Polyphenols

Polyphenols are antioxidant compounds found in the skin and seeds of grapes. When wine is made from these grapes, the alcohol produced by the fermentation process dissolves the polyphenols contained in the skin and seeds. Red wine contains more polyphenols than white wine because the making of white wine requires the removal of the skins after the grapes are crushed. The phenols in red wine include catechin, gallic acid and epicatechin.

Polyphenols have been found to have antioxidant properties. Antioxidants are substances that protect cells from oxidative damage caused by molecules called free radicals. These chemicals can damage important parts of cells, including proteins, membranes and DNA. Cellular damage caused by free radicals has been implicated in the development of cancer. Research on the antioxidants found in red wine has shown that they may help inhibit the development of certain cancers.

Bothe-Napa Valley SP

Most of the park is rugged, with elevations ranging from 300 to 2,000 feet. You will notice a pattern in the vegetation: the forests are on the north-facing slopes and in canyons, while south-facing slopes tend to be brushy; redwoods grow only near creeks or springs.

Plant life hides much of the park's geology, which is principally volcanic, but you can see a reminder of the area's violent geologic past in the volcanic ash cliffs of upper Ritchey Canyon.

The park is home to raccoons, gray squirrels, deer, foxes, bobcats, and coyotes to name a few, but they are sometimes difficult to spot because of their nocturnal habits and the heavy forest cover.

Dogs are restricted to the camp and picnic areas and must be leashed. They are not permitted on the trails or in the pool area. Dogs may not be left unattended and must be inside a vehicle or tent at night.

Several species of birds can be easily detected though, including the six kinds of woodpecker that inhabit the park. The spectacular crow-sized pileated woodpecker is one of them. On a more rare occasion a spotted owl can be found, perched high in a redwood tree.

Located by the entrance to the park is the Visitor Center. The Visitor Center and entrance station are open intermittently when staffing is available. Brochures (hiking maps) are also available by mail.

Next to the park's visitor center is the Native American Garden which displays some of the plants important to the first people of this area. Today, many of the same plants are used by the Wappo people. A guide for the garden is available by mail or in the visitor center to broaden one's understanding of the first people.

Near the day use/picnic area is the Pioneer Cemetery, resting-place of some of the original settlers of the Napa Valley. The cemetery is an interesting place to visit while on a day hike, and is currently under restoration to return it to its original, mid-1800's appearance.

Sonoma SHP

State Historic Park

The historic, picturesque town of Sonoma is located in the heart of the beautiful Wine Country between Napa and Santa Rosa off Highway 12. Situated around a central plaza (the largest of its kind in California) filled with charming shops and restaurants, the city is home to Sonoma State Historic Park—site of the northernmost Franciscan Mission in California and birthplace of the California State Bear Flag.

Unlike most parks with a single plot of land and a continuous boundary, Sonoma State Historic Park is a scattering of historical attractions consisting of six midtown locations near Sonoma's Plaza. They are: Mission San Francisco Solano, the Blue Wing Inn, Sonoma Barracks, the Toscano Hotel, the Servants Quarters (the remains of La Casa Grande) and Vallejo's Home. Vallejo's Home is also called Lachryma Montis, and is less than a mile west of the Plaza. It was the estate of General Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo, Military Commander and Director of Colonization of the Northern Frontier.

The Best Michigan Wines Hang with the Best in the Country

All over America, regional wines are growing in popularity, while the sales of California wines remain static. Are they really that good, or is this a craze fueled by local loyalties?

If you’re in the wine business, you know it isn’t local loyalty. Many people just can’t believe that Michigan wines are as good as their more famous cousins from California or Europe. Some of us remember a mere 25 years ago, when California wines were similarly dismissed by nearly everyone as being noticeably less fine than French wines.

Then in 1976, the Californians bested the French in the historic Stephen Spurrier wine tasting in Paris. Overnight, California wines were believable. Despite the fact that the winners were a few expensive, low-production wines, Americans went out in droves to buy whatever was on the shelves.

What few people realize is that in national and international competitions, wines from Michigan, Virginia, Texas, Connecticut, Missouri and New York regularly beat out wines from California and Europe.

Maybe we need one really big shootout amongst the best of the best to generate the respect that regional wines deserve. In the meantime, medals are quietly being awarded to home-grown Michigan wines at prestigious competitions around the country.

At the Tasters Guild International Wine Competition in March, more than 3,000 wines were evaluated over a four-day period. Michigan wines won 25 Gold Medals plus two Double Gold Medals. A Double Gold is awarded when two separate panels of judges unanimously agree on the Gold Medal status of a wine.

Not prestigious enough? The oldest and largest wine competition is the Los Angeles County Fair “Wines of the Americas” Competition. Here, on California’s home turf, the 2002 Tabor Hill Traminette was named Best of Class. In addition, Gold Medals went to the 2002 Tabor Hill Semi-Dry Riesling and the 2002 Chateau Grand Traverse Late Harvest Riesling.

