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Tasting room etiquette is a well-worn topic; and many would argue that it is full of outmoded social affec-tations. While Mendocino County as a whole offers a slightly off-beat, more intimate tasting experience, even in the most casual tasting room there is a preferred method-ology for tasting wines. Fellow journalist and “Wine Gal” Ziggy Eschliman sums it up as the “Six-S System.” “It’s pretty simple,” she says, “Just See, Swirl, Smell, Sip, Savor and Spit (or Swallow, according to your particular prefer-ences).” As a professional wine judge and taster, Ziggy recommends spitting. Contrary to popular belief, this does not constitute a breach of etiquette, but rather allows the wine taster to enjoy and evaluate a number of wines without numbing the pal-ate and diminishing the experience of each wine consumed. The first “S” is See, allowing observation of the visual characteristics of the wine. Color is often an indicator of a wine’s age rather than its quality, with younger reds tending toward the purple end of the spectrum, and older acquiring a warmer tone. White wines sometimes yellow with age, but the

color in white and rose wines can also be affected by the amount of time the juice is in contact with the skins dur-ing fermentation. Next, Swirl the wine. Set the glass on the bar, place your hand over the base and move the glass in a slow circular motion. This avoids swirling the wine up and over the rim of the glass and into your lap. The swirling motion introduces air into the wine, further developing the flavor. You can also observe “legs” or the signs of viscosity in the wine, often caused by higher residual sugar or alcohol content. The legs are the path the wine takes down the inside of the glass after swirling. Sometimes, tasters will hold their hand over the top of the glass while

swirling, then quickly place their nose close to the bowl to get a concen-trated aroma, moving us on to Smell. The smell or bouquet of a wine is a precursor of taste. The human experi-ence of taste is intimately linked to our sense of smell. This is the time to record your sensory experience in your mind or in a tasting notebook. Use words that are mean-ingful to you, otherwise

by Julia Conway

The Art of Wine Tasting

45

your notes will be less useful later. Note both the welcome and unwelcome aromas in the wine. With a chilled wine, these aromas will be less assertive, and will develop fur-ther as the wine warms. Cup your hand under the bowl of the glass to warm the wine if you feel it has been chilled too much. Now we taste. Sip the wine, engaging your sense of smell once more by inhal-ing through your mouth and nose. Evaluate the sensations over time and in the various parts of your mouth. This is where the Savor part comes in. As with the aroma, men-tally match the flavors you are experiencing with similar fla-vors in your memory. Write it down in your own words. It doesn’t matter if you think it tastes like bubble gum or wet cat, you are recording your observations for your own use, not for publication in the Wine Spectator. Trendy descriptors are less useful in the long run than accurate representations of the tastes you experienced.

Lastly, Spit or Swallow. Reflect on the flavors remaining after the wine is gone. This is often referred to as the “finish” and it can be either “long” and lingering or “short” and fleeting. Is it an enjoyable experience, one you might like to repeat? If there is a food pairing with the wine, taste and eval-

uate the wine alone first. Then taste the food, separately, as you did the wine. Finally, take another sip of the wine and try the two together. Consider and record your impressions of all of the taste and texture sensation in both. Don’t be afraid to use unconvention-al descriptors here too. The important thing is to record your experience for future ref-erence and enjoyment. Ask the tasting room associate for the name of unfamiliar food items such as imported or arti-san cheeses. Add these to your notebook so you can recreate the experience in your own home. Note: this is the first in a series of articles on “The Art of Wine.”

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“Living Treasures” are those elders in a community recognized as having special knowledge, learned over a lifetime, that they share with others. These folks usually aren’t rich or college educated but they possess a mental encyclopedia that would put a computer to shame. In Mendocino County we have two “Living Treasures” in the persons of Robert and Lila Lee in Ukiah. In the conduct of their everyday lives most folks don’t start out with the idea of becoming “Living Treasures.” Conducting their day-to-day lives and raising families, they use their free time to follow deep personal interests. In the case of Robert and Lila, it was collecting local history. It seems the more the Lee’s collected tidbits of his-tory and photographs over the years the more people turned to them with questions. The couple became the persons who could provide answers. Soon people all over the county and state were recognizing their work. Survive long enough, freely share your knowledge, and recogni-tion follows as “Living Treasures.” Lila has deep roots in Mendocino County with family in the area for 160 years. Her mother Elizabeth Conrad Rose was born in Anderson Valley, and in the Anderson Valley Museum visitors can see quilts made by Lila’s grandmother Mary Jane Rose. Made circa 1875, these quilts have backings made from flattened feed sacks with the stamped imprint “J.Bros-Ukiah” from a grain mill there. Additional roots in the county came from Lila’s father Arthur Romer, who arrived in 1902 to raise pears and grow hay. Arthur Romer and Elizabeth Rose married in 1916 and had three daughters, including Lila. In 1941 Lila graduated from Ukiah High School and immediately moved into World War II support work at

