THE SUBTLE SIGNS OF SPRING

Each spring, the sky captures the uncertainty that is the season. One day,

mounds of clouds skitter across the forbidding gray, chased by a bitter wind.

The next, a brilliant blue is backdrop to the astonishing green below. In the

vineyard, there is the unknown of frost threatening the bud break. Then,

unexpectedly, the small signs of spring appear. It may be a red-tailed hawk or

the carpet of mustard or even a purple thistle. Each one offers a little

reassurance that the cycle indeed will happen again.

For further reassurance, drive the Russian River Valley to find spring

in full bloom. Against the natural lushness of this river valley, daffodils

and apple blossoms explode in a landscape that would be spectacular even

without the fabled Pinot vines growing there. Experience the unexpected on

other routes, including the springtime classic over Coleman Valley Road to the

coast. Only Ireland rivals the varied greens of those hills in full spring.

Watch for the newborn lambs in the meadows, the wild iris, perhaps even whales

glimpsed in the distant Pacific.

If the fickle spring weather sends you indoors, enjoy the unexpected

there. Try a barrel tasting or sidle up to the counter at one of Wine

Country's cozy restaurants. If you know how to pick your seat, the camaraderie

you'll find at the counter is the insider's secret for getting a place at the

table when the house is full. Some say it is the preferred seating.

As you watch the sheets of spring rain turn it all into an impressionist

painting, the certainty returns that this coming to life is, after all,

beginning again.

--Catherine Barnett, Executive Editor