The Sonoma Spiel

Summer Preview! How to Win the Tuesday Night Farmers Market! - Michelle Lacy & Mark Bodenhamer

This week on the Sonoma Spiel we discuss competitive gardening, how to properly do the Sonoma Tuesday Night Party/Farmers Market (bring a blanket, a bottle opener and a bag for the food) and the odd affinity for corn dogs that somehow lives eternal among Sonomans at the market.Then Mark Bodenhamer of the Sonoma Valley Chamber advises not trying to horn in on the Friday bocce people, because they don't mess around, and Michelle Lacy tells us about her fave events for a Sonoma summer.Then we answer your requests for info because "We Get Questions" and we want you to know that we know what you want to know. (Question: can you just pop in to Muir Woods to see the redwoods on your way from Sonoma to San Francisco? Are there other ways to see the redwoods if you don't want to make a reservation?)Listen up! Subscribe! Tell your friends!

Grandma was a Sonoma nudist and other historical tidbits- Patricia Cullinan of Sonoma Valley Historical Society

Our history isn't just dates and faces - when Patricia Cullinan comes to tell us, it could also be places and patookuses. The head of the Sonoma Valley historical society came by with special second guest star Lucy the Lab to talk about Sonoma Valley's startling history, from before the Mission period when Native Californians from the Wappo, Pomo, Miwok and Patwin lived in and around the area to the arrival of the Spanish and then the Mexican Empire. And the Russians. There we some Russians. And then we talked hot springs and resorts and trains and hunting and somehow it got around to the war effort of some naked Californians who got in trouble for the Sunoma nudist resort just north of town. Not so much for the cavorting in the all together but more for using their gas ration cards to get here.And then she helps us answer YOUR question when we get to "We Get Questions" from real visitors to Sonoma Valley. This week - where to get a drink, where to go when you are a teetotaler, and more...Remember to subscribe to this podcast and tell your friends. Every time we get a new listener, a grape vine hits bud break.

Unlocking your creativity with Shiloh Sophia and Jonathan McCloud: Musette Atelier in Sonoma

Shiloh Sophia McCloud is an artist, teacher, speaker and more, co-founder of MUSEA, "a community of creatives working together to make this world what we hope it can be." 
She is joined by partner Jonathan McCloud, whom she me met in 2012 and "the two of them struck up a quantum conversation resulting in a life long partnership and working together in business with Intentional Creativity through various technology platforms."In a wide-ranging interview over a quick 50 minutes we cover painting, the soul, epistemology, ontology, wine making, cooking, the nitrogen cycle of grape growing, inner transformation, relationships and a lot more. Then Shiloh and Jonathan help us answer YOUR questions during "We Get Questions" including where to bring a group of 60 people when visiting Sonoma, why are there little miniature sheep in the vineyards right now and is it possible to walk from the Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn to the Sonoma Plaza, or should you take the bus?Buckle up, this is another interesting episode of the Sonoma Spiel podcast, the number one podcast covering the Sonoma Wine Country in California!Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast on your favorite platform! 

From gas jockey to dance leader: Victor Ferrer of Grupo Folklorico Quetzalen

Victor Ferrer didn't start out to become the leader of Sonoma Valley's Mexican dance troupe (also known as folkorico dance.) Then again, he didn't set out to become the youngest editor of the Spanish language newspaper for Sonoma Valley either. Victor Ferrer came to the Sonoma Spiel to talk the types of Mexican dance, how you have to balance respect for tradition with the opportunity to innovate and create new art, and what it takes to grow a dance organization dedicated to Mexican performing arts.Along the way we hear about the role of African and Polish traditions on Mexican music, and why we need little windows to get quick snacks and food, and why it's hard to find good public transportation between Napa and Sonoma, but it's very easy to take the free shuttle bus between the city of Sonoma and the Springs in Sonoma Valley. Victor then confesses that he has become a runner and has some good routes to suggest, but he has never performed folklorico dance at a 10K race. Hardest part about running in the Springs? You can smell all the good food from the Brinquito chicken guy, the Los Magos food truck, La Hacienda, Sonoma Eats and more... 

