Sitting in dappled light shading myself from the midday sun, with rolling vineyards spread out for miles in front of me, I could be on holiday in rural Italy or France. It’s only the cowboy boots on the man pouring me a crisp glass of wine that give my location away: I’m in California.
Or to be more exact, in Demetria Estate and Vineyards, high on a hill in Los Olivos in the Santa Ynez Valley, located in Santa Barbara County. After lucking out and getting a ticket for a Joni Mitchell concert at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles late last year, I decided to spend the build-up to the gig with San Francisco Bay Area friends, a couple who’ve lived there for several years. Dave is a Corkonian like myself who’s long settled in the US, while Amanda is Filipino-American and grew up in Long Beach. From them, I learned the key to Californian life: go where the locals go, take advantage of the freeways – and don’t forget to relax.
I base myself at their midcentury home in Pleasant Hill, a bustling town of 34,000 people that’s a 30-minute drive (traffic-dependent) from San Francisco. My trip begins in earnest on the way from San Francisco Airport after a direct flight from Dublin, when we take a short detour to Panorama Park on Yerba Buena Island. With 360-degree views of the Bay Area, this newly built park offers me the chance to get my head around my home for the next week. Taking in the glinting blanket of blue bay, dotted with islands and ringed by golden hills, I can see just how epic the Bay Area is.
But we don’t confine ourselves to the bay. While the Bay Area is the region surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, I discover that within easy driving distance are parts of Central California, and if you’re willing to spend a bit more time in the car, Southern California.
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As the third-largest state in the US, California is huge. So it made sense to travel as far and wide as we could from our Bay Area base. I soon recognised that this part of California is like a choose-your-own-adventure holiday. There’s so much to do that you’ll be planning your return trip while you’re there. The weather in San Francisco can be temperamental (its rolling fog even has its own name, Karl), but in the towns away from the bay and into Central California, you can expect the warm summers and mild winters characteristic of a Mediterranean climate.
While outdoorsy types will find themselves drawn to the beaches and national parks, I’m chiefly interested in sampling the food and wine. The renowned wine country – think Napa and Sonoma – has undulating valleys that provide a snug home to some 1,700 wineries. It’s believed the first vines were planted there by missionaries in the 18th century, with the 19th century California gold rush kicking off the wine industry proper. Two decades ago, the film Sideways brought the Santa Ynez Valley’s wines to global attention.
Our wine country visits centre around Napa Valley. Our first tasting is at Bouchaine Vineyard, a sustainable family estate. After sampling seven different Bouchaine pinots while overlooking its vineyards, I can see the appeal of spending the day imbibing wine country’s delights.
‘It’s not often you can say that a kale and broccoli salad is one of the best things you’ve ever eaten, but Pico in Los Alamos proves just how glorious California’s local produce can be’
Over the next few days we sample other wineries, including the low key and high quality Bread and Butter Wines in Napa; Mumm Napa, a must-visit for sparkling wine lovers; and the exquisite Stanly Ranch in Napa, where lunch at its Bear restaurant is an affordable way of taking in its high-class surroundings.
We also journey to nearby Sonoma Valley for dinner at Valley Restaurant and Bottle Shop on Sonoma Plaza, which confirms my belief that California is a vegetarian’s dream. Salads are piled high with crisp local greens, powdery wisps of grana padano, and cubes of crunchy fruit.
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Service is also taken seriously in these parts of California, with the vibe in every restaurant and winery a mix of friendly and laid-back. Everyone seems to be in a good mood – and why would you not be with this weather, food, and landscape?
Of course, we couldn’t ignore the big city, and being based in the Bay Area means a chance to take an afternoon trip to San Francisco. We eschew the faster Bay Bridge linking Oakland and San Francisco to take a longer journey so we can enter the city via the iconic Golden Gate Bridge. This involves a stop-off at the picturesque Sausalito, a small but chic town in Marin County that’s right on the sea edge and provides stunning views of the San Francisco skyline.
Sausalito is adjacent to the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, a collection of parks that take in 95km of shoreline. There are also some military fortifications, such as Fort Baker, a former US Army post. We park at its small harbour and snap the Golden Gate Bridge as it arches across the glassy bay. Most tourists opt for a different spot nearby, but Fort Baker is quieter and has better views of the bridge.
After lunch in Mamahuhu on Clement St in San Francisco (a delicious casual Chinese-American spot opened by Brandon Jew, who’s behind the Michelin-starred Mister Jiu’s) and some book shopping across the road in Green Apple Books (which has a sizeable collection of Irish authors), we drive up and down San Francisco’s exhilarating hills, stopping off for a quick photo at Sutro Baths and to marvel at its windswept landscape.
Soon it’s time to go see Joni Mitchell. With LA a five-hour drive from Pleasant Hill via the I-5, we break up the trip by spending one night in the small town of Los Alamos in the Santa Ynez Valley. At the Alamo Motel, located dead centre of this tiny strip on its main street, Bell Street, we find cosy rooms with standing baths and old-world western charm. (It’s recently been renovated to great effect.)
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For such a small town, Los Alamos packs quite a punch on the food front. After a visit to the aforementioned Demetria Estate & Vineyards, a 25-minute drive from Alamos, we have dinner at Pico on Bell Street, a fine-dining spot with a welcoming vibe. It’s not often you can say that a kale and broccoli salad is one of the best things you’ve ever eaten, but Pico proves just how glorious California’s local produce can be. There is more fine fare to be found at the busy Bob’s Well Bread Bakery & Café the next morning. The long queue is testament to its high-quality offerings – this is the sort of place where a carrot, sprouts and hummus sandwich leaves you reeling with delight. Seriously.
Also a 25-minute drive from Los Alamos is the Danish town of Solvang, which is a real curiosity. Originally home to the Chumash people, a Spanish mission was set up there in 1804 (there are 21 missions dating from the 18th century stretching from San Diego to Sonoma), and it was settled by a group of Danish Americans in 1911.
Since 1947, these locals have prioritised Danish architecture, with the result that it feels like a Danish theme park. Even in the sunny October afternoon, it has a Christmassy vibe. We pop into the buzzy Final Girl Wines, a new addition to the main street for a sampling of their delicious offerings.
With Joni Mitchell’s gig taking place in the Hollywood Bowl, high above LA’s colourful and gritty West Hollywood area, we stay at the modern W Hotel on Hollywood Boulevard for the night. To see Mitchell live is magic, with a crowd of everyone from old-school hippies to young teenagers. I can see exactly why Mitchell and her Laurel Canyon peers had fallen so hard for California, a state with so many sides to it.
All too soon, Dave, Amanda and I are back on the I-5 and bound for my final day in Pleasant Hill. My holiday ends where it began, with a visit to Panorama Park on the way to the airport. This time, when I look out – teary-eyed – at the Bay Area view I can recall wonderful winery experiences, delicious dining and our travels on those freeways which seem to stretch to infinity. But there is the happy promise, too, of all that I haven’t experienced, and the dream of future visits to come.
