Some wineries across America, from the California coast to Maine, have expanded from traditional wine making into the distilling process, using their grapes to make high octane spirits. Here’s how Amador County winemaker Tom Jones keeps his spirits up as the wine industry trends down.

Deep inside the belly of Corti Brothers in East Sacramento, past the double doors marked “employees only,” past the walk-ins and shelves of goods and hustling employees, a piercing klaxon is sounding in the kitchen. Is it a fire alarm? Has a miscreant entered through a back door to burgle a jar of vintage marmalade? Much more dire: The cheese ravioli filling in the ravioli machine hopper is getting low.

Ranching has been a central part of California’s economy and its cultural traditions since pre-statehood. Comstock’s spoke to three Central Valley ranchers about what they have done to stay in ranching and why they continue to work in such a demanding industry.

The American Cheese Society’s annual conference took place last week in Sacramento, dubbed the City of Cheese for the occasion — the first time the California capital has hosted the high-profile event since 2014. It drew over 1,000 attendees with strong appetites for cheese talks and samples (lots of samples). 

California’s capital was one of the wettest cities in the state during dry Prohibition, home to a rebellious generation who escaped into hidden drinking dens. A century later, there are still plenty of speakeasies in Sacramento if you know where to look. 

Originally theorized by Ray Oldenburg, a third place is meant to be a social anchor between home and work. Typically these communal places are bookstores, salons, coffeeshops, pubs and restaurants. But across Sacramento, art spaces like Demo, Panama Pottery and Forma are filling the social gap left by shuttered cafes and bars.

Nexa Labs took home first prize at the 2025 UC Davis Big Bang! Competition for a solution designed to give farmers real-time health data on livestock so they can catch diseases early.

You’ll find them standing in a corner of Davis’ Central Park every weeknight after dark, barely lit by a nearby streetlight, surrounded by cardboard boxes and plastic bags. This is the Davis Night Market, a grassroots organization that has been operating under the radar for over half a decade.

Beer has been illegal in Iran since the Islamic Republic rose to power in 1979. To follow the story of Persian beer, one must look beyond the borders of the country. The latest chapter takes place in Davis, home of Rostam36.

Alongside deer, upland game like turkeys and pheasants, and invasive wild pigs, Sacramento offers some of the best wildfowl hunting anywhere in the U.S., and hunters come from across the state and country to enjoy it.