An even more significant award recently came out of the International Eastern Wine Competition, sponsored by the prestigious Vineyard and Winery Management magazine. The 2002 Peninsula Cellars Semi-Dry Riesling was named Best White Wine of the competition, and Chateau Grand Traverse received a Double Gold for the 2002 Late Harvest Riesling.

Then, another shoe dropped. The San Francisco International Competition, perhaps the most prestigious of all the competitions, voted its Sweepstakes Award to Peninsula Cellars Semi-Dry Riesling. That wine and the Chateau Grand Traverse Semi-Dry Riesling both were awarded Double Gold Medals. This competition truly is international; these medals were awarded in head-to-head competition with the best of Germany, France, Italy, California and more.

Such awards have allowed Michigan wines to attract top wine professionals to judge at the Michigan State Fair Wine and Spirits Competition. Wines of the Americas competition organizer Bob Small was a judge in 2001, as was noted wine author Bob Thompson. In 2002, respected wine columnist Dan Berger and America’s only Master of Wine and Master Sommelier Doug Frost were easily persuaded to join the competition. This year, Berger will again be judging and will be joined by Maitre Sommelier René Chazottes from the exclusive Pacific Club in Los Angeles.

These judges join talent from within the state, including Master Sommelier Madeline Triffon, well-known retailer and auction commenter Dick Scheer, Tapawingo Wine Manager Ron Edwards, Master Sommelier Rick Rubel, and Detroit News Wine Report author Sandra Silfven. The superintendent of the competition is wine columnist and national judge Christopher Cook.

Napa Valley, Calif., School District Excited About Hybrid Bus

The Napa Valley Unified School District has been using a hybrid diesel-electric school bus for nearly a year and has seen significant benefits. With the diesel-electric bus, the school district has been able to reduce its green house gas emissions and double the gas mileage it gets with the hybrid bus as compared to its diesel-only buses. As a result, the school district saves about $5,000 in fuel costs for the hybrid bus.

While most "diesel-only" powered school buses achieve an average of six to seven miles per gallon, Ralph Knight, transportation director at Napa Valley School District, was surprised to learn just how much fuel the hybrid diesel electric school bus could save.

"Fuel costs are a major concern to me," said Knight. "Cutting annual fuel costs in half for this bus is a major advantage -- both for taxpayers' wallets and for the environment."

The fuel efficiency of the hybrid bus was close to 13 miles per gallon -- nearly double the fuel efficiency of a typical diesel school bus.

Based on 13,000 miles the hybrid bus traveled during the 2007-08 school year, annual fuel costs for a standard school bus would be just under $10,000 at $4.87 per gallon. Conversely, fuel for the hybrid bus costs approximately $5,000 at the same price per gallon.

Traveling about 65 miles per day, the hybrid bus typically transports roughly 60 children each morning and 60 each afternoon through a mixed route of highway and city driving.

Even the community has started to recognize the impact the bus could have on the environment and are excited about it. "The children are excited to be riding one of the first hybrid school buses in the nation," said Knight. "The parents have also commented on the positive environmental benefits of the bus."

Drivers also enjoy driving the bus. To the driver, it operates similar to a standard school bus. However, the diesel engine receives assistance from an electric motor at certain points during acceleration and deceleration. The hybrid drive system on Napa Valley's bus is recharged by plugging it into a standard outlet at night or between morning and afternoon routes.

The word in the industry has gotten out. Knight says he has fielded calls from school districts all over the country asking him about the performance of this new bus.
"I've told them the truth," said Knight. "I'm very pleased with the hybrid school bus."

One of the other advantages of the bus hasn't really been "seen." The exhaust of the hybrid school bus is smokeless with dramatically reduced emissions compared to older buses operating in California. In fact, emissions of particulate matter have been reduced by up to 90 percent.

"There's a host of new technologies incorporated into the hybrid school bus that provide the improvement in fuel economy and reduction in emissions," said David Hillman, marketing director at IC Bus. "With a year of customer experience in Napa, and the additional experience gained from hybrid buses at customers throughout the U.S. and Canada, we have shown that hybrid technology is a viable solution for bus operators in North America. The volume provided by our current customer base has allowed us to reduce our prices by $30,000 to $40,000. We encourage further efforts to provide federal and state funding, such as the California Proposition 1B funds, to help offset purchase prices and provide the opportunity for more school districts and bus operators to implement this environmentally vital technology."

In the case of Napa's hybrid unit, PG&E provided $30,000 to help with the purchase of the plug-in hybrid school bus. An additional $30,000 to fund the bus was provided by the U.S. EPA through the Clean School Bus USA program and the West Coast Collaborative, a public-private partnership to reduce diesel emissions.

Schools in California can use funds allocated by Proposition 1B to direct toward the purchase of a hybrid school bus. Funding to districts to support hybrid purchases from Proposition 1B and distributed through the California Air Resources Board can be up to $40,000 per bus.

