IF EVER TWO DAYS... belonged inside a pretty, ready-for-the-center-shelf snow globe, it is the Friday and Saturday following Thanksgiving. Maybe it is because people are in full celebratory swing when the fourth Thursday of November bids its adieu, and all of that pumpkin-scented revelry, and talk of the December holidays on approach, can make a person give extra consideration to how they launch the weekend following Turkey Day. Will they be at the sales? Will they stay home and wash the gravy boat and pie dish? Or will they jet-start the joyful season in grand, let's-treat-the-visiting-relatives right style at an annual wine country-wide party? It's all about setting the tone you want as you close the book on another Thanksgiving, but the Heart of Sonoma Valley Association makes it a snap for those who like stellar sips: The Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving is when the Holiday Open House takes place, a multi-winery roam-around that's about interesting vinos, yet, but all of the hall-decking that lends the late fall its festiveness. The 2016 dates are...
NOV. 25 AND 26, and nineteen vineyards and winemakers around Sonoma Valley will participate. Yes, the tony libations made at each stop are some of the stars, but so are the "fresh baked nibbles, savory treats, caroling and wine country holiday cheer!" Call it a delightful day among the vines but with a plaid taffeta bow on top. Call it a calm way to greet the yuletide and buy a bottle or two for your gift drawer. And call it as pretty and as fa, la, la as a quintessential snow globe. The disclaimer, of course, is there won't be snow, just that brisk-to-the-cheeks fall air that wine country basks in come late November. Who is on board, by the by? Benziger Family Winery, Madrone Vineyards Estate, and Ty Caton Vineyards are three of the 19. Tickets ahead of time are $45, and that covers both your Friday and Saturday. Fa. La. And la, indeed.
