Sonoma International Film Festival - 2017

I have been to Park City, Utah but it wasn't during the Sundance Film Festival where you see many celebrities wearing down jackets and designer beanies in Entertainment Weekly. I wanted to go to my first film festival and cross that off my list!

I checked out the screening schedule and there were a few available on my only available date. There were several films about the food and beverage industry. How perfect. I went with Tuna, Farofa and Spaghetti about three Brazilian chefs heading back to their roots and brought three friends.

However, when in Rome, we had to wine taste. We went to Viansa. I was just there in November but I had to check out their venue for June 2018 wedding. The grounds are beautiful and the pavilion can be customizable. That info is for another blog post. They revamped the tasting room since November but they still allow dogs. We sat outside as it was a beautiful day. Sadly we witnessed a worker trip on stairs and cut his hand pretty bad on the glasses that shattered in his hand when he fell. Paramedics arrived. I hope he's ok.


Per my Wine Director's recommendation, we went to Schug Winery. Find it up on a hill and the a small tasting room with very personable staff. We had their flight and I had was gifted their Sauvignon Blanc and planned to drink it with my Sunshine in the sunshine the following day. Thank you, Angelina!  Court bought the bubbles that we got to taste that wasn't on the tasting menu.




Next, we ended up at Anaba down the hill. It was 30 minutes before they closed and they were still busy. Outdoor seating was unavailable so we stood at the counter. No problem. By that time, we were loose and not a single silent moment passed. We were having a good time and our pourer loosened up once she saw how much fun we are. I ended up buying a gift bottle of port for my friend's birthday that was coming up. I remember going wine tasting with him in Carmel Valley many years ago and he enjoyed the port.
Jewelry by Stella & Dot with the 'Nectar of the Gods' the Roussanne. Delicious!

Jewelry by Stella & Dot

Then it was time to head to the Sonoma International Film Festival. As we approached the square, we noticed plenty of parking and next to no foot traffic. We parked and went to get our tickets at will call, which apparently was at a different part of the square. I wasn't going to chase that down. And we were hungry so we hunted down some food and found cheese curls, burgers and fries called B&V Whiskey Bar and Grill. We were craving cheese and charcuterie. Fail.


However, the food was decent. Court had the crazy lobster Bloody Mary and a burger. I had the Tennessee Mistress cocktail with a lobster salad and the Mac and Cheese. I tried our friend's cheese curls. I can't say anything blew my mind but it was satisfying our hunger.



Tennessee Mistress
Cheese curls
Cheese curls, mac & cheese, lobster salad
We made our way back to the museum where the film was showing. They asked for tickets. I didn't have them. I had to look up the tickets on my phone but my connection was terrible. They let us in anyways. When I bought the tickets a few weeks before there were only 12 tickets left. As we entered, there was room for at least 30 more guests. I wonder what happened.

The film is like porn for foodies. My jaw dropped several times. The ingredients, the shots as dishes are being prepared and the plating was mouthwatering.  I have been to Italy and France but not Japan and I love sushi. Did Japan make it to my list of must visit spots now? Court and I couldn't help but say 'I want that' like you would say 'I want to see that' or 'that looks stupid' after movie trailers. It's 90-minutes of drooling. Wet floors ahead.


It was a great day in Sonoma. Definitely check out those great wineries and support independent films. San Francisco's Film Festival is happening now I believe. 



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This is #7 of 30 daily blog posts to hit 10,000 hits in one month. I did the same challenge in April 2016. Thank you for visiting and please check back tomorrow and share anything you like!

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