Category: Commentary

Traveling the trails of California Wine Country last month, what struck me most was the natural beauty: clear water, giant trees, rolling hills, verdant valleys. Blended with the neatly manicured properties of the wineries, it was a journey that touched all the senses.

Within a small radius of the Russian River Valley, there are several microclimates. Grapes grown at one vineyard yield completely different flavors from ones at another a couple miles away. That makes for a unique ability to produce wines for varying tastes.

Should you be looking for a relaxing and romantic getaway with your significant other, I recommend Sonoma County. Kathy spent months preparing our adventure. To make your planning easier, here are the most wonderful things we experienced:

Best Driver: Melissa, Platypus Wine Tours – This mother of two young boys drove us in a new Lexus RX to five wineries, including a surprise that wasn’t on the agenda; at day’s end she provided a delicious treat of local cheese and crackers to enjoy on the way back to our hotel

Best Food: Marimar Estate – The proprietor and namesake of this small vineyard nestled on a hill is a descendant of the Torres family that owns the largest winery in Spain; she personally created the tapas menu that accompanies a tasting of five Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs

Best Town Square: Healdsburg – Frequently appearing on lists of ‘Best Small Towns in America’, this welcoming hamlet is centered around a 19th century plaza… surrounded on all four sides by restaurants, tasting rooms and two boutique hotels

Best Surprise: Clos du Bois – This is the first wine Kathy and I started buying regularly some 18 years ago; at the winery, our guided tour for two included eating different grape varieties right off the vines and tasting fermenting wines straight from the barrel

Best Cellar: Jordan Vineyard & Winery – Take the tour and food pairing, and you’ll end up inside the heart of the beautiful chateau; styled after similar rooms in Bordeaux, it’s accessible through a secret passage that’s hidden behind a bookcase in the library

Best Restaurant: Scopa (Healdsburg) – Serving delicious Italian food with locally grown vegetables in a small setting, this is the town hotspot. Make a reservation, especially on Wednesday nights when an area winemaker visits with customers and pours his/her vintage

Best Tribute: Francis Ford Coppola Winery – When we walked up, I told Kathy it reminded me of Disneyland… including a large swimming pool that’s available by reservation only; many of the director’s awards and movie props are located in a museum next to the restaurant

Best Hiking: Armstrong Redwoods State Natural Reserve – A site to behold, with 805 acres of preserved giant trees – 1,400 years old, 300-feet tall and 16-feet in diameter; make sure you choose the right trail or you might wind up on a long trek with a 500-foot climb … just sayin’

Best View: Trattore Estate Vineyards – If we lived in Sonoma County, I’d come often to sit on the balcony with a glass of 2011 Grenache and watch hawks soar by as the sun sets over the Dry Creek Valley; has the added bonus of an olive oil tasting with a dozen blends

Best Garden: Lynmar Estate – Bees, birds and butterflies darted among colorful perennial flowers and heirloom vegetables at this hidden retreat; it was just the two of us at the tasting… and an entertaining serving duo who could make a living doing standup about wine history

Best Lawn: Sonoma-Cutrer – There are two pristine croquet courts here with nary a weed in site nor a blade out of place; each year the winery hosts the nation’s best players for the North American Open – or locals throughout the summer for monthly Croquet and Chardonnay

Best Server: Alan, St. Francis Winery & Vineyards – Most servers poured an extra glass once they identified our preferences; at our final stop, this Canadian transplant indulged us with five additional pours, topped with a delightful 10-Year Tawny Port (We bought several bottles)

Best Non-Wine Moment: Charles M. Schulz Museum, Santa Rosa – It’s a terrific tribute to the late creator of Peanuts, complete with original sketches and the office where he drew the comic strip for 50 years; if you’re a fan, visit the gift shop next door at Snoopy’s Home Ice rink

Best Wedding Venue: Vintners Inn by Ferrari-Carino – With three children who might be married someday, I’m hoping one chooses this boutique property right next to a vineyard for a romantic outdoor exchange of vows… primarily so I can go back to Wine Country

Part II of II

Tom paid cash for everything, including their dream home. Except each May he would return to that same Riverside State Bank and take out a loan to purchase window unit air conditioner inventory. During a couple summer breaks from college, I hung out in the store, and early my first day on the job he asked me to accompany him to the bank to get that annual loan.

