When it Comes to Eating and Drinking ...

It's the good life. We are fortunate to be consumers during this age when micro, rather than global, is the in thing.  Sure, the global stuff is still readily available and still commands much of the market (think McDonald's and Budweiser), but small producer and local food and drink are what's happening.

Wine

So many choices ...

Not too many decades ago you could count the number of wineries in Napa Valley on your fingers (plus a few toes maybe). Things really exploded in the '70s and '80s to where there are hundreds of choices in tasting rooms in Napa and Sonoma Counties now.

The first time I remember my parents having wine in the house was a jug of Mogen David. It was a high-alcohol red "wine" and was kept in the fridge.  Now sometimes people are a little embarrassed because they happen to like buttery Chardonnay or because they like Merlot. I walk into a Safeway market and their are a couple aisles of wines from all over the world.  My local market up the street as hundreds of mostly local wines available.

Beer

When I think back to the crap my dad drank... whoa, not good--Stroh's, Shlitz, etc. Years ago when I got back from a couple years in Germany I was spoiled and had a choice of probably about a half dozen different imports or Anchor Steam.

It's so much fun to cruise the beer aisle looking for something different to try and something that goes with the season or maybe even the meal you're preparing. Imagine someone doing that 30 years ago. Of course these beer have also gotten a bit expensive as most are now a dollar or two or three each.

Spirits

As I recall at one time you had the choice of about three vodkas and gins plus a few blended whiskeys. Tequila? Never heard of that. Sure is fun walking into a Mexican restaurant and finding about 30 different tequilas on their menu. There's a restaurant in Santa Rosa with over 200 whiskies on the bar menu. Woohoo, this could take all night!  Who's driving home?

Food

Bulk foods from flour to chocolate

At one time you had drive-ins, diners, and dives plus maybe a surf and turf joint.  Now there is an incredible variety of food from many countries. In the town of Sonoma there's a family of Sherpas straight from the Himalayas running a Mexican restaurant.

Remember when the milk choices were whole or skim? You can go into a grocery store and find 20 kinds of fish, 60 salad dressings, 20 kinds of mustards and a couple dozen hot sauces.  Couldn't do that a couple decades ago.

Chocolate

Did you ever think 20 years ago (assuming you're old enough to remember 20 yrs ago) there would be such an explosion of micro-chocolatiers? And they actually make it mostly out of cocoa! Some even from a single location (like terroir for chocolate).  It ain't just Hershey's anymore!

Coffee and tea

At one time there was Colombian coffee in a big can and Lipton tea. That was about it. Talk about the bad ol' days.

Locally

Here in Santa Rosa, CA I can buy wine from dozens of wineries I've never heard of, beer from Russia, have lunch at a Puerto Rican restaurant, buy organic chocolate from Venezuela, and locally roasted organic coffee from a particular Indonesian island.  Whew!  So many choices!

Yes, I'm spoiled. And so are you.