The very name Los Gatos [the cats] already has its magnetic pool for your regular feline lovers. Stretching like a cat’s gracious spine along the curve of Santa Cruz foothills, the town is warm and well groomed like a pedigreed animal, although it’s surely named after the bobcats and mountain lions of the surrounding woods rather than Tiggers and Gingers. For a cat town, Los Gatos boasts a surprising amount of dogs. Small, big, and huge, they leisurely walk their owners along the shady sidewalks, manicured lawns, and blossoming rose bushes, or sit under chairs in outside cafes, or drink from water bowls, considerately left by the local business owners outside their doors. “To see Los Gatos is to love the town,” wrote Sunset Magazine back in 1915. While visiting a week ago, the first thing we saw after exiting HW 17 onto Santa Cruz Ave. was a very legible sign: Free Unlimited Parking. For us, that was a decisive moment of falling in love with the town. We took a comfortable 12-seat mini-coach of Royal Coach Tours to the mountainous wineries of higher elevations. Loma Prieta Winery—an appeasement offering to the gods of the infamous fault—is located at 2,300 feet and boasts 360 degrees of spectacular views. There is a plan in the making to introduce sunset tastings in the near future. A team of husband and wife produces a number of award-winning reds, and only reds (“I just don’t like white wine,” explained Amy Kemp, the wife). For many of our group, it was hard to decide which red was the best. My personal judgment got impaired between equally blood-dark 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon and 2006 SAVERIA Pinot Noir, both of pleasant complexity, with lasting aftertaste. I finally leaned toward the Cab, maybe, because for a moment the taste of the wine, the sound of water in the fountain and the view of the Bay far below all came together in a brief sensation of perfection. Our next stop was Silver Mountain Vineyards, where organically grown fruit yields small crops of gold-medal estate chardonnays. Another distinct winery, Burrell School Vineyards, located in a historic 1890 school building offers Teacher’s Pet Chardonnay (definitely a winner!) and Valedictorian among other school-related “items.” A short visit to Fleming Jenkins Tasting Room back in downtown Los Gatos revealed an exhibit of Peggy Fleming’s skating champion costume; her husband, Greg Jenkins in person, and an array of great boutique wines, with a special Victories Rose, dedicated to breast cancer research by a charity-oriented couple. After several hours of Santa Cruz appellation immersion, the night was still young, so a wine reception at Cin-Cin followed, with Asian, Spanish and California fusion appetizers by chef Chris Schloss, and then a scrumptious dinner at Forbes Mill Steakhouse knocked us off for the night. Serving a four-course feast, accompanied by Savannah-Chanelle, Burrell School, and Poetic Cellars wines, Dean Devincenzi of Forbes Mill stated that the restaurant uses only prime certified Angus beef among just nine other restaurants across the nation. He introduced the chef, Brian Weselby by saying, “This is what makes our chef shine. When people come here and order just our signature rib eye or a filet mignon, the chef does not have an opportunity to show the full range of his talent.” Rest assured that in Dungeness crab stuffed calamari, braised short ribs in ginger-soy glaze, and warm apple and almond tart from our menu the chef’s talent was felt thoroughly and unmistakably. A short walk to Tall House Hotel in brisk night air was a good sleep-inducer and a great way to finish the eventful day. To learn more, visit: http://www.royal-coach.com/, http://www.lomaprietawinery.com/, http://www.silvermtn.com/, http://www.burrellschool.com/, http://www.flemingjenkins.com/, http://www.cincinwinebar.com/, http://www.forbesmillstakehouse.com/, http://www.tollhousehotel.com/. Photos by Yuri Krasov. 1.Dean Devincenzi of Forbes Mill and Town of Los Gatos Vice Mayor Mike Wasserman. 2.Your correspondent must see for herself how those grapes are fermenting at Burrell School Vineyard & Winery. 3. A fountain with a view at Loma Prieta Winery.
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