The first stop was Viansa Italian Winery and Marketplace. The scenery was breathtaking! We first sampled the wines and then had a wonderful light lunch overlooking the vineyard. What an awesome way to begin the vacation!
Next we traveled into Sonoma where we visited one of my favorite stops, Gloria Ferrer. It's a champagne place and you know how I adore the sparkling wine! We also stopped at Cline and Sebastiani, which although mass-marketed, was a delightful stop.
A favorite stop was at family owned and operated, Gundlach-Bunschu. It was in a cave and had so many interesting historic photographs and wine making paraphernalia to see.
This is where Charlie got on the marathon call from Dallas (do these folks not understand what "I'm on vacation means"?)
We then started the long trek up to Cloverdale where we were staying in a Bed and Breakfast called Shelford House. Picture a VERY OLD home on the corner of a street leading to a quary with a huge street light right outside our window. The bathroom sported a claw-footed tub with a little hand-held shower spout. I felt like Laura Ingalls in Little House on the Prairie. Charlie and I are beginning to think we are not B&B people.
On Friday, August 8th, we set out to discover all sorts of new and interesting wines, while visiting and sampling a few favorites. We thoroughly enjoyed the Benziger Family Winery. The weather was crisp and cool. We boarded a tram and took off to see the vineyard and discover the mysteries of Biodynamic Farming. That turned out to be serious amped up organic farming. It was very interesting. So if you're a real greenie, then you should be drinking Benziger wines.
After visiting Benziger, they sent us to their sister winery, Imagery, where we got two free tastings and you can't beat that! The most interesting thing about this winery is the wine bottles each sport an original art piece on the label. The winery also has it's own gallery. We bellied up to the bar and had a good ole Houstonian serving us up. She was a doll and snapped a picture of us.
Next we journeyed on to Kunde Estate Tasting Room in the heart of Sonoma County's spectacular Valley of the Moon. They had all sorts of samples to try from peppered jelly to hummus. We found coloring books by the author who wrote, The Grapes Grow Sweet, for the girls. We found a pinot noir that we thought would be nice for Thanksgiving, but did not purchase any just yet. We also went to Kenwood Winery. We used to love their 1999 cabernet. We met some great fellows and found the snow globe Gracen had requested (with wine bottles, we're so ashamed!)
Chateau St. Jean was too close to skip, so went ran over and sipped some of their fine vintages. Next was Blackstone Winery. I purchase a chardonnay locally from Blackstone that I really like, but on this visit, we tasted wines that are not mass marketed. Our hostess was delightful and gave generous pours!
After a marathon day of tasting, we were in serious need of nourishment. We went to Zin in Healdsburg. We had the most fabulous Mexican Beer Battered Green Beans with Mango Salsa! This was worth the trip! We ordered a great bottle of wine and enjoyed a great dinner, maybe the best of the entire trip!
On Saturday, August 9th, we left the Shelford House and headed to Silver Oak Winery. There we sampled delicious 2004 and 2003 cabernets. While visiting with our host, he recommended we press on to their sister winery, Twomey. It was breathtaking. The scenery was simply picturesque. The sleek, modern tasting room was an architectural marvel.
We also stopped by Ferarri-Carano which offered beautifully manicured grounds. We enjoyed the 2005 Tre Terre Chardonnay and the 2005 Merlot. Probably one of our most formal tastings was at Jordan Winery. We enjoyed generous pours in Mr. Jordan’s personal library at our private tasting. We were served delectable cheeses and freshest fruit. Jordan only produces chardonnay, cabernet, and estate olive oil.
From there we checked into our hotel and modern civilization. Charlie and I have definitely decided that we are not B&B people. We were able to shower in a tile shower with real shower head, all while standing up. Until you’ve “shampooed” in a claw-footed tub with a short hose of a shower, sitting because there is no shower curtain, you can’t properly understand the sheer luxury of a standard hotel bath/shower.
