Friday we were allowed to sleep in by our gracious hostessesses until 9:30ish before motivating to ready ourselves for our day of wine tasting! After gathering ourselves into warm bundles we headed to Sonoma and decided to fill our tummies at the Sonoma Cheese Factory. MMMMMMMMMMMMMM! We sampled the little cubes of cheese along the front before heading outside to order our burgers. They even had a veggie one for me! John had a regular one with Garlic Jack while I had my veggie with a melted piece of Mediterranean Jack which was absolutely delicious. While lusting over Jane's with Chili Cheddar on top we decided to have another veggie to split only this one with the same cheddar. Each was spectacular and we were wonderfully sated in preparation for our day out destroying our liver.
We first headed to the lovely Sebastiani to begin our tasting day. The décor was pretty, though a bit like some corporate storefront. The wine was good and John and I bought a bottle of 1999 Sylvia Sebastiani’s Symphony. As per the back label “Symphony is an improved, high-quality Muscat hybrid”. All I know is that it’s a dessert wine and it’s damn good. Unfortunately we didn’t get any pictures here, but we have plenty from other vineyards.
Next was Ravenswood. From the lush greenery everywhere to the cobblestone walkway the grounds are so beautiful! Inside the actual building is warm, cozy and quite comfortable. The woman serving us was very knowledgeable about the wines there and their histories. She was very nice, but lacked a “fun” quality. Here we bought our little bottle of 2002 Late Harvest Gewurztraminer. I have found that Gewurtz is probably one of my favorite wines ever.
Faces have been smileyfied to protect the innocent.
Off to Gundlach Bundschu we went! When we arrived we were so impressed with how beautiful it was. I took lots of pictures of “The Shire” as I’ve come to call it and half expected to see little drunk hobbits after each turn.
Inside the room was heated by an old-fashioned wood burning stove and was so comfortably rustic. Our server here was knowledgeable AND fun! She made us feel at home and we enjoyed listening to her as much as she seemed to listen to us talk about subtle “coconut” and “oak” flavors. My phrase du jour for our wine tasting day was “Gay and Sprightly” which really didn’t apply to anything we sampled there. We ended up leaving there warm, toasty and happy with a bottle of 2002 Morse Vineyard Zinfandel which I’ll be cooking with.
On suggestion from the woman at Gundlach Bundschu we then drove to Artesa. This was a gorgeous building set into a hill with fountains galore and babbling brooks running down each side of the stone steps. We really liked the look of the place as it had a feel of museum/art gallery. The downside to this, however, is the lack of “wine love” and personality noted by Sarah at first. Architecturally it was great, but we opted to browse and leave rather than stay and sample.
The last stop on our wine trip was Cline Cellars. Very homey and transporting me to the set of “The Waltons” our experience here was nice as well. The man serving was chatty to a point but let us have our time and look around at the wonderful marinades and spreads they had to offer. John picked the wine here and he chose a delightful (good wine word I find) 2002 Vin Gris. We had 4 bottles of wine at this point. I think our lovely tour guides had 23. Them’s is some wine-lovin’ ladies!
After walking the grounds and looking at the ponds and various birdies in cages we headed back to the city to meet J&S friends Austin and Jane (Referred to as Fuego given her FLAMING red hair) for dinner at an Ethiopian restaurant. The Blue Nile I think it was called and all our food was served on one large round pan with lines of pastes, rices and salad that we ate with torn pieces of spongy crepe-like bread. It was really cool and delicious. I ordered a glass of Honey Wine which we passed around the table. The whole experience was tres groovy.
Done with dinner we returned to homestead and Austin broke out his Munchkin game that none of them had played yet. We jogged through rules as we sipped on Port and played one very long game while the dogs, Timmy and Otis, dined in the background on dried cow penis…the things pets will eat! We had a blast laughing over the cards and everyone’s back-stabbing. It truly is a game for friends! Done with this, we had our fun with “Dirty Mad-Libs”. Each was great but I think the evening’s winner was Sarah’s “Monstrosity” a new dance, which John and I had to perform. Fuego and Austin were great and I hope to keep in touch with them as well. Who knew Austin, a studying priest, would be so good at “Dirty Mad-Libs”!?
All retired soon after our long eventful day and evening and slept soundly. That is, until I awoke at 5:45 am sick to my stomach and feeling dizzy. Which brings us to my Saturday in California!
This was the extent of my site-seeing for the majority of Saturday.
Apparently I picked up some sort of 12 hour virus that left me leaned over the pot rather than running around enjoying myself. John and Jane did venture out and went to do their own thing while Sarah watched QAF downstairs and then left to go play soccer. After hours of moaning, groaning, expelling and finally getting over it. I came downstairs a new, albeit sore, man. We left after showers and the like to eat at a really good Cambodian place (We think it was called Mekong Delta) where I had clay pot chicken in a caramel sauce. Damn it was good!
With dinner done we headed to Alameda and to my Mecca!
I could have spent a whole hell of a lot of money in Trader Joe’s had I not felt icky and sore. Thankfully that stopped me. We did get some yummy things to bring home and a lovely new Soy Vay sauce that I’m dying to try out. It was time well spent!
Having sated my TJ fix we returned home and settled in to watch my dance tape and “All Over The Guy” with yummy Sarah Chai Lattes. I was so very pleasantly surprised by a sudden birthday celebration when we settled in. A biscotti "birthday cake" and pressies from my baby and my two wonderful hostesses made the whole day fade away. I love you guys!
Stay tuned for the exciting conclusion of the Trip to California!
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