In summer, the Suisun Valley sky has no clouds.

Shadows of hawks swoop over the loops of dusty Solano County roads lined with small wineries, quirky shops and farm stands advertising homemade pies and berries with marker-drawn signs.

Ten minutes from I-80, and less than an hour's drive from San Francisco, rustic Suisun Valley, California's second oldest certified wine-growing region is still quiet and unpretentious.

Thanks in part to events like the two-year-old Uncorked wine party and the Harvest Celebration held each August, visitors increasingly see the 75-square-kilometer region as a destination - Napa's mellow yet worthy neighbor.

Larry's Produce: Customers steer wheelbarrows through the crowded interior of this seasonal roadside market, digging into the mountains of produce selling at low prices: Cranberry beans for less than $2 per kilogram, five ears of corn for $1. Outside, families enjoy barbecued chicken and pick zinnias planted in color-coded rows.

4606 Suisun Valley Road, Fairfield. 707-864-8068. Larrysproduce.com.

Mankas Steakhouse: Opened in 2012, the Valley's only upscale restaurant boasts white tablecloths and plenty of Suisun Valley wines. Get the "Whole Board" - a $25 charcuterie-and-cheese platter featuring, among other selections, an earthy goat's milk cheese from Redwood Hill Farm in Sonoma County and La Quercia speck.

2522 Mankas Corner Road, Fairfield. 707-425-3207. Mankassteakhouse.net.

Suisun Valley Wine Cooperative: Ninety percent of Suisun Valley's grapes ship to producers in other regions of California. Invariably presided over by one of the five participating winemakers, this co-op housed in a reddish-brown wooden building has tastings featuring free samples of wines made from the fruit left behind, like the albarino produced by King Andrews Vineyards and Mangels Vineyards' syrah-viognier blend called Angelina.

4495 Suisun Valley Road. 707-864-3135. Svwinecoop.com.

Suisun Valley Antiques and Collectibles: Also known as John's Hauling, this salvage store's interior and expansive yard brim with beguiling and affordable finds: A large, gleaming Buddha, neon beer signs, animal skulls, model cars, real swords and an ancient exercise bike resembling a medieval torture device.

2525 Mankas Corner Road, Fairfield. 707-421-1165.

Rockville Hills Regional Park: With a $3 day pass, you can hike through the 240-hectare park's woodlands and chaparral, past trees as gnarled as the vines in the valley below and around the clear Upper Lake populated by frogs and young anglers. Biking enthusiasts rent bikes from nearby Rockville Bike ($35 for a half-day; 707-864-2453).

2149 Rockville Road. 707-428-7614.

The New York Times

(China Daily 09/15/2013 page16)