Wine Country

Mel and I traveled to California for our Wine Bonanza that we have been planning for months. We flew into San Francisco on Thursday after no sleep for Mel and only a couple hours for me. We rented a Prius and drove through San Fran over the Golden Gate Bridge to our first winery. 

Street sign from San Fran..appropriate? I think so.  

Out of chronological order but perfect 

We arrived sleep deprived and thirsty to our first winery, Gloria Ferrer. It was a beautiful day and we sat on the deck with a glass of bubbles then a few tastings and reveled in the fact that we were finally in California. 

 

Bubbles at Gloria Ferrer

After hanging at GF for a while, we drove to the hotel and checked in. I knew I had to take it easy because I had decided to do my 20 mile run Friday morning plus we were exhausted from traveling. The Dodgers were in the series against Philly and we went to a local restaurant where we were staying in Healdsburg. I was wearing my dodger cap and we walked in and within a minute a fan down the bar had bought a drink for me. Very cool to be welcomed to Cali by a fellow fan. 

I woke up early Friday morning at 5:30 and ran 20 miles around the Healdsburg area. It was beautiful to see the sunrise and run along the road where I was right next to the grapes. My body hurt like hell towards the end of the run but I did it without too much difficulty.  I returned to the room where Mel met me with a continental breakfast and a plan for the day to tour.  I got showered and we set out and I felt great.  I was mildly sore but I functioned wonderfully, not fatigued the entire day and it was a great day. We started out at Ridge. I LOVED this vineyard. We actually met people from Richmond when we were tasting. We tasted many delicious wines and had a great time. 

View from Ridge

After Ridge we went to an organic winery which was ok and another winery which I can not remember the name of but I bought an awesome bottle of pinot there. At the organic winery there were a ton of cats around which was kind of creepy but it was a beautiful winery.  Next we headed to Bella Winery. This was a really cool winery. We tasted in the cave and the pourer was really friendly and knowledgeable. I loved the Late Harvest here. It is a dessert wine and tastes like raisons (go figure). 

Bella-we tasted in that cave

I can't remember the name of this winery. I didn't like the wine much and the lady was kind of rude, but I bought a cool hat. My teeth were really purple by this point in the day.

That night we had a great dinner in town then went to sleep early because I was exhausted (couldn't imagine why). 

Saturday we woke up and went to Francis Ford Coppola's Rosso and Bianco Winery. They had a great selection of reasonably priced wines (mostly because Mel is a wine club member). They also have bubbles which we enjoyed outside with a delicious pizza in the warm sunshine. 

Notice the Oscars

Next we went to Mazzocco. We were not planning on going there but we saw the sign when we were driving by and thought what the heck. The pourer was very friendly and we tasted great wines and I can't wait to get the shipment from them. 

Friends!

Beautiful day at Mazzocco

Many people suggested we go to Unti so we gave it a try. I didn't find anything I liked but Mel did

Unti

Also at Unti, there are grapes everywhere!

This is a sign of some of the vineyards in the area

After Unti, we headed back to town where we visited some tasting rooms in town. Rosenblum was a really fun time.  We were there for a while, probably too long. They had a chocolate dessert wine that was out of this world. I can't wait for the right time to drink it. 

The whole reason for this trip was a wine dinner Saturday night at Alexander Valley Vineyard. We put on our hot dresses and headed over to the winery where we had hors d' oeuvres with the winemaker, Kevin Hall. It was very interesting speaking with him and picking his brain with Mel. If you didn't know, Mel's plan is to move to California and go to school to be a winemaker. After we hung out in the tasting room, Kevin took us on a tour of the winery. We got to see the caves where they keep the wine. 

Winemaker-Kevin Hall

Mel in the caves

She's pretty in green

Dinner was delicious

I had to hug a big tree

Saturday was a long day so Sunday we just hung out and recovered. 

I did not mention everything we did in this trip but I touched on my favorite parts. It was a great trip and I'm so glad I went. I learned so much about wine and friendship. It was definitely good times. Thanks for inviting me Mel!