And then on Sunday, August 10th, we celebrated my birthday! Wahoo! First we went to Stag’s Leap, which was a real treat. Then on to Conn Creek, which is one of my favorite cabernets.
We spent a good part of the morning at Mumm Napa which makes champagne (my most favorite drink!) That's where we met a lovely elderly couple who had driven down the mountain, as they do on most Sundays to enjoy a glass of champagne. They regaled us with stories about the gentleman's service in WWII and the Korean War. I could have spent the day in this wonderful company listening and learning from this real-life war hero and his beautiful wife. What a blessing to meet such wonderful folks! We could not stay any longer as our tasting appointment at Opus One was calling.
From there we discussed the winery where I purchased a t-shirt and children's book for Gracen about 6 years ago. We couldn't agree on the name of the winery, but I drew the inside of the tasting room to prove to Charlie that I knew what I was talking about. As usual, my photographic memory served me well, and it was indeed Markham Winery. We shared a tasting there and was not impressed, but it felt great to be right! Wahoo!
After gloating over being right, we set out to visit Freemark Abbey. Charlie and I shared a bottle of Freemark Abbey cabernet on our wedding anniversary at Flemings, here in the Woodlands, and are real fans. We sampled the 2005 Napa Valley Chardonnay and the 2002 "Bootleg" Cabernet. Our favorite, however, was the 2003 CabernetBosche Cabernet Sauvignon.
And then we were off to finish the night in style at one of my favorite wineries of all time, Domain Chandon. They, of course, produce champagne. What else? We each had a flight in the happening "party tent" as I like to call it, but it's more of an open air tasting room. There is music, many tables, lots of people sipping and laughing and enjoying themselves. We dined at Etoille, the restaurant on premises. We started with a delicious cold avocado soup w/ salmon accoutrement and a glass of champagne. We each had a different 4-course dinner with wine parings and intended to photograph each course, but those wine pairings got us off task and we would forget until we had eaten half our portion, so I'll save you from the pics of half eaten food.
I had an extremely lavish birthday and really enjoyed spending the day and evening with my sweet husband.
But after all the wining and dining, we were pretty "wined out". So on Monday, August 11th, we kept our schedule light and started with a reserved tasting and tour at Cakebread Winery. We had a great time touring the facility. I learned that the French oak barrels that the wine is aged in comes from specific forests in France and that the barrel is imprinted with this information on the bottom. I also learned that with this forest information is also the degree the barrel is toasted. For future reference, I'm a HT girl (heavy toast). Our guide was very informative and I learned the most during our entire trip here at Cakebread.
We also had a scheduled appointment at Honig which is off the beaten path. We had a great time chatting with our hostess who gave generous pours! She even sent us home with a birthday wine bottle to boot!
Our last stop was the Robert Craig Winery and Tasting Room in downtown Napa. Since Craig is my maiden name, this was a manadatory stop on our wine tour. Peter McFarland was our host and the cellar master. He shared wonderful stories about Robert Craig and his passion for wine. Peter used his wine thief to take some wine from a small cask to sample. It's not ready yet, but he had just brought some down from the cellar at another location and it was great fun to taste this young vintage!
When we were finished with the wine tour for the day, we didn't want elegant food coupled with delicate wine pairings. We wanted a big, juicy hamburger and onion rings. We found just that in Napa at Taylor's Automatic Refresher! Wow! Talk about juicy burgers and delicious sweet potato fries! Shortly after returning from our trip, we saw Taylor's Automatic Refresher featured on the Food Network for having one of the country's most outstanding burgers! Charlie and I agree whole-heartedly.
We drove to San Francisco the next morning and still have yet to travel across the Golden Gate Bridge on a clear day. We had no trouble with our flight and touched down in Houston early enough to stop off at Pappasitos to enjoy some good ole Texas table-side guacamole. It was good to sleep in our own bed that night and even better to see our precious girls the next morning. It was a wonderful trip! With all the fancy tastings and reserve vintages we tried, I think my wine motto still holds true: "Drink what you like!" Cheers!
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