Nevada County Life

Wondering what to do for Valentine’s Day in Nevada County? This year Valentine’s Day is on a Saturday, so that makes for a fun full day or weekend! These are some of my ideas:

Go wine tasting. Tour our local vineyards dotted around the foothills for a tasty day and lovely scenery. Many of them are open to the public for wine tasting on weekends. Visit Northern Sierra Wine Country for information and maps.  Or, like the sound of wine tasting, but wishing to stay in town? The Lucchesi Winery tasting room in downtown Grass Valley is putting on a Valentine’s Day event. There will be wine tasting, music, hors d’oeuvres, chocolate, and flowers! Visit thisisnevadacounty.com for details about this event.

For a romantic outdoor dining adventure, pack a creative picnic and head to the South Yuba River. Or if you prefer to go out to eat… In downtown Nevada City, try the fondue at Friar Tuck’s, Thai at Sopa Thai, or everything is good at the New Moon. In downtown Grass Valley, Italian always has a romantic flair, so go to Villa Venezia.

Whatever you plan to do on Valentine’s Day, there are many local shops with the Valentine’s Day gifts and treats you need. In downtown Grass Valley, stop in Dorado’s for chocolate, Foothill Flowers of course, Sierra Starr Winery for champagne, and Aimee Taylor’s on Mill Street has some unique jewelry, prints, and other gifts.

Sometimes people are looking for something original from Grass Valley, Nevada City or Nevada County at large, but don’t really have the time to go mooching around all the shops or visiting street fairs such as Cornish Christmas or Victorian Christmas.  Well some of the local artisans have discovered a web based outlet for their work in the form of Etsy.com (http://www.etsy.com).

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On Thanksgiving weekend, the 28th, 29th, and 30th of November, come enjoy the Nevada County Christmas Faire at the Nevada  County Fairgrounds.  As well as a large selection of unique crafts and gifts, there will be live entertainment, gourmet food, gingerbread houses, carolers, errand elves and of course, santa claus.  The event is open 10am to 5pm on Friday and Saturday and 10am to 3pm on Sunday.  Admission is $4 with anyone under 12 entering for free.

Downtown Nevada City sees the first Victorian Christmas of the year on December 3rd, 2008 from 6pm to 9pm.   Come on down and enjoy the festivities with stalls, choirs, street performers and tasty food and treats.  

If you have some last minute shopping or are seeking inspiration for local Nevada County and Nevada City gifts then make plans to attend this street fair.

Serving Pilot Peak wine

Another in our random series of items that may make good gifts during the holiday season.  Today we’re looking at Pilot Peak, a local winery in Penn Valley that’s been crafting some really good wines in recent years and generating a fanatical following in the form of the “Peakers” wine club.

We stumbled on Pilot Peak by accident during one of the wine events and we’ve been going ever since.  We’ve also been taking people from out of town there because of the warm welcome these people get, and also because of the ambience.  They have created a small mediterranean garden that is just the place to enjoy the samplers, or, enjoy a whole bottle of the wine you liked best during the sampling!

And their wines?  They have a wide selection (see the wine list at http://www.pilotpeak.com) with our personal favorites being their Cabernet Franc, Zinfandel and Viognier.  Alas the latter two were the favorites of so many people that the current vintages sold out earlier this year, but not to worry, the PrimoZin is an excellent substitution for the Zinfandel, and we know they have other wines coming in the future that will satisfy our Viognier habit.  

Anyways, we have often given bottles of Pilot Peak wine to people for occasions and have never had any hate mail sent back to us.  In fact usually we’re asked if “the winery will be open for tasting when we come”.  Now if someone asks us to tell us the dates the winery is open so they can plan their trip around them maybe we’ll get a little suspicious about why they are coming to see us….  We’ve also given the wine as corporate gifts too.

One word of warning, if you are sending the wine out of state, do check the rules on shipping.  Not all states welcome wine shipments from California!