Sonoma

Tom and I have many wonderful memories of living in New Zealand. Among our favorites was a weekend exploration of Hawke's Bay wine region with our Kiwi friends. It seemed only fitting that Elsie and I should resume our world-wide exploration of wine regions - this time on the U.S. soil of Sonoma.


Along with others attending the surgery conference, we took a scenic hour-long bus ride from downtown San Francisco to Sonoma. Our first stop was Artesa Winery - perched atop the highest hill of a 350-acre estate.











Artesa's architecture and winemaking traditions honor its Spanish heritage. After an informative tour, Elsie and I honored tastes of Artesa's Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Cabernet Sauvignon.

From there the tour drove us to a frustratingly short lunch stop in the city of Sonoma. We could have done some serious shopping in the charming boutiques surrounding the city square - had we had more time.

Our next stop was Kunde Family Estate, located on an 1,850-acre estate in the heart of Sonoma Valley. Five generations of the Kunde family have been producing wine for over a century.


Our tour took us through grapevines on our way to the wine cave where we learned that actor Seth Rogen had been married earlier that month, and where (more importantly) we did some barrel-tasting and sampled Kunde's award-winning Reserve Century Vines Zinfandel.

Reunion!

The American College of Surgeons' Annual Clinical Congress attracts surgeons from all over the world. We were especially thrilled that this year the conference attracted our good friends Elsie and Etienne Truter from New Zealand. Elsie and I had plotted our rendezvous in San Francisco for months and months.

The Truters became close friends during our six-month living experience in Rotorua where Tom practiced surgery with Etienne and I practiced having fun with Elsie.

San Francisco is arguably one of the best restaurant cities in the world. Choosing dining spots for the four of us was a culinary delight - a little like picking what ride to take next in Disneyland.




The task was made even easier with a little advice from my niece Beth Rasmussen. Like her mother, Beth is a true foodie. Interestingly, Beth became acquainted with Emily Luchetti, Executive Pastry Chef for the highly rated restaurant Farallon. This acquaintance led to an opportunity for Beth to serve as a "guinea pig baker" for Luchetti as she wrote her latest cookbook The Fearless Baker. Beth appears in the cookbook! Naturally, Beth arranged an autographed copy of this beautiful cookbook for her favorite Aunt Sue. And naturally, I made one of our dinner reservations at Farallon.


So our San Francisco reunion with Elsie and Etienne began with a fabulous dinner at Farallon. Non-stop chatter was interrupted only long enough to eat our memorable multi-course dinner. Needless to say, we all ordered dessert.