Northern California Coast

She lives life of bliss on her dad's sanctuary

Kate MacMurray lives in a cozy, upscale cabin on the 1,700-acre, Northern California estate - once a cattle ranch, now a vineyard - that her late father, actor Fred MacMurray, helped to build. "I get to live with my grapes and talk about my wonderful parents. Every morning I get up and thank God," she says.

Kate, 54, remembers that when she was a kid, her father loved to watch the Friday night fights sponsored by Gillette on his tiny black-and-white TV. He would ask her to stand beside the set and hold the rabbit-ears antenna just so to get the best reception.

Today the estate belongs to E. & J. Gallo, the wine behemoth that sells 78 million cases a year, and 450 of its acres are planted to vines. It markets the wines under the label "MacMurray Ranch," and Kate is the winery's ambassador, holding wine dinners in her parents' old house and traveling the world to promote MacMurray wines.

The wines are first-rate, noted for their complexity and power.

Fred MacMurray chose the site as a sanctuary from Hollywood, but the land happened to be in an area of rolling hills and redwoods in Sonoma County's Russian River Valley, blessed with the hot days and fog-cooled nights that produce some of California's best wines.

Kate had an idyllic childhood on the ranch and in the family's estate in Brentwood, playing with Jimmy Stewart's kids and Jamie Lee Curtis. She dabbled in animal husbandry, thinking she might run the ranch. Then she studied filmmaking and tried her hand at screenwriting.

"I've done a little of everything in Hollywood," she says.

MacMurray himself never grew a grape on the land, running it as a gentleman's cattle ranch until his death in 1991. Gallo bought it and planted grapes in 1996. It had to give Kate a quick education in wine when it decided to bottle the wines under the MacMurray name and hire her as spokesperson.

And Kate, despite a brief acting career that included a speaking role in director Blake Edwards 1981 "S.O.B.", had to overcome a fear of speaking to crowds to do her job. She chats comfortably now, even relishes the role.

MacMurray Ranch uses grapes from some of California's best cool-weather appellations, starting with its home vineyard in the Russian River Valley. It gets other grapes from elsewhere in Sonoma, the maritime vineyards of the Central Coast and the pinot noir vineyards of Oregon's Willamette Valley.

The wines are made in several Gallo-owned wineries including Frei Brothers and Louis Martini.

Northern California Coast v. Utah | United States Forum | Fodor's ...

We are trying to decide whether to go to Utah (Zion, Bryce) or the northern California coast (from San Francisco north to Oregon) in mid-May. My concern is that the CA coast will be too foggy this time of year to really appreciate the scenery. Am I right? What about the weather in Utah in mid-May. I'm assuming it won't be too hot? How chilly will it get at night? Any opinions on which would be a better trip are welcome!

The Northern CA coast is rarely warm, but May isn't a particularly foggy month. Coastal fog in CA is usually a result of hot temperatures inland - an inversion layer is created along the coast, the fog comes in, etc. May isn't very hot inland, so the conditions are not as favorable toward fog. There may still be some, but it shouldn't be as heavy as you would see in the summer. Also, keep in mind that coastal fog isn't generally the type of fog that obscures the views too much - not like tule fog that sits on the ground. When it does come close to the ground, it is often wispy and on the move, which makes for some neat views.

You could do all of them in a week if you didn't spend much time in each of them, and drove back to Vegas from Arches/Canyonlands on the hwy (70 to 15) I'm assuming you'll be going from Vegas. You could do a couple of nights in Zion one or two in Bryce, a drive through Capitol Reef for a quick look and overnight in Green River or Moab then a couple of days for Arches and Canyonlands then back to Vegas. Or, you could do a loop the other way, Arches/Canyonlands first then CR,Bryce, Zion.

I have done both of these trips more than once in the past couple of years. I am going back to Utah again for the 5th time in May myself. There is that much to do there. I just find the coast ok, but I do really enjoy Redwoods National Park. Although, Yosemite in May might be really nice as well. I personally think you need more time than 7 days for Utah. I would stick with Bryce/Zion or Goblin Valley/Moab/Arches/Canyonlands. The best thing we have ever done on any trip was with www.deserthighlights.com in Moab. Awesome!! If you go to the Redwoods I would recommend hiking James Irvine Trail that connect with Fern Canyon. Truly an awesome hike. I can list about 7 or 8 hikes in Utah that I would put up there in the awesome category as well. Point Reyes is a pretty cool place, just north of SF. THere are several places to go tidepooling along the coast. That's a very neat experience at low tide.

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