Wine and Mushroom Festival
Although it’s already started, there’s still time to drive to the Wine and Mushroom festival in Mendocino County, California. The 10-day event runs through November 15, 2009.
Mushroom dinners, wine and beer pairing workshops, musical performances, exhibits, and guided mushroom walks are among the activities scheduled. Many restaurants are celebrating the season with special mushroom dishes featured daily. Inns throughout the county are offering special packages with themed amenities. Events are taking place throughout the county, from the coast to the inland valleys. There’s a complete schedule here.
Mendocino County is home to more than 3,000 mushroom varieties – including the rare candy cap mushroom, with its intense maple-syrup flavor and sweet fragrance – that grows only along the northern coast of California. If mushrooms are your passion, Road Trips Foodie, consider a private mushroom tour offered by Ryane Snow, Ph.D., amateur botanist, teacher, surfer, diver, practitioner of Chinese medicine and pharmacy technician, who has been studying and collecting mushrooms for over thirty years. Private foraging tours are $50/hour for groups up to four people. Send him a email to ask about opportunities.
