular Syrah for a couple of the wine industry guys. Note the Twister mat as table cover.

Philip James of Snooth.com flew in from Manhattan for his first Wine 2.0 experience, and for good reason: the networking potential on this night made for an incredible blur of flying business cards.

That’s me and Cameron Hughes. His wines exhibited enormous purple-stain potential, especially Number 69, which *ahem* showed good legs.

~winehiker

• I’ve been recruited as a spy!
  At the risk of blowing my cover, I want to alert you to a one-day-only 20% deal I’ve uncovered on an Oakville-appellation Cabernet Sauvignon. It’s your mission, should you decide to drink it. But do it on April 25, 2008!
  (tags: wine cabernet deal spy spies oakville)

• Wine 2.0: The confluence of wine and technology
  I’m a registered trade member of Wine 2.0, and tonight I’m attending their gala in San Francisco, featuring winemakers, wine marketers, and wine bloggers from near and far.
  (tags: 2.0 blog community technology vino web wine)

Oops – should I have said that? Whoa, I’ve just blown my cover!!!

Uh-oh. Now I’ve gone and done it! Suddenly, it’s cloak and dagger time! Sheesh, I’m going to have to spend the remainder of my days constantly looking over my shoulder for Impy the Midget!!

But seriously: there’s an organization called The Wine Spies, and they’ve recruited me to be an agent. And my control - we’ll call him Agent Red – has been in contact with me recently to uncover the truth behind the Oakville Ranch label, specifically to infiltrate their 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon. A wine which, incidentally, will be available for sale – one day only – on The Wine Spies’ website tomorrow.

The price? Only 48 American dollars.* (Typical retail price: $60. Yes, you’ve just uncovered a real deal.)

The 2004 Oakville Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon could be yours as soon as tomorrow! No covert action required.

Due to unforeseen back-channel logistics, this newly-commissioned Agent Winehiker has not yet tasted the wine. (I claim plausible deniability.)

And yet this operative suggests that when the operative word is Oakville, your mission, should you decide to drink it, is to run, not hike, to The Wine Spies’ website tomorrow, Friday April 25th.

As for my own mission, I have secured the product. Espionage awaits!

*That’s $48 per bottle. Plus, you can get Free Ground Shipping if you buy a minimum of 4 bottles and enter Agent Red’s Exclusive Winehiker-Only promo code, “SPYHIKER”.

~agent winehiker

[More spy stuff here.]

I am involved in a social community local to the San Francisco Bay Area called Bay Area Linkup. I’ve been hosting hiking events with this group for nearly five years and wine-tasting events for the past three, and I’ll continue to do so simply because I’m having the time of my life.

While my hiking events often occur on weekends, the tasting events I’ve hosted have typically occurred on weeknights; that’s just how it fits my schedule. However, that kind of scheduling hasn’t particularly allowed guests who might be coming to Sunnyvale – where I live – from much farther than the local San Jose-Palo Alto corridor. Alas, most of the wine-loving membership on Bay Area Linkup exists in San Francisco – about 50 miles away – and there simply isn’t enough critical mass in the South Bay. And, after all, a night involving alcohol followed by a long drive and another day at work is not easy to bear, nor something I readily condone.

Therefore I’m hereby opening up the possibilities to a wider audience.

If you plan to be in the area on the evening of Thursday, May 8th and would like to participate in a group evaluation of six top-flight Central Coast Chardonnays, write me at winehiker [@] californiawinehikes [dot] com, and I’ll be happy to send you some details. (Cost is $30, in advance via PayPal.)

But hurry! Those that pay first, play first, and I only have five seats available at the time of this posting.

Thanks! I hope to clink glasses with you.

~winehiker

‘

This Earth Day – and every day – consider asking yourself if you are truly changing your habits to do the things that really matter.

• Are you using low-flow shower heads?
• Are you considering the type and amount of packaging in the products you buy?
• Are you using canvas shopping bags for your groceries instead of paper or plastic?
• If you have a lawn, have you opted to use a push mower instead of a power mower?
• When you barbecue, are you using a chimney starter (canister) as opposed to charcoal lighter fluid?
• Do you refuse to buy disposable razors, lighters, etc., when there are reusable alternatives?
• Are you recycling your used batteries properly, or just throwing them away?

I’ve changed my habits to accommodate all of these things. In fact, I’ve been practicing these “new” habits for years and, fortunately, making these adjustments hasn’t been rocket science. The plain truth is, if I can, you can! Now, more than ever before, it is time to LOVE YOUR MOTHER. After all, she’ll continue to support you your entire life, if you let her.

And yes, you do have a choice in things that really matter.

Meanwhile, here are some entertaining and informative Earth Day links worth checking out.

