A LA CARTE: Sonoma Valley wineries celebrate crush

The 2010 Sonoma Valley Crush celebration will take place Sept. 15 to 19, with lots of hands-on harvest activities at 17 wineries throughout the Sonoma Valley.

The wineries will offer grape sampling in the vineyards, crush-pad tours, fermentation demonstrations, winemaker meals and a mozzarella-making class.

The five-day festival will culminate from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sept. 18 and 19 with a Weekend Harvest Tasting. The weekend pass costs $45 and includes harvest activities, wine tastings and a souvenir wine glass.

Participating wineries include Audelssa Estate, Benziger, Deerfield Ranch, Enkidu, Eric Ross, Imagery Estate, Kaz, Kenwood, Kunde Family Estate, Landmark, Loxton, Mayo Family, Muscardini Cellars and Ty Caton, Paradise Ridge, VJB and Wellington Vineyards.

For tickets and information, call (866) 794-9463 or go to heartofsonomavalley.com. Other harvest events must be booked directly with each winery.

Bennett Ridge artists open their studios

Art aficionados will appreciate “Art on the Ridge Open Studios” on Saturday and Sunday. The event, which will take place in eight locations along Old Bennett Ridge Road and Rollo, Bardy and Bennett Ridge roads, features 17 Bennett Ridge artists, who will open their studios and feature their current works. The free event is from noon to 5 p.m. For more information, call 528-6176.

Poetry, food, music at Healdsburg tasting Room

Topel Tasting Room in Healdsburg celebrates its second anniversary Saturday and Sunday with a poetry contest, food and live music.

Healdsburg caterer Mateo Granados will provide food on Saturday, and Rosso Pizzera will be turning out wood-fired pizza on Sunday.

Music will be provided by Three Guys Named Mo starting at 1 p.m. both days. Poets are invited to submit their odes to wine by Friday to donnis@topelwines.com.

The tasting room is located at 125 Matheson St. and is open daily from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. For more information, go to topelwines.com.

Landmark Healdsburg building celebrates 100 years

The Healdsburg Museum and Historical Society will celebrate the 100th anniversary of its landmark building — the former Carnegie Library — from 2 to 6 p.m. Sunday with wine, food, jazz and historic displays.

During the celebration, a new exhibit, “Dressed for all Occasions,” will be on display. A silent auction, a booth featuring “The History of Wine Making” exhibit and the American Legion's Color Guard rounds out the afternoon.

Tickets to the event are $45. Raffle tickets are $10 each. For more information, go to healdsburgmuseum.org.

The museum is located at 221 Matheson St., Healdsburg. It is free to the public and open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday.

Sebastopol Center for the Arts holds benefit auction

The Sebastopol Center for the Arts will hold its 21st annual Benefit Auction at 7 p.m. Friday at the center, 6780 Depot St.

The evening includes confections from Patisserie Angelica and Pacific Market, plus bidding on original art, collectible wines, getaways and other gift packages.

Tickets are $20 in advance, $25 at the door, available at 829-4797 or brownpapertickets.com. For more information, go to sebarts.org.

Harvest Hoedown at Larson winery in Sonoma

The Larson Family Winery will throw a Harvest Hoedown from 4 to 8 p.m. Saturday at the Sonoma winery, with guests encouraged to come dressed as cowboys and cowgirls.

The family barbecue will feature ribs and all the fixings, wines straight from the barrel and a wagon ride through the vineyards. Vikki Lee and the Pinecones will provide dance music.

The most authentic cowboy and cowgirl will win prizes. Tickets are $40, $10 for kids 12 and under. To reserve, call 938-3031, ext. 18.

Larson Family Winery is located at 23355 Millerick Road in Sonoma. larsonfamilywinery.com.

Learn all about food preservation in Sebastopol

Wendy Krupnick will give a free food-preservation class at 6:30 tonight at the Sebastopol Hardware Center, 660 Gravenstein Highway N.

The class will focus on late-summer fruits and veggies such as apples, tomatoes and peppers and preservation techniques such as canning, freezing and drying.

For more information, call 823-7688 or go to sebastopolhardware.com.

‘Killer Tomatoes' film at Carneros Bistro in Sonoma

Carneros Bistro and Wine Bar will screen the cult-classic film, “Attack of the Killer Tomatoes” on Tuesday through Sept. 20.

The screening is part of a week-long celebration of heirloom tomatoes that includes special tomato dishes, wine flights and tomato-inspired cocktails.

In addition to tomato dishes a la carte, the menu will offer a three-course tomato dinner for $45 (plus $15 for wine pairing) and a five-course tomato dinner for $65 (plus $25 for wine pairing.)

To reserve, call 931-2042. The restaurant is located at 1325 Broadway, Sonoma.

Tasting on the Lawn at Krug Winery in St. Helena

Charles Krug Winery and the Peter Mondavi Family will celebrate the grape harvest at 2 p.m. Saturday with the annual Tasting on the Lawn.

Visitors can enjoy tastings of Charles Krug's current release and enjoy barrel tastings inside Charles Krug's restored 1881 Carriage House.

Lawn chairs, picnic blankets and straw hats are encouraged. Tickets are $30 in advance, $35 at the door. To reserve, call (888) 747-5784 or go to charleskrug.com.

The winery is located at 2800 Main St., St. Helena.

Snake Oil coffee shop opens in Santa Rosa

Hal Jarvis and Elizabeth Jarvis-Wolfe of Santa Rosa have opened Snake Oil, a new coffee shop in the former Greyhound Bus Station at 435 Santa Rosa Ave.

The cafe serves coffee drinks made with Ecco Coffee and teas from Mighty Leaf Tea Co., plus an array of pastries and bagels, milk shakes and elixirs from The Elixir Cafe in Sebastopol.

The couple, who are fans of Dr. Seuss and filmmaker Tim Burton, redecorated the coffee shop in whimsical shades of purple and green with snake motifs throughout. The cafe is just around the corner from the South A Street neighborhood.

Snake Oil is open from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Phone: 578-7645.

Wine seminar at K-J wine center in Fulton

Drink in the harvest at the Kendall-Jackson Wine Center on Sept. 25. You'll get to pick pinot noir and chardonnay from rows out in the vineyard, press the grapes and then learn all the steps involved in fermentation. The seminar is from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and the fee is $50. The wine center is at 5007 Fulton Road in Fulton. To reserve a spot, call (800) 769-3649.

Pizza and pinot party at Lynmar Winery in Sebastopol

Ever watch a chef toss homemade pizza dough? And then pair the finished pizza pie with pinot?

Well, that's what's going to happen at Lynmar Winery in Sebastopol on Sept 25. But at Lynmar, the pizza dough will be made with chardonnay yeast from the vineyards, and seasonal toppings on the pizza will come from the Lynmar garden. The pizza and pinot party is from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. and the fee is $55. Call 829-3374 for more information. The winery is at 3909 Frei Road.

You can reach Staff Writer Diane Peterson at 521-5287 or diane.peterson@pressdemocrat.com.