places like the Rationing Board. Many jobs followed and after the Korean War she met Robert Lee. They married in 1955, adopted two children, and grandchildren have followed over the years. Robert was raised by his grandparents in the Sacramento Valley and was a jack-of-all-trades. He worked as a logger, mechanic, truck driver, heavy equip-ment operator and a bottling line supervisor at Parducci Winery. He always found time to sit down with an old-timer who had a good story to tell and developed his own love of local history. Mendocino County formed a Historical Society in the late 1950’s and the Lees joined. There was a lot of debate among local historians about where the repository for artifacts should be. Sites included the home of artist Grace Carpenter Hudson, where Lila was part of the Sun House Guild that was preserving it, or the lovely home of retired Judge Held on Perkins Street in Ukiah. It was decided to build a new structure in Willits for a museum, but what was to be done with the donated Held home? Lila suggested it become a library. Artifacts could go to the new museum in Willits and written records, newspa-pers and photographs could come to the Library, and Lila volunteered to run it. For the next 35 years, while working part-time as a bookkeeper and raising a family, Lila brought order and organization to the donations to the Library. With no formal training she became a respected authority on local history and was recognized by the California Historical Society with an award for her long service, along with being voted “Citizen of the Year” by the Ukiah Chamber of Commerce in 1994. Meanwhile Robert Lee, seeing the need to have

by Katy Tahja

ROBERT AND LILA LEE: LIVING TREASURES

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someone knowledgeable in reproducing historic pho-tographs, had Ukiah photographer Don Crawford help him set up a dark room and teach him photography skills. He copied and collected photos until he had over 10,000 images neatly organized and his collection draws researchers from all over the country. My own book, Early Mendocino Coast, could never have been com-pleted without the help of this collection and the book is dedicated to the Lees. After decades of supporting and volunteering with the Mendocino County Historical Society, the Lee’s found an uncomfortable relationship developing. The Society’s Board of Directors wanted to computerize resources and photographs. Lila and Robert were long beyond the time in life where they wanted to start learning new technical skills. With bitter feelings they left the Historical Society and found new institutions that appreciated the encyclopedic mental knowledge of Mendocino County history. The Anderson Valley Historical Society has a vol-unteer drive Lila over frequently to docent in the Little Red Schoolhouse Museum where display cases feature many items from her Rose family history. Lila also vol-unteers with the Grace Carpenter Hudson Museum in Ukiah where she and the museum’s director quite often “just talk” about some point of Mendocino County his-tory needing clarification. With prior arrangement Robert’s extensive col-lection can be inspected by researchers looking for a particular image. Access to these photos is not for casual browsers but if the research you’re doing absolutely needs a photo of 118,000 railroad ties stacked near the Navarro River in 1926 waiting for railroads to come buy them, Robert has it. Robert and Lila Lee are “Living Treasures” for Mendocino County. Their encyclopedic knowledge of local history and its photographic images delight histo-rians, authors and researchers. Simple people with avid interests make interesting neighbors in the Ukiah Valley.

Katy Tahja is a local historian and author of several books, including Early Mendocino Coast, and has worked at Gallery Bookshop in Mendocino for more than 20 years.

Photos from the collection of Robert J. Lee.

Rockport in 1958. Town is now gone.

Excursion train at the Mouth of Flynn Creek on the Albion Lumber Company Railroad tracks.

Picking hops in Anderson Valley.

48

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INLAND BACKROADSPotter Valley Back Roads and Byways