• Al Gore’s New Slideshow
  From TreeHugger: Uncle Sam is the Man With the Golden Arm (30 second video).
  (tags: carbon climate earth ENERGY environment video al gore)
• Huffy Green Machine: Squirting Power Full Throttle
  From Ecofriend: Worried that your pasty-faced kid spends too much time playing Wii or Nintendo? Get him a Huffy Green Machine H2O Trike with Water Guns and you’ll soon have him (or her) spending time outside where he (or she) needs to be.
  (tags: bike water gun toy play kids children fun)
• Air Cars
  Is it time for cars to run solely on air? The folks at start-up Air Car Factories are betting on it.
  (tags: air cars transportation vehicles automobiles fuel environment)
• The Venus Project – The Redesign of a culture
  When one considers the enormity of the challenges facing society today, what does it mean to be human?
  (tags: human civilization environment philosophy society world)
• Climate Change
  The EPA’s Climate Change portal references a number of informative sites.
  (tags: climate ecology education environment research resources Science)

Westerns are so much a part of American culture that it’s a rare channel-surfing moment when you won’t see at least one classic western on your TV. Like my dad before me, I cut my teeth on westerns – first in film and later in print – and they began to influence the outdoorsy person I grew to be.

I was about to enter new frontiers in my life when I wrote the following prose; I was 17 and soon to leave for college.

VASHTI

I lie here, dry-gulched, alone
Lifting my head, though I barely can
I survey the broken juniper near me
Like me, it suffers from the effects
Of ricocheting gunshots

I swear softly
And think of Vashti

With dusty hat-brim pulled low
I scan each tree within vision
For my assailants

Here I lie
Exposed, open, panting
Like an injured fawn
Surrounded by the ghosts
Of mountain lions

The sun is unbearably hot
And my forehead aches
For Vashti’s cooling caresses

My two Smith & Wessons
Are old, but they’re loaded
Yet my rifle is gone
If my aim is true
And they don’t see this bright red shirt
Before I see them moving
I might as well consider myself…

Faraway, dim reports
A small battle has ensued
And I know
I’ve got friends

Such a waste it is to take a life when
One is so unwilling a character
As I

Shots getting closer
Gotta
Keep my eyes
Peeled

Footsteps!
No…
Only my heart beating

Then a sharp heat tugs
At my shoulder
What?
Who…

My mind races
Madly
I fight to
Turn around
Ever
So
Slowly, to meet…

Blackness.

Yet I feel something
Dim, unreal
Soft, pleasantly disturbing

Death?
Surely not Death,
For how could Death
Feel so wonderful?

No it is not Death, for my soul stirs
Sensations on my forehead
Smell of corn!

I awaken to find before me
Vashti’s brown-eyed smile

~winehiker

I’ve been wanting to write a post about an April 5th collaborative effort undertaken by five South Bay Area hiking bloggers, yours truly being among them. I’d heard about a local fourteener that was only climbable one day out of every year. I’d certainly never climbed it.

“A fourteener?” I had asked, making no attempt to conceal my mocking incredulity. “A fourteener, in Santa Clara County, California?”

I’d begun, suddenly, to wonder who put what in my oatmeal. After all, I have climbed a handful of fourteeners in my life – real mountains with summits actually measured to be at least 14,000 feet high. This notion of a peak in my own home county being a fourteener was beginning to smell like odeur d’ bull to me.

And bull it is! Well, sort of: the height of this peak is only fourteen hundred feet and change, and its name is, quite properly, El Toro. It’s a pyramid-shaped chert-and-limestone mountain – or, more appropriately, hill – that juts up prominently from the valley floor on the west side of Morgan Hill, and a landmark easily seen by anyone passing along Highway 101 in south Santa Clara County.

Morgan Hill’s pyramid-shaped El Toro Peak juts up prominently from the valley floor on the west side of town.

Being that the peak is on private land, but being that the Morgan Hill Historical Society has a relationship with the landowner, the peak is opened to public hiking access every first Saturday of April. To admire the view from atop El Toro’s commanding summit – a view that is only gained by huffing it up its steep, rough, and ornery eastern slope, one must necessarily have a little patience. With only about three miles total distance from the town’s public library to the 1,423-foot summit and back, one rubs shoulders with about 1200 or so people. People of every age, every size, and every walk, but people united by one simple fact: we’re here today because it’s there.

A lone oak greets a handful of hikers, the first of many to ascend El Toro’s lower slope.

It was only moments into this hike that we blogging hiker types were comparing the scene to that of Yosemite’s Half Dome, which regularly draws 5000 or so summiteers every summer weekend.

On the ascent: a line of early hikers climb along stair-steps carved into the steep dirt path.

So far, this climb has been easy for most people. But while it’s been cool and overcast, folks are shedding a layer or two.

Turning around for a moment – ostensibly to see the view over whence I’ve come – I spy Rebecca, who’s smiling contentedly and in her element.

Indeed, getting together with my local hiking literati was, truly, a very fun thing to do. I’ve always believed in a sentiment which suggests that we should use our computers to get away from them. But I must admit that while hiking El Toro’s steep and poison oak-strewn slopes – and especially while descending them – it was mildly amusing to us veterans how unprepared most people were for El Toro’s rough and slippery terrain. Oh, the footwear faux pas we saw!

But at least everybody was out there pursuing a lively and engaging once-a-year experience…

It didn’t matter that people had never met each other – the camaraderie was there, on the surface.

…and the views weren’t bad, either.

A lichen-covered outcropping of chert lends color, form, and contrast to this Spring morning vista.