Bothe-Napa Valley State Park

Redwood, Ritchey Canyon Trails

6.5 miles round trip with 1,200-foot elevation gain;
longer and shorter options possible

First-time visitors to this park typically arrive by accident, not design; they’ve just completed a tour of one of the renowned Napa Valley wineries and are looking for a place to picnic.

But if it’s the park’s proximity to wineries (just down the road are Beringer Vineyards, Charles Krug Winery and a dozen more) that first lures travelers, it’s the park’s beauty that brings them back: Year-round Ritchey Creek shaded by redwoods and Douglas fir, plus inspiring wine country views from Coyote Peak. The park is a particularly pleasant refuge in summer, because it stays cool when Napa Valley temperatures soar into the 90s.

During the 1800s, this land belonged to Dr. Charles M. Hitchcock of San Francisco, who built a second home called “Lonely” in 1872.

Life in the country seemed to have resulted in the fierce independence of Hitchcock’s daughter, Lillie. An early feminist, she scandalized her social set by riding horseback astride, forcing her way into an exclusive men’s club, and winning poker games.

As a child, Lillie Hitchcock was rescued from a fire that killed two of her playmates. As an adult, she was an enthusiastic booster of San Francisco’s firemen. When she died in 1929, Lillie Hitchcock Coit left the city of San Francisco the money to build Coit Tower, a memorial to the city’s firemen.

Reinhold Bothe acquired part of the Hitchcock/Coit estate and developed a resort, Paradise Park, with cabins and a swimming pool. The resort was popular during the 1930s, much less so after World War II. The state park system purchased Paradise Park from Bothe in 1960.

Best hike in the 1,900-acre park is an exploration of three mile long, fern-lined, redwood-shaded Ritchey Canyon. The redwoods sprouted from the roots of trees felled in the 1850s during the settlement of Napa Valley. The second-generation trees are thriving. Adding a magical touch to the forest scene are redwood orchids and trillium growing at the base of the redwoods.

Directions to trailhead: Bothe-Napa Valley State Park is located on the side of Highway 29 in the Napa Valley, five miles north of St. Helena, four miles south of Calistoga. Leave your car by the visitor center or at the horse trailer parking area just past the campground road turnoff where the trail begins.

The hike: The trail, which travels west beneath big leaf maple, madrone and oaks soon crosses a paved road and begins paralleling the road to the campground, as well as Ritchey Creek.

Beneath the tall Douglas fir and redwoods grows a tangle of ferns, bay laurel and wild grape. After 0.5 mile, you’ll pass a trail on your right leading to the campground. A mile out, the forest thins and you intersect Coyote Peak Trail on your left.

Recently re-worked and re-routed Coyote Peak Trail climbs high and dry terrain and offers good views of Upper Ritchey Canyon, plus glimpses of the wine country and mighty Mt. Saint Helena.

As the path steepens, you’ll pass more big redwoods and fir. About 1.5 miles along, you cross Ritchey Creek (usually an easy crossing except when rains swell the creek). This is a good turnaround point for the leg-weary or families with small children.

The trail continues up-canyon, crossing Ritchey Creek again and linking up with Upper Ritchey Canyon Trail. After passing a junction with Spring Trail, you climb above the forest into a brushy environment of manzanita and scrub oak, then dip back into the redwoods.

Three miles from the trailhead, your path forks. The main trail angles left, then climbs south to the park boundary.A better bet is the right fork, which leads over an old bridge to an 1885 homestead site, where plum and apple trees grow in a picnic-perfect clearing.

Return the same way, or take a slightly longer route back via either Spring Trail or Coyote Peak Trail.

CERRO ALTO CAMGROUND(CA), LOS PADRES NF -FS, CA

Cerro Alto Campground located 7 miles east of Morro Bay on State Highway 41, and 7 miles west of Atascadero is a well-known Hiking and Mountain Biking paradise.The campground is an easy 7 mile drive away from Morro Bay beaches which offers wide sandy stretches, surfing, fishing, kayaking, windsurfing, sailing, scuba-diving and more. While the campground offers a serene, relaxed enviornment, both Morro Bay and Atascadero offer numerous dining opportunities, shopping, museums and other activities.For the wine coinsure, Paso Robles, quickly becoming known as a premier spot for Central Coast wines, is a short 20 miles away. Wine tasting tours are offered daily, or you can choose to create your own tour selecting from the numerous wineries located in the area.

Cerro Alto Peak (2,624') is the destination of Hikers, Bikers and Equestrians with its 360-degree view encompassing the Central California Coast and Inland Valley.Also great as a staging place for motorcyles or cars day trips, you can visit the quaint towns of San Luis Obispo, Cayucos, Harmony and Cambria. Spend time relaxing at the many day spas located in Avila Beach or Gover Beach. Ride off-highway vehicles on the beach at the famous Pismo Beach. Or visit the historic Hearst Castle and take one of the many tours that are offered to the public. The campground has 22 units. Each site has a picnic table, fire ring and most have a pedestal grill. There are 5 walk in sites.