Bridge Walk, Redwood and Champagne

I try not to worry too much about the future and often say “I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it”. If every bridge I crossed was as enjoyable an experience as the Golden Gate bridge, my life would be a breeze. Under what looked like an ironed blue sky, with San Francisco Bay on one side and the Pacific Ocean on the other, it was an incredible walk.

Setting off on the Bridge Walk

The visibility was perfect and views of Oakland, Angel Island, Alcatraz and the hills way up north were magnificent. Sea lions were even playing in the water below. The only negative thing was the sound of the traffic beside me. Considering 45 million cars cross that bridge every year, it was to be expected. The camera was put to good use during the bridge walk. Also from Vista Point and Marin Headland I captured a lovely shot of the Golden Gate bridge with San Francisco skyline in the background.

Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco from Marin Headlands

I drove for the first time this week. It didn’t feel as strange as I had expected, but that’s probably because I’d been sitting in the front passenger’s seat getting used to travelling on the wrong side of the road. At the risk of getting too philosophical, which usually happens when I get some time to think, it was great to rise to the challenge and conquer and more importantly, enjoy it.

Highway 101 during non-peak

Yesterday we drove north along Highway 101 to Armstrong Redwood State Natural Reserve and had a picnic lunch and a long walk through the redwood grove and saw the Californian coast redwoods which are the oldest living things on our planet. The tallest tree we saw was over 95 metres in height and the oldest was over 1,400 years. Because of the dry summers in California, there was not one drop of water in any of the creeks in the grove. Consequently there was no undergrowth and therefore an absence of birds and animals, which would normally be foraging for food.

A Californian Coastal Redwood

I saw a deer and a woodpecker. Speaking of deer – I opened our back door yesterday morning and when I looked up there was a deer looking straight at me. Because of the dry summer weather they apparently come down from the hills behind us, looking for water. I don’t know who got the biggest fright!

A Woodpecker

The Korbel winery was on our way home (completely unknown to us when we set off in the morning). Korbel is the champagne I’ve picked as my favourite affordable Californian champagne since I’ve been here. We stopped of course, and were lucky enough to pick up the last free tour of the day which ended with a tasting from the driest to the sweetest champagne. We’d previously visited Domaine Chandon in the Yarra Valley in Victoria and learnt about the modern sparkling wine methods but to learn about the original methode champenoise used when they started making wine here in 1882, and to see the original equipment while having the process explained, will make me appreciate every delicious bubble even more. I always thought the “riddler” was in Batman!!!

Korbel Winery

For those of you who are interested (and so I won’t forget) I’ll briefly outline the traditional process (methode champenoise):

1. harvesting
2. pressing the grapes (grape juice from first pressing is used for high quality champagne)
3. first fermention in an oak cask (converts the grape juice to alcohol)
4. blending (the still wine is blended with other base wines by the cellar master)
5. triage (the blended wine is placed in its permanent bottle with a blend of sugar and yeast and closed with a crown cap)
6. secondary fermentation (the bottle is laid down in a cool dark cellar for approx. 15 months to 3 years)
7. riddling (the “riddler” dons a mesh safety mask, leather apron and gloves and turns each bottle a quarter turn and slams it down in the inverted riddling rack to eventually move the yeast down the neck of the bottle). The riddler was the highest paid employee apart from the cellar master.
8. aging (the sediment caused by the sugar and yeast provides much of the flavour and the longer it’s left, the better the flavour)
9. disgorgement (the neck of the bottle is dipped into a solution of brine and ice for five minutes to freeze it; the temporary crown cap is removed and the iced sediment of yeast and sugar shoots out of the bottle).
10. dosage (sugar and a small amount of wine is added to the bottle – of course the more sugar that’s added the sweeter the wine). I loved the .7% Brut I sampled (which is the one I’ve been drinking here) but found the last one I tried at 6% was far too sweet.

The Riddling Rack

Trivia - It doesn’t matter what brand of champagne you buy anywhere in the world, the wire cap holding down the cork has to be turned six times to open it. It’s just the right amount of pressure to stop the cork popping out by itself!

O.K. end of history lesson.

I’m now trying to work out the difference between the Democrats and the Republicans. I watched Sarah Palin’s speech live on TV at the Republicans National Convention last night and thought she spoke very well. She seemed to steal the limelight from John McCain but his speech is tonight.

We’re off to Sausalito for lunch and a walk around the bay. Take care everyone.

Love
Lyn