They took their pleasures seriously (wine, food, fishing, bridge, etc.), and some had apparently fought an interesting war.

NEWYORKER: Hand on the Shoulder

But for the next five weeks, oenophiles can sip a little closer to home at the historic Claremont Hotel and Spa, just a 15km drive across the Bay Bridge, where the Berkeley Wine Festival is feting all things vino every Friday evening until 24 May.

BBC: Sip and savour California