A Weekend in Wine Country
Good morning! My, what a marvelous weekend this past one was. A few of my friends and I have been planning a trip to wine country for the past couple of months, and this was the weekend. The original plan was for Mike, Sarah, Chris, Michelle and me to head north and enjoy ourselves from late Friday - Sunday afternoon, but Mike dropped out last week, instead opting to attend the grand opening of a bar in Millbrae with a girl. He refuses to admit it, but this choice was really his loss. All joking aside, I hope he had a good time nonetheless.
Anyhow, the remaining four of us headed north at about 7:30 p.m. on Friday. We stoped for a tasty Mexican dinner at Puerto Vallarta in Santa Rosa. While the food was good, it still fell into the same trap as every other Mexican establishment I have been to that isn't Lorena's - it just wasn't AS good. From dinner, we headed up to Windsor where Chris's parents live. Windsor is a quaint, small-ish town just south of Healdsburg. His parents live in a newer housing development and all of the homes there look very nice. Chris's parents had just this past week painted the exterior of their house and put in a new cooktop in the kitchen. We got a grand tour of the well-decorated home. Along the way, we encountered well-established colonies of photos of Chris, and even several of Chris and Michelle, his fiancee. We enjoyed good conversation and opened a bottle of Scott Harvey Zinfandel. As we were sitting around the kitchen, enjoying our wine, Chris's parents returned from the SF Giants game they had attended in the city that night. If memory serves, in a year and a half of life in San Francisco, I believe this was the first time I have ever met both parents of any of my friends, and only the third time I met at least one parent (Mike's dad and Leilani's dad representing the other two). Chris's parents, Dave and Bev, were very nice and I truly felt welcomed in their home. Each of them reminded me in certain ways of my own parents. Like my mom, Bev always had a smile and was not only willing, but also excited, to make sure everyone was satisfied and had what they needed. And like my dad, Dave had a clever comment about most things, and wasn't bashful about making quick-witted conversation with strangers, but was still firmly grounded when it came to issues of fact.
The hour began to draw late, and soon after Chris's parents retired for the night, so too did we four travellers. We had a long and exciting day ahead of us - wine tasting and dinner.
We awoke on Saturday, each at our own time, and were all seated at the breakfast table by about 9:15. Bev prepared a delicious breakfast of waffles, bacon and eggs. She also shared a delicious Spearmint Green Tea that she picked up several weeks ago while vacationing in Europe. After breakfast, off we headed to beging the grand adventure of wine tasting.
Our first stop was a winery I had never been to, nor heard of, Pedroncelli. Now, Pedroncelli had an exceptionally wide range of different wines they were tasting. We didn't taste all they had to offer - we couldn't possibly have remained standing with a tasting of that scale at 10:30 in the morning. I ended up with a delicious and very affordable port.
From here we headed to Ferrari-Carano, an upscale winery, and the official provider of vino to the White House. This winery is worth a visit, even if not to taste (we did not). They have wonderful gardens and grounds, and the estate home is amazing. We picked up a bottle of Eldorado Noir for Chris's parents (by request) and then moved on.
Stop number three was a winery that was also new to me - David Coffaro. This was a different breed of tasting room - essentially it was the shed where they had their wines racked, with a counter added at the back for tasting. To top it off, they also had a full sound system and big-screen TV (we're talking 80+ iches) on which they were playing Nightrider when we arrived, then switching to World Cup Soccer (Mexico vs. Argentina) while we were there. It seemed to me that the winery is trying to find its place in the California wine market by providing unique wines. While they did offer a few common varietals, their tasting menu consisted primarily of blends, many of them using less common grapes, including Tannat, Touriga, and Carignan. I discovered that I really disliked the wines that had the Tannat grape in them. Despite finding a few things that we enjoyed, none of us made any purchases here.
Our next stop was Raymond Burr Vineyards. The most notable wine we tasted here was a 1999 Cabernet Sauvignon. Before I had a chance to take my first taste, Chris commented that it would go well with a BBQ. I took my taste, and concurred - not only did I think it would go well with a BBQ, it tasted just like a beef brisquet (in a good way). The tasting room itself was small, so they were actually pouring outside under a canopy. (It was a pretty warm day - probably approaching 90 degrees.) The tasting room itself, though, was open, and inside they had Raymond Burr's Emmy Awards on display, along with copies of all of the TV Guide covers on which he appeared. Sarah ended up walking away with a bottle of the Cabernet Franc.
Our fifth and final stop before lunch was Quivira. According to Chris (and later his mother), Quivira has historically produced very poor wine. Despite this, we decided to stop anyway. Prior to tasting, we visiting a small gallery in which they were displaying reproductions of old maps of the world. The tasting went well. Quivira produces most (if not all) of their grapes organically or biodynamically. I enjoyed the wines, for the most part, including the Steelhead Red, a Grenache, Zin, Syrah and Mouvedre blend. I have not typically been a fan of wines containing Grenache, but I found this one to be fine. I did not buy this Steelhead Red; rather, I ended up purchasing a bottle of the 2003 Syrah. Quivira has the distinct honor of being the only winery on our entire tour at which Chris, Sarah and I all bought a bottle of the same wine (though we did not all pay the same price due to a pricing error in Chris and Sarah's favor).