For a pleasant drive in the inland Mendocino County countryside, nothing can beat a slow tour of the quiet roads and country lanes of Potter Valley. Only a twenty minute drive from the county seat of Ukiah, Potter Valley – called Ba-Lo-Kai by the native Pomo people – is home to the headwaters of the Russian River’s east fork. It is also the home of the Potter Valley Project, an early, and now controversial, privately-funded hydroelectric and irrigation water project which for over 100 years has con-tributed to the valley’s attractive year-round lushness and the viability of its agricultural economy. The irrigation system’s network of ditches and concrete channels, check dams and quaint, hand-operated distribution gates are an important element of the valley’s visual charm. Entering the valley on Potter Valley Road, at its intersection with Hwy 20, a mile or two east of Lake Mendocino, you’ll drive along the scenic Russian River. After a couple of miles the road, and the river, enter the valley proper. From here you can either keep going straight, or turn left onto West Side Potter Valley Road. I recommend the latter. West Side P.V. Road is a well-maintained two-lane county road which meanders at a leisurely pace around the western foothills, past picturesque houses and farms, verdant pastures and well-ordered vineyards. Prize-winning organically raised beef cattle graze on the hillside above the road. Looking out across the valley, you’ll see fence lines formed by wild blackberries growing in hedge-rows. These hedgerows create a scene reminiscent of rural England. This is especially true in the springtime, when the hills and pastures are a brilliant green. Soon, the road straightens out and the view widens even further. To the west, across a broad fenced pas-ture are low, rolling oak-covered hills. To the east is the steeper, more rugged slope of Middle Mountain. Visible

beyond the hills at the northern end of the valley are the high, often snow-capped peaks of the Yollo Bolly Range, source of the main fork of the mighty Eel River. A stop at the Potter Valley Cemetery, just off the road, will afford a quiet, peaceful location from which to enjoy the valley views. If you’re a history buff, a walk around the charming rural cemetery is well worthwhile. Members of many of the valley’s pioneer families, who first settled the area in the 1850’s, are laid to rest here. Just down the road from the cemetery, a stone’s throw from Main Street, is the imposing and historic Spotswood House, built in 1887. Its current owners, Barbara and Castle Newell, have not only restored the house to its former grandeur, but have also lovingly rebuilt several old farm structures. West Side P.V. Road ends at Main Street, where a sign points right to “Lake Pillsbury 18 miles.” Turn left and follow Main Street to its end at Hawn Creek Road. Paralleling Hawn Creek Road, on one side, is a row of tall electrical towers, evidence of the 1908 hydroelectric

by Pete Halstad

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project. On the road’s opposite side are examples of the project’s irrigation system ditches and water distribution gates. Where Hawn Creek Road ends at Gibson Lane, turn left again and take Gibson Lane to its intersection with Wagon Wheel Road, then take Wagon Wheel Road a short way to Busch Lane. You are now close to the northwest corner of the valley, where Busch Creek flows out of the hills to become the headwaters of the East Fork Russian River. A left turn on Busch Lane will bring you after a few hundred yards to the end of the county road. Since Busch Lane ends abruptly at bridge-less Busch Creek, you’ll have to make a U-turn and drive back to Gibson Lane. Take Gibson to Powerhouse Road, and turn left. Heading north up Powerhouse Road you’ll pass a bridge over Busch Creek. To your left is one of the four-teen “dams” – actually, erosion control structures – built by Pacific Gas and Electric Company in the 1930’s. A little further up the road you’ll encounter another narrow bridge, this one crossing the Powerhouse Canal itself. Adjacent to the bridge is a small check dam. This and three others like it in the valley drive nearby turbines to generate electricity. Whether hydroelectric “check dam” or irrigation system “erosion control structure,” the verdant pools and curtains of flowing water these obstacles create are a visual treat. At the end of Powerhouse Road you’ll come to McFadden Farm, a certified organic farming operation, and just beyond that is the entrance to the power generat-ing station, where Eel River water pours out of its diver-sion tunnel and enters Potter Valley on its way to Lake Mendocino. From this point, your only option is to turn around and head back down Powerhouse Road to Gibson Lane. A left turn on Gibson leads you all the way across the valley

to the end of the lane at Eel River Road. A mile and a half up the road, the valley ends, and the road begins a steep, twisting climb up and over the ridge to the Eel River. If you have time, drive to the ridgecrest (it’s only a mile or two) and from there take the left fork and follow the road to Van Arsdale Dam. During high flows, the water plung-ing over this dam is an awesome sight, especially if you’re lucky enough to see a salmon or steelhead negotiating the dam’s fish ladder. If you don’t have time for a drive to the Eel River, start up the hill a ways, to a convenient turnout, for a wide-angle view of Potter Valley. Complete your tour of the valley by heading back down Eel River Road, all the way to good old Main Street. Turn right and take the short drive down Main, past Potter Valley School, to 1928-vintage Tahto Bridge. Park along the road and walk over the bridge for a timeless view of the Russian River.

Happy motoring!