Best of We. Get. Questions! Sonoma Spiel

The Sonoma Spiel went on Spring Break last week, so while we were busy doing spring break things, our brave podcast editor Timothy Benton (also of Yeehaw Coffee fame) put together the best of our crowd-favorite segment: We. Get. Questions.Mark Bodenhamer from the Sonoma Valley Chamber of Commerce answered questions from someone named Sue from the Midwest.We talk A Boy Named Sue, emojis, breweries, bachelorette parties at wineries, and how to tell if you are in the right Sonoma.Sheana Davis of Epicurean Connection, cookbook author of Buttermonger, has tips on where to get free lemons (offer soup), what happens to grapevines when it rains (they get wet, but that's ok because they're dormant,) and where chefs go to eat when they go eat. Laura Schermeister of Schermeister Winery knows where the old, spooky and deserted houses are in Sonoma Valley, but if it's hit the MLS, it's already sold and the ghosts come with it. If you need sage to smudge, she also knows where to get that. 

Don’t Read the Comments: Sonoma Index Tribune Editor Emily Charrier Ep. 32

She started with covering aebelskiver recipes in a small town and worked her way to covering wineries in a small town. And her advice: don't read the comments. Emily Charrier, editor of the Sonoma Index Tribune, details life as a small town newspaper editor in Sonoma Valley. We  make her try to choose which writing sample is from a live, real human being and which has been spit out by the cold, unfeeling, soulless program of an AI bot. And then of course we go for everyone's favorite part of the show, WE GET QUESTIONS.Listen along, make sure you subscribe, and if you leave a nasty comment, it's ok, we won't read it anyway. (That's what we tell ourselves, anyway.)Find the Sonoma Spiel on:Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-sonoma-spiel/id1634467429Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4UuskGhmJ3EkWQk8DObR9bYoutube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLiSa7rAVobsI8O_3xp7hIDPKRO9nBuvNFOr wherever you get your podcasts... 

Sonoma Valley Authors Festival Preview: Ginny & David Freeman Ep. 31

Ginny and David Freeman, founders of the Sonoma Valley Author's Festival, want to be clear: it's actually a festival for the curious, for those who want to be surrounded by thinkers and exchange ideas. But there are also books available. Hear how the sixth edition of the festival will bring scientists, novelists, thinkers and poets to Sonoma wine country, including Isabel Allende, Ada Limon (Sonoma local and US Poet Laureate!), Soyoung Lee, Dave Barry, Abraham Verghese, Danielle Feinberg and many more.The main event is held at the Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn & Spa, and community events will be at the Sonoma Plaza and Sonoma Valley High School (Go Dragons!)World class thinkers? Amazing speeches? Community of the curious? As Ginny notes, "think of it as a series of Ted Talks over three days in Sonoma Valley."Then after all this heady conversation we make Ginny and David help answer questions from our visitors centers during what we call, "We. Get. Questions."Listen up! Podcasts on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-sonoma-spiel/id1634467429Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4UuskGhmJ3EkWQk8DObR9bYoutube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLiSa7rAVobsI8O_3xp7hIDPKRO9nBuvNF

Sonoma Film Festival Preview with Ginny Krieger Ep. 30

Food, wine and film come together with the Sonoma International Film Festival, and Ginny Krieger is here to talk about how to enjoy the films and the secrets to getting the most out of your experience. (Hint: if you don't like a movie, you can actually just walk to another one...)Martin Yan, of Yan Can Cook fame, will be a featured and celebrated guest during "Devour! Chefs and Shorts."Then she helps us answer some questions about visiting Sonoma Valley, and if you are Québécois, where to find fellow French Canadians, during our popular segment of We Get Questions. For some reason she refuses to weigh in when we ask if "Cocaine Bear" is the apotheosis of American cinema. (Answer: possibly.)She didn't start out to be in film, but she is in a film festival. And it's one of the best around. Listen up! Subscribe! Tell your friends you heard it all on the Sonoma Spiel!Apple podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/sonoma-film-festival-preview-with-ginny-krieger-ep-30/id1634467429?i=1000601976032Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5xhSFZbsHxW7PcnraUnJQ3?si=kR5a3VTwQlyDEryJZoz20Q