Slow Food Nation '08

Sunday, August 31st | 8:30am - 4:30pm (8 hrs)

A savory sampling from Sebastopol and Santa Rosa. A little something for everyone in orchard and vineyard land. Hosted by Slow Food Russian River.

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General Itinerary

• Taylor Maid Farms Coffee – When Taylor Maid is roasting their coffee, the whole town of Sebastopol won’t smell like coffee because of their environmentally friendly roaster. Not only does it recycle heat and smoke, but as a business Taylor Maid does everything they can to be green. One of the green things they do is to reuse and refill the 10oz iconic Taylor Maid Farms coffee can, all day every day, at their outlet store for $5.00. You’ll learn a bit about the coffee industry and also a bit about this fabulous 15 year old organic coffee roastery in the heart of the wine country and taste the freshest seasonal coffees available!
• Sebastopol Farmer’s Market – Taste Yucatan tamales from Mateo Granados, wander around and see the abundance of Sonoma County’s local farms and meet some farmers. Enjoy the sights, smells and sounds a this thriving outdoor market.
• Redwood Hill Farm – Tour the cheesemaking facility and taste their various goat cheese with Slow Food Presidia Gravenstein apples. For over 30 years, Redwood Hill Farm has been committed to producing the best tasting and least processed goat milk products available anywhere.
• Gourmet Mushrooms – Tour this unique facility and sample something savory with mushroom. Gourmet Mushrooms, Inc. has pioneered exotic mushroom cultivation for almost 30 years and is considered a world leader in this field – catering to the world’s finest chefs.
• DeLoach Vineyards – End the tour with a relaxing al fresco lunch on the beautiful lawn area adjacent to the vineyards. Experience terroir-driven Pinot Noir while enjoying offerings from the half-acre organic garden which provides not only the freshest ingredients for cooking, but also medicinal herbs and botanicals and biodynamic plants for the upkeep of the vineyards.

Cost: $139

For a longer, slower description, please read on:

About an hour north of San Francisco is the famous wine and apple-growing region of Sonoma County. This journey will take you into the little town of Sebastopol, named by Russian fur traders in the early 1800’s and home to the Ark Presidia Gravenstein apple.

The first stop on your journey will be for coffee…but not just any coffee. At Taylor Maid Farms you will bet to hear the story of the life of a Fair Trade coffee bean from the farmer to your cup. President and Green Buyer Mark Inman has come to be the voice in the specialty coffee industry for issues concerning sustainable agriculture, environmental stewardship, green entrepreneurship and social justice. His tireless campaign to improve environmental and social conditions in the coffee industry, as well as voicing his support for the small farmer movement, has taken him from local classrooms in the United States to remote coffee laboratories in the hills of Nicaragua and from Washington D.C. to the floor of the United Nations. You will taste some of this wonderful freshly roasted coffee and then walk over to the Sebastopol Farmer’s Market.

While you stroll through the lively market, meeting local farmers and crafts people, you will sample a taste of Mateo Granada’s Yucatan tamales of either pulled pork or chicken. You’ll hop back into the bus and head a few minutes down the Gravenstein Highway to the Redwood Hill Farm yogurt and cheese-making facility. This plant grew from a small home farm (where the goats are still raised) when owner Jennifer Bice out-grew the space. They still use the same natural approach to animal husbandry (happy goats!) and cheese-making techniques they have used for the last 30 years. You’ll taste an array of their delicious goat cheeses along with our famous Slow Food Presidia Gravenstein apples.

Next stop is minutes away, where we will tour the Gourmet Mushroom growing facility, where you will witness how the world leaders in exotic mushroom cultivation do their thing – fascinating! You will sample some of those fabulous mushrooms before you head on to your final destination – DeLoach Vineyards. Here, you’ll end the tour with a relaxing al fresco lunch by winery chef Cyndicy Coudray, using all local good, clean and fair ingredients, sitting adjacent to the vineyards. Meet DeLoach owner Jean-Charles Boisset and drink terrior-driven Pinot Noir while enjoying the offerings from the organic garden. Learn about their transition to bio-dynamic practices and take a peak at their honeybee hives, an essential part of any wholistic growing area.

You can relax on comfortable coach-ride back to your hotel and rest up for Slow Food Nation evening activities.