Valentine’s Day.. yuck.   Rain.. yuck.  Superbowl.. Meh.

This year I now get to look forward to an entire week of eating and drinking at some of my favorite Sonoma County restaurants…  Okay, if you read my tweets you may be asking yourself, “Why is this week any different, Shana eats out all of the time?”   Well, this week, local restaurants will be offering special pre-fixe menus, showcasing the best they have to offer with a focus on local and sustainable ingredients.

The idea is that some of the best restaurants in the county (Zin, Bistro 29, girl & the fig, zazu, dry creek kitchen, Pazzo, Barn Diva, Relish Culinary, Syrah, Pizza 707, Starks Steakhouse, etc. etc. etc.) will be serving three-course dinner menus at $19, $29, or $39, depending on the restaurant.   A full list of the delicious menu’s can be found here.

I was asked to be in charge of the week’s online presence, so please make sure to say hello and let me know about your Sonoma County dining experiences on Twitter at @SoCoRestWeek or on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/SonomaCountyRestaurantWeek.

Also, take a look at what the Sonoma County Tourism Bureau has up their sleeves… A contest for diners to win gift certificates to participating restaurants just by doing what you already do:  Eat Out in Sonoma County!

It started off normal enough.  I met up with Thea at a new winery in the Russian River Valley called Copain Wines (aka @Copain).

The Copain tasting room is located on top of a hill on Eastside Road, directly across from the recreation park.  It is the only winery that I know of that is on that stretch of the road, so people will most likely only visit through word of mouth or because they were simply driving past it.  I only heard about it because they recently joined Twitter.

This posting is my attempt to start the word of mouth on this place (actually I mean continue the WOM) and let people know that if they want to taste some great Anderson Valley pinots, a Russian River GSM blend and a place to have a picnic and enjoy THE BEST VIEW from a winery   -   Then they should make sure to stop on by the Copain tasting room.

When Thea finally got bored with me taking pictures of the view, we headed over to Mill Creek Winery.  I am not going to waste my time to write much about this place because it was neither good nor bad.  It was  nothing worth going back for IMO.

The next stop: Michel-Schlumberger (aka @M_Schlumberger) to visit Judd Wallenbrock, the President, General Manager and head blogger at their award winning blog – The Benchland Blog.  Judd and crew have seemed to perfect the art of barrel tasting weekend. Visitors are instantly greeted by Judd and given an explanation of where you should go and a brief history of the winery.  Then guests travel through the cellar to taste out of the barrels, then into the next room to try already bottled wines, then lastly into their main tasting room.  This is where my friend Joe(y) poured us some wines that go back to 1989.  Of course Thea and I had to purchase the last case of 2001 Dry Creek Valley Pinot Noir (yes, I said it… There is one winery that does make Dry Creek Pinot).  After trying some aged Pinots and Cabs, we made out way into the wine club members tasting room and ended up drinking more Pinot on a picnic bench while discussing wine, social media and Judd’s new discovery of TwitPic.

Then we were onto Mounts Family Winery (aka @MountsFamWinery).  It is off the same beaten road as Michel-Schlumberger, in the middle of a vineyard.  Blink on West Dry Creek road and you will miss it.  But this is a small family winery that you shouldn’t miss out on.  Lana greets her visitors with a smile that let’s you know she is committed to customer service. Their Malbec out of the barrel was very tasty as well.

Around 4:30, a half hour after the official ending time of the event, Thea and I decided that we were most certainly not done yet.  If you know anything about Thea and me, you know that to be the truth.  We headed over to harass Jim at Truett Hurst once again.   Here we tried some Petit Verdot and talked Jim’s ear off for an hour or so.

All together a perfect day, regardless of the fact that we were wine-napped by Judd and strayed WAY off our agenda….  Oh, wait… There is always next weekend.

Whatever my reasoning, there are a few things I am looking forward to as we move onto early Spring (it always feels as if Spring starts early here).

This past Wednesday I visited  Napa for a presentation given by Paul Mabray of Vintank, a new Wine Marketing Think Tank.  Here he discussed their introductory project, a social media report about the state of the online wine industry.  I am looking forward to seeing the study when it comes out at the end of the month (okay, this may not be a physical event YET, but it is social media — so it is an event in my eyes).

Mr. Healdsburg is one of the best annual events in our little town.  The event is at the Raven Theater on Saturday February 28th (yes, one week from today).

Start Time: 8pm, doors 7pm
Adults: $25 advance, $30 door – 21 and older only!

Guys from all ages, occupations and popularity participate in a beauty pageant to win the title of Mr. Healdsburg.   It is a great event that the whole town gets a little kooky for.   Be warned – the bars tend to have huge crowds of people after the show!  This year will also be the first that my friend, Samantha Vega, DJ at 101.7  The Fox, will be hosting.

Barn Diva, an amazing restaurant and cocktail lounge just started up Healdsburg’s only dance scene.  Every Friday night (if everyone is behaved) they will be pushing back the tables and playing some great music.  Perfect place to dance, eat some late night food and enjoy great drink specials with your friends.  When it gets a bit warmer and dryer,  they have a gorgeous back patio that will provide more room to play.

Here is a shot of the bar taken from last week’s event.  As you can see, my Twisted rubber chicken is always around.

Now onto the event that in my eyes seems to trumpet over all — Yes it is the Annual Barrel Tasting weekend here in Healdsburg.  For two, count them, TWO whole weekends in March, visitor’s and locals alike will be able to visit all the wineries in Dry Creek, Alexander Valley and the Russian River valley and try samples of wine, straight out of the barrels.

This give wineries the advantage of selling their wines before they are even released.  Though the wine fairly ever tastes the same six months later — It is a great way to get to know the people who make the wine and have some fun.

Okay, before this post gets too long and you get bored with me (like that is even a possibility) I will say  that this event is March 7-8 & 14-15 from 11 am – 4 pm each day.  The price is $20 PER weekend.

Online tickets will be sold January 23 through March 1 for $20 per person.  At the door, the price will be $30 per person.

Since this is one of my favorite events — Be on the lookout for a few more postings before, possibly during and definitely after the event.

I will also be visiting San Fransisco for two social media events at the end of March — The Wine 2.0 and Web 2.0 Expo’s are ironically (or intentionally) planned at the same time.