Category

Wine Tasting

Dec 16
0

Life is good in Sonoma County…

By | Buyers, RE Investing, Sonoma County info, Visit WineCountry, Wine Tasting | No Comments

Did you already get a chance to drop by WineSpectum in downtown Santa Rosa’s Rail Road Square? I did meet with a friend – the best chiroprator I know: Patrick Pisenti -> just opened his office in Santa Rosa- and it was a great experience. Roland Hankerson the manager is extremely knowledgeable about wine and the selections is unusual. WineSpectrum is a wine bar, the store next to the bar and you are able to buy the wine you enjoyed at the bar. Often they put wines on the list before they become famous. It’s worth going there and try some unknown wines.

We enjoyed a Cabernet Franc from Kenefick Ranch, it was Caitlin’s Select and it was delicious. You should try it before it’s sold out. It was a wine Roland recommended and it surely was a great pick.

Which brings me to my Real Estate thought for the day: the interest rates have come down over the last week, there are plenty of good deals around in Sonoma County, NOW is a great time to buy. We are already seeing multiple offer situations on the super deals : investors are jumping in. For anybody renting and thinking about buying: NOW is a good time to look at the numbers. You’d be surprised how ‘affordable’ Sonoma County has become for starters and how many interesting deals there are for investors.

Have a great day!

Mirjam de Rijk

(707) 486-2638

Nov 18
0

Beautiful Healdsburg – great destinaton for wine lovers

By | Buyers, Sonoma County info, Visit WineCountry, Wine, Wine Tasting, Winery with picnic place | No Comments

Seghesio is one of our favorite wineries, members of their Centennial wine club are invited to club events, visit with family members and get to taste the limited production wines. Yesterday’s November Wine release party’s theme was a taste of Italy. We agreed that the Tuscan seafood dish that Ashley served was the best. From the wines that were paired with the food, we liked the Westphall Zin the best. And the winner of the evening was the Venom, Peter Seghesio shared some with us since we were also impressed with the Sangiovese.

seghesio.jpg

Quick note, Seghesio is located on Grove street, beautiful grounds with picnic places and a bocce ball court. Enjoy your picnic while playing a game of bocce.

I did do the count this morning: should you like to move to Healdsburg, there are 139 active listings in the MLS system, 25 are in escrow and in the last month 8 sold. These numbers might not be that great for sellers but great for buyers. And the 8 that did sell, sold rightfully so.

Open houses this afternoon: check the Press Democrat, they have a list of open houses, don’t forget to visit 95 Kennedy Lane, a large vintage fixer and 1231 So Fitch Mountain Road, it needs some updating but has beautiful views.

Enjoy your Sunday!

Mirjam (707) 486-2638

Oct 13
0

Soggy weekend

By | Buyers, Press Democrat, RE Investing, Sonoma County info, Visit WineCountry, Wine, Wine Tasting, Winery with picnic place | One Comment

This weekend is going to be a soggy weekend in Sonoma County. The unseasonable rain has the grape growers running to harvest the grapes before they rot (see PD article)and the rain will not boost buyers confidence to go shopping for homes. Most people don’t realize but investors have started to pick up good opportunities. This week we did put an offer in on a fixer on Montgomery drive. Interesting to see that there were 5 competing offers… Yes it was a good deal.

Recently I have seen quite a few properties with a price per SqFt around $260, great opportunities in great neighborhoods.

So the best thing to do this weekend is go, enjoy the drive through beautiful Sonoma County, visit a small winery and get a feel for the hustling and bustling of the winegrowers. A great small winery of the beaten path is Sunce on Olivet road, great wines, a lovely place to enjoy a pinic -should the sun decide to show up- with a lovely bocce bal court.

Their 2005 Zinfandel won double gold at the Harvest Fair and rightfully so…

Have a great weekend!

mirjamnew.jpg Mirjam

Oct 04
0

Grape Crush in Wine Country

By | Sonoma County info, Visit WineCountry, Wine, Wine Tasting, Winery with picnic place | No Comments

There is a reason life is good in Sonoma County. It’s harvest time and the grape crush is in progress. Prime time to go wine tasting and get a feel how the expectations are for this year’s harvest. So far I only hear good things.

Last weekend we had some friends visiting from Cupertino, which was the perfect reason to go wine tasting. One of the wineries we visited was Kenwood vineyards in Kenwood, a great winery to visit with a perfect spot for a picnic lunch. We had made arrangements for a tour of the winery and were we lucky when saw a new truckload of grapes come in. We did learn a lot about grapes and the process of crushing the grapes. It’s hard work, but the result is what counts… The wines!

grape-crush.jpg

Personally I do like the Sonoma County label the best. It is different from the Yulupa label which you will find in restaurants. The Sonoma County Zinfandel of 2004 is our favorite besides the Vintage Red, a great affordable every day wine, this year totally different from last year, I did like last year a little better. 2005 promises to be an excellent year, I can hardly wait.

Kenwood is also a great place to live and currently there are some great properties for sale. One that caught my attention, it’s on Los Guilicos Ave, a great house in a remarkable peaceful setting. Should you be interested in a showing, please let me know.

It’s a good life,

Mirjam

Aug 23
0

Oldest Church Building in Calistoga for Sale

By | Buyers, Visit WineCountry, Wine Tasting | No Comments

This week I had the honor to put a very interesting building on the market. It’s the oldest church building in Calistoga.

Calistoga has an interesting and rich history and is a beautiful town to visit. You won’t be the only one visiting, it is a great destination year round. Should you decide to go, please don’t forget to visit the Sharpsteen museum, it is a lovely museum with a beautiful display on the old Calistoga. Should you like to stay for a few days, you won’t regret this, there are quite a few beautiful places to stay. Calistoga is in the middle of Wine County and besides the many wineries, it is known for their hot springs, make sure you pamper yourself with a spa treatment.

historicalmls.jpgThis is a picture I found in the Sharpsteen Museum, it was taken in 1908. It is the oldest church building in Calistoga. Built in 1869 as a one room frame church and extensively remodeled by C.J.B. Moore in 1902, which gave it its Victorian Gothic appearance, this is the first church that was built in Calistoga. There are two attached one bedroom apartments each having their own entrance. The city of Calistoga has put this building on the preliminary list of historical buildings and it is their intention to have the building maintain its current look. More information is available at the property’s website: www.1323cedarstreet.com.

The zoning is residential, please check with the city of Calistoga for other uses, possibly a B&B.

Asking price $ 749,000. Please feel free to contact me for more information.

Have a great day!

 Mirjam de Rijk Mirjam