When we arrived, dad learned the VP he always spoke with was out of town, so a green loan officer – not much older than me – invited us into his cubicle. Tom sat down, slid a single piece of paper across the desk and said he would need $37,000 for inventory. The young man nodded and said: “Mr. Handler, let me get some paperwork for you to complete. We’ll process this as quickly as we can. If everything goes well, we should have your check by the end of the week.” Tom stood up and said: “I’ll be back at three for my money.” I followed him out the door.

Once in the car, I said: “Dad, why did you do that?” Tom told me not to worry. We went back to work, had lunch, and about 2:55 drove three blocks to the bank. When we walked in, that loan officer was standing near the front door. Next to him was the bank president. “Tom,” he said, “here’s your check. I’m sorry about the confusion. This young man now understands the long relationship you have with us.” Brian looked at his shoe tops like a child caught with his hand in the cookie jar and tried to smile.

Life began hard for Tom and didn’t treat him all that fairly later. Mom was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin Lymphoma at 46, went in and out of remission, and succumbed a decade later. During that time, Tom was a wonderful caregiver, never once complaining and always being there for her. He still worked six days a week at the store – although he did start taking off Tuesday and Thursday afternoons to play golf and gin at his self-described ‘poor man’s country club’).

Not long after his wife of 40 years passed, Tom had a going out of business sale and retired. He remarried – a golfer – and played about four times a week. In my entire life I never once heard him say he didn’t feel well. Then on a Friday morning in March 1994, dad went to the doctor complaining of being tired and having some chest pains. He was referred to a cardiologist and set an appointment for Monday. At 4 a.m. Sunday, he got up to go to the bathroom, collapsed and died of a massive heart attack at 69.

Every day another member of the Greatest Generation leaves us, and soon those who gave so much to provide better lives for their children will be gone. Each person has a unique story worth telling. This one is about the finest man I’ve ever known – my father – the sole proprietor of Tom Handler Furniture & Appliances.

Part I of II

Painted on the side of the corner building where my father’s furniture and appliance store sat for 37 years was this slogan: ‘Will Trade for Anything.’ Proving that statement true, when I was four, he returned to our nearby house one night pulling a trailer with two horses inside. Seems his customer needed a new bedroom suit and sofa, and didn’t have cash, so ‘Easy Tradin’ Tom’ (as my older brother’s friend referred to him) used the great American tradition of barter.

A few months later, my parents – along with mom’s sister and my uncle – bought 32 acres some 12 miles to the northeast. In 1968, Tom and Billie built their dream home in the country, and their younger three of five kids, me included, grew up without any neighbors; free to hop barbed wire fences and fish in someone’s stock tank or explore… back when you could do those things without having to worry.

Today that area is the heart of DFW, claimed by Colleyville, and to buy land you’d need to add a lot more zeroes to the end of the $1,200 per acre they paid for what my buddies called ‘your farm out in the boonies.’

Fifty years later I understand how dedicated my father was to providing for his family. Born in 1924, he was a Depression-era child whose father died when he was 12, leaving young Tommy as the man of the house with his mother and five sisters. Pearl Harbor occurred during his senior year and every boy in the Menasha (WI) High School Class of ’42 enlisted soon after.

Tom spent four years in the Navy as a pharmacist’s mate… keeping the U.S. safe from threats to the Panama Canal and Galapagos Islands. (In truth, he said, it was mostly gin rummy and golf… and, tongue firmly planted in cheek: “But no enemy got past us.”) He married my mother a month after being honorably discharged, and my oldest brother became one of the first Baby Boomers. By 1950, Tom had two kids, worked full time and attended TCU on the GI Bill.

When the man who owned the small appliance store that employed him said he wasn’t making ends meet and would have to shut the doors, 25-year-old Tom went to a local bank, got approved for a three-year loan and bought out his boss. He quit school 18 hours short of an accounting degree and worked long days – paying off the note in one year.

Tomorrow: How Things Use to Be