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One hundred twenty-five years ago, a young man from Racine, Wisconsin, started building a railroad on the northern California coast. A year later he oversaw the unloading of a new Baldwin 0-4-0 steam locomotive off a lumber schooner onto the tracks of the new pier at Soldier’s Harbor. Today, in 2010, steam and diesel power continue to carry passengers on this railroad from Fort Bragg and Willits through the coastal redwoods. It was not long after the California Western Railroad completed tunnel #2 that full passenger ser-vice from Fort Bragg to San Francisco (via the ferry at Sausalito) began in 1912. During the “Roaring Twenties,” passengers could also take a night train in a Pullman Sleeper, and wake up “in San Francisco.” Well, Sausalito was almost San Francisco... Improvements in personal transportation and

better roads by the mid to late twen-ties led the

C.W.R. to resort to a Mack built railcar to continue daytime passenger traffic. This gasoline powered bus on train wheels belched and fumed so much that it acquired the name “Skunk” due to its lingering odor. At first derogatory, the name became endearing to C.W.R. riders and management. Today, when you take The Skunk, you may ride one of two diesel powered railcars, or take a seat in a passenger car, pulled by #45, a 1926 Baldwin 2-8-2 steam locomotive or a 1950’s era diesel engine. Both diesel and steam equipment are fueled by recycled bunker oil. Riders on The Skunk this year will be partici-pants in 125th anniversary events and services which will excite and intrigue visitors and locals. This April Mendocino Railway unveiled (lit-erally) the refurbished and repainted rail car, #699, originally built in 1919 for the Blue Mountain Redding RR of Pennsylvania. This passenger car,

“Mendocino County Mobile Memento,” has been painted by San

by Steven P. Worthen

THE SKUNK TRAIN : 125 YEARS AND NEVER MISSED A SEASON

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Francisco artist Casey Koerner and Mendocino artist Janet Self. Janet, who painted the car while it was in the roundhouse (actually a train shed – but trainmen like to use old names), has a whimsical expression and use of color. Casey, painting on the opposite side of car #699, has employed his large scale mural tech-niques along with his graphical depictions of northern California animals and landscapes. Anna Kvinsland, Executive Director of the Arts Council of Mendocino County, and “Chief Skunk” Robert J. Pinoli have partnered both organizations in bringing about this marvelous mobile Mendocino memento. The rail car has already been put back in service and will enthrall passengers and onlookers. A ride on The Skunk Train is always a trip of part history, part nature and part fun. During Mendocino County’s Heritage month this past May, the Skunk reintroduced that same man who founded the rail-road and began Union Lumber Company, “C.R.” Johnson. As portrayed by S.P. Worthen, “C.R.” tells of the founding of the railroad, lumber company and the city of Fort Bragg. “C.R.” built the Guest House (now the Guest House Museum) on the site of an old army infirmary. The first mayor of Fort Bragg, “C.R.” donated land for schools and churches and helped to lay out the design of the city as we see it today. The Skunk Train (as the passenger train has been known since the early 20th century) no longer hauls freight at night, as in the glory days of logging. Should the rail corridor from Eureka to Sausalito (formerly North Western Pacific) reconnect at Willits, Mendocino

Railway (parent of the Skunk) could be back in the freight business. This summer another attraction for the Skunk Train will be the installation of a new exhibit, avail-able for train passengers and non-passengers alike. The Mendocino Coast Model Railway and Historical Society is completing a large “G” scale interactive layout of early logging on the C.W.R. in the historic Carpenter Shed (a smaller version of the “round-house,” situated beyond the depot tracks). While waiting to go inside the exhibit, visitors will be able to view trains emerging from the building, hugging the outside walls of the shed. Once inside, viewers will see small scale logging camps, Fort Bragg, tunnel #1, as well as various bridges and trestles from the past of California Western Railroad and Steamship Company. The members of the train club model landscape, buildings, rolling stock and engines. The art involved in modeling trains, the art of refurbishing prototype passenger cars, history brought alive by singers, actors and railroad men – reliving history while serenely traveling through the coastal redwoods – this is the experience and joy of having a working 125 year old railroad in our own backyard.

SKUNK TRAIN – 707 964-6371 & 707 459-1060Fort Bragg Depot – Foot of Laurel Street, Fort BraggWillits Depot – 299 E Commercial Street, Willitswww.SkunkTrain.com

57

THE SKUNK TRAIN : 125 YEARS AND NEVER MISSED A SEASON

Opposite page – Casey Koerner side of Passenger Coach #699

Model Steam Train on M.C.M.R.R.&H.S. Live Steam Model Locomotive