Alyssa Morrisey While many Sonomans crowd into big box stores this season, Vine Country Mercantile is a refreshing and unique alternative, and is a little closer to home. Located in Glen Ellen at the site of the old Garden Court Café, the shop opened its... Continue
Gary Carnivele Special to the Sun It’s difficult to dream about a holiday season that doesn’t include a winter wonderland populated by those whimsical characters composed mainly of three orbs of compacted snow. The very lack of that important ingredient poses a creative challenge to... Continue
Raquel Arroyo is a trained Le Cordon Bleu chef who is now developing new lunch choices for Il Pasticciere Fiorini. Photo by Ryan Lely. Five years after Grazia Bianchi and baker son-in-law Massimo Fiorini opened Il Pasticciere Fiorini on West Napa Street, they have brought... Continue
Vintage Wine Tours of Sonoma receives safety award Lancer Insurance Company has awarded Vintage Wine Tours of Sonoma its prestigious Gold Safety Award. The award recognizes the safety excellence of Vintage Wine Tours of Sonoma for the 2007 policy year. Lancer, a provider of liability... Continue
Free, compassionate acupuncture treatment for veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, and veterans of other wars and their partners, will be available in Sonoma Valley, and at other sites nationwide, on Veteran’s Day, Tuesday, Nov. 11, from 2 to 5 p.m. This service will... Continue
Alyssa Morrisey Special to the Sun Valley Wine Shack looks like just another Sonoma wine vendor and tasting room at first glance, surely destined to play second fiddle to the shops listed in tourists’ guidebooks. At three weeks old, it is so new that owner... Continue
Infineon Raceway will again join forces with the public this holiday season for its 8th annual Thanksgiving Food Drive, Nov. 3-21. These are incredibly difficult times, making this year’s drive extremely important — all of the non-perishable food items collected will be given to the... Continue
Some people obsess over furniture. Others hardly notice it’s even there. But in every case, making environmentally savvy choices in furnishing one’s home can make a big difference in a consumer’s impact on the planet. Sonoma furniture designer Michael Palace strives to fill homes with... Continue
Marcella Note with Gypsy in her mobile dog grooming truck. Photo by Ryan Lely. Marcella’s Mobile Pet Grooming hit the pavement five years ago and the fur has been flying ever since. In the spotless white GMC box van that her airline mechanic husband tricked... Continue
On Aug. 18, Patz & Hall unveiled a roof-mounted solar array comprised of 512 solar photovoltaic modules at its winery on Eighth Street East in Sonoma. Designed and installed by San Francisco-based Sunlight Electric, the array is capable of producing 128,000 kilowatt hours per year,... Continue