Mule’s Ears bloom on El Toro’s western slope, just below the summit.

That’s what it’s all about: getting out there, seeing what there is to see, and coming back to tell about it, whether the destination be near or far.

Oh, what I’d give – if I had it – for just a chance to own a Syrah vineyard down there.

A lot of happy people did just that. And now I’ve added yet another fourteener to my life list. Well, sort of.

Another peak experience in a life only half full of them.

And speaking of happy people, if you’re into hiking – or even if you’re not – the following blog posts and photosets are highly recommended. I especially recommend you read Tom Mangan’s “The Fourteener of Morgan Hill,” which, to me, is simply divinely-inspired hilarity – though I’ve known Tom to be bovinely-inspired more often than not.

Check ‘em out:

• Rebecca of Calipidder’s El Toro in Morgan Hill – that Peak that beckons from 101, and her excellent photoset.
• David of Random Curiosity’s Return to El Toro and his fine photostream.
• Ann L.’s El Toro Hike on Yelp.com and her slideshow.
• Tom of Two Heel Drive’s photoessay, The Fourteener of Morgan Hill and his follow-up thoughts, Morgan Hill El Toro Hike of ’08, what I really think.

~winehiker

Friends, it’s time, once again, to play…

[Studio audience chants in unison]

…Spin! That! Wine Bottle!!

[Feigned hysteria]

Today our contestants are: wine book authors from Earth! And to start things off right, let’s give our bottle a good spin, shall we?

[Background swell of vacuum racking equipment, clacking and humming merrily]

Yes, friends! Round and round the bottle goes! Where it stops, somebody glows! And today’s winner is (barrel roll, please!): Why, it’s Wine Across America: A Photographic Road Trip by Charles O’Rear and Daphne Larkin! And they’re most deserving, I can assure you!

[Wink, tilt of head, toothy grin and grudgingly perceptible sincerity from our show's emcee as he proudly displays The Book]

So friends, just what is Wine Across America, you ask? Is it a collective wine blogger reaction to presidential politics? Is it the latest Fifth Avenue color ensemble for newly-decanted 20-something fashionistas? Could it be a continent-wide reservoir filled with wine?

Stay tuned, America, as we examine these questions – and more! – right after we break for these words…

[Fade to ubiquitous male-enhancement car commercial]

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For wine lovers in any of America’s 50 states, the lovely coffee table book that is Wine Across America isn’t your standard wine read. Indeed, if you’re really into learning about wine, this won’t be the first book you’ll reach for. But chances are you know somebody in your life – perhaps a few somebodies – who don’t have much of a clue about wine – its origins, its growing American appeal, or the passion behind all that goes into making wine. That’s why it is precisely the kind of book for the people in your life who don’t quite understand why you, as a wine lover, feel the way you do about wine.

And so, being the perfect coffee table book – and therefore an easy read – you could do well to have this book on hand for those times when you entertain family and guests who may enjoy wine, and may just find themselves attracted to its lovely photography.

For it is photography that this book showcases, in spades. After all, Charles O’Rear is a skilled photographer with a long-time emphasis on the world’s wine regions. And Daphne Larkin is a writer who specializes in conjuring words that describe all things wine. Together, this husband-and-wife team embarked on a two-year cross-country jaunt that covered 80,000 miles of American road so that they could record the country’s growing love affair with wine.

Come to think of it, this book should be a wine table book! But we’ll leave that to the wine feng shui practitioners. Suffice to say that for the newbie, Wine Across America may just have the ability to open a new – and quite personal – door to the nation’s wine country.

Indeed, this book can open many doors, as this centerfold depicting a number of America’s barrel room entrances can attest. Interestingly – if only to me – I’ve actually sauntered through four of them. Maybe five.

Charles O’Rear’s photos range from the artful…

…thru the intricate yet functional (note the shot glasses as bunghole covers)…

…from landscapes of Spring Mountain in California’s Napa Valley…

…to a tasting room scene many of us are familiar with.

Gee, I think I know that guy in the ballcap, getting a second pour from a presumably harried tasting room staffer. I would probably have offered that glass to the blonde standing nearby. It’s likely, however, that I would have quickly embarrassed myself by aiming for the spittoon and missing.

Not that the derisive laughter of pretty young women bothers me. Anymore.

Yep, there’s a story in every shot. Or, you can simply view this book as a nice, light flipper-througher. So if you’re thinking that you want to begin educating visiting friends and family about wine, this book is a fine place to start, and a stomping good time!

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The Wine Book Club (WBC) is hosted by Dr. Debs of Good Wine Under $20 and Tim Elliott of Winecast. WBC is a relatively recent phenomenon, having hosted the first of its blogger-inspired bimonthly group reviews in early March (see David McDuff’s round-up of Vino Italiano). Spin The Bottle wine book reviews like the one above are occasional individual contributions to the WBC.

I purchased Wine Across America: A Photographic Road Trip in early January, 2008 from Amazon.com for about $23 plus shipping and it arrived at my home six days later. Today it boasts a conspicuous and well-thumbed residence on my boomerang table, a place where many wine glasses have resided.

~winehiker