Cowboy Humor

Visiting Wine Country - Gourmet au Bay

Left: Wine and Cheese, by Wayne Scherer Cowboy Humor by Ben Marshall Everyone has a different way of experiencin' the Wine Country so don't let anyone tell you yours is wrong. You can ride a train, bus, bike or balloon, or even drive up in your Mercedes Benz. The point is to find the wines you like best and you couldn't go anywhere else in the world to find the variety of choices we have here in California. Many of the really good wines never see the inside of a Lucky's Market. I'd like to go to friends' wineries because it's nice visitin' the earth in all its sensitivity and wineries smell much better than a herd of cattle on the move. The problem is, all my winemaker friends drink beer when they're workin'.

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And, no matter how often you've been to California's wine country, there's always goin' to be a brilliant new wine somewhere bein' aged. So what do you do?

The simple solution for me is to visit some of the great wine bars in the Wine Country. And I always take a girlfriend there. Wine tastes just a little bit better with a pretty filly sittin' next to you.

So when my girlfriend from the City came up about a week ago, I decided to take her to Gourmet au Bay, a wine bar in Bodega Bay. This was after a brief conversation we had.

"I'm not going to Pat's Diner again for beer and hamburgers," she said. I considered it best not to answer. After all, why close the door permanently on Pat's?

Besides, my Guerneville girlfriend lives nearby and likes to go to that Whitetail Wine Bar two doors down from Pat's. I always feel a little bit nervious when I take my City girlfriend there.

So we packed into my truck and drove down the coast.

I like goin' to Gourmet au Bay because of the surfboards they use to serve their wine samplers. They serve the wine on miniature surf boards so they don't give their customers a black eye when bringin' it out to the deck. From there you can see the whole bay.

I guess that's how they got the name.

Bob and Sissy own the place and sometimes I go in by myself just to see their smiles.

They serve a selection of three boutique wines with local cheeses and crackers with their sampler plate and offer a larger grouping of cheeses, local chocolates and salami for a small additional tariff.

We opted for the basic three-wines-on-a-surfboard because we were buyin' a bottle to take over to the Duck Club for dinner.

Everything went well on the date, mainly because a lady likes to go to places where she can be well attended to and I knew we could find some grand new wines to drink.

But I want to tell you, I did find myself missin' my Guerneville girlfriend just a little bit. Maybe it's because my biological clock is startin'' to wind down. Whatever mysteries that might entail, I have no idea.

Gourmet au Bay
913 Coastal Highway One
Bodega Bay, CA 94923

Tel: (707) 875-9875
Fax: (707) 875-9800