Once finished at Quivira, we headed to the Dry Creek General Store to pick up some lunch. The General Store is known for having good sandwiches, so we each ordered a sandwich. It must have either been extremely busy, or they were short-staffed, because it took probably 15+ minutes for them to make our four sandwiches, none of which were that comples. Mine, for example, was a roast beef sandwich with cheese, lettuce, tomato, mayo and mustard on a Dutch Crunch Roll. One of our number was becoming impatient waiting for the food, and made several attempts to speed the process along, but with little success. Once we received our sandwiches, we head just down the road to Passalacqua Winery where we enjoyed our lunches with a chilled bottle of their Sauvignon Blanc in their beautiful garden. Once we finished eating, we decided to move on, but not before I stopped in to buy two bottles of a Zinfandel that I had tasted there a few months ago and really enjoyed.
The next stop on the tour was Lambert Bridge. I had on good authority that Lambert Bridge offered the world's best Zinfandel, so I was excited to see what I could find there. Now, a lot of places in Sonoma, sadly, have started to charge for tastings, and Lambert Bridge is one of these. Many places, though, apply your tasting fee towards the purchase of a bottle of wine. Lambert Bridge does not. Somehow, though, we were able to escape without paying the fee. I think it was likely an oversight by the young woman pouring for us - or perhaps she was simply overwhelmed by my charm and rugged good looks. Yes, I'm convinced it was the latter. I ended up buying two different bottles of Zin, a Maple Zinfandel and a Rockpile Zinfandel. The Maple was on the tasting list, and was delicious. The Rockpile was not offered for tasting, but was meant to be extraordinary, so I caved and bought a bottle.
Our final tasting stop of the day was a winery called Belvedere. This was almost certainly the worst of the wineries we went to. Chris more or less knew which wineries we should visit and which we should avoid. It turns out he knew to avoid this one, but was only reminded of this after we had already walked in. Only Sarah and I tasted at Belvedere, and that was probably a mistake. Most of the wines there were simply undrinkable. The Pinor Noir was too heavy for a Pinot, the Sangiovese (the closest to being drinkable of all of them) was too acidic, and the Merlot and Cab Sauv were far too tannic. All in all, a very disappointing stop. Needless to say, no bottle were purchased.
Following this disappointing visit, we headed back to the homestead in Windsor for a few minutes of recuperation and to change clothes for dinner. Several weeks ago I made reservations for us at one of the best restaurants in Healdsburg, Cena Luna. We arrived at precisely 6 p.m., our pre-appointed reservation time. In a strange coincidence, it turns out that one of the women that share our office suite at Berkeley, Celia, was getting married this same day and was having he reception at Cena Luna at the same time. Now, I knew this prior to arriving there, but not at the time we selected the weekend. I specifically requested to be seated on the same side of the restaurant as the wedding party. As for the food, it was spectacular! I ordered the Insalata Spinaci as an appetizer. The salad was made with baby spinach, cheese and avocado in a mustard vinagrette. Amazing is the best word to describe it. For dinner, I ordered steak over garlic mashed potatoes with asparagus. This meal was more than delicious. It was extravagently delicious. It probably wouldn't be a stretch to say that it is in the top 2 restaurant meals I've ever eaten, and even rivals many homecooked meals. One of the things that helped make the food even better was the wine. We were treated to a very special wine made by the chef's father from his very own vineyard. Yvette, the chef and restaurant owner, has been Celia's best friend for 20 years, and so this wine was made available only for this special occasion. In fact, the wine was donated, so we got both bottles free of charge, courtesy of Celia. Now, when consumed alone, the wine was fine. Not outrageously supreme, but drinkable and tasty. However, believe me when I write that this wine, paired with the steak, tasted like Godiva Chocolate coming out of my glass. This was undoubtedly the best wine/food experience in my life to date. The meal was capped off nicely with a delicious dessert of tiramisu and a mocha. Of course, I've described only what I personally ate. Everyone else had delicious meals as well. Pastas, duck, soups, strawberry sorbet - and there were even more deliciously tempting options on the menu! All in all, it was an amazing dining experience. And do you know what made it even better? The price! Granted, we got the wine for free, but the three course meal for four came to only $150 plus tip. In the Bay Area, restaurants of this quality often charge $150+ per person. Of course, tip had to be added on, but that is customary.
After our leisurely dinner, we took a walk around Healdsburg Town Square. While the day had been very warm, bordering hot, the evening was very pleasant. We strolled around until we arrived at a local candy shop where the four of us served to entertain the other customers and staff with our antics. Even as young adults, we can still get excited by the candy store. We picked up a gift for each of Chris's parents, and I picked up two bars of chocolate with the intent of enjoying them that night paired with the Pedroncelli Port.
We left the candy store and started to make our way back to the car. Along the way, we attempted (but failed) to hug a large Coastal Redwood tree in the Square. Even with all four of us, arms outstretched, we couldn't encircle the tree.
Once back home, we enjoyed a brief dip in the hot tub. Now, this hot tub was actually designed for two, but let me tell you, we got four people in there. We may have cause a small amount of water loss, but we had a good time, especially when it came time to "rotate right."
Ultimately, my grand plan to drink Port and eat chocolate fell through because the hour was getting too late. After rinsing off post-hot tub, we watched a video slideshow that Chris's dad put together from Bev's and his trip to Europe a few weeks ago. When that was over, the hour was late and we all went to bed.
Sunday was a leisurly day. We slept a little later, but still had a wonderful breakfast prepared by Bev - pancakes and bacon this morning. Stomachs full and bags packed, we headed off for a few more events before our return to the city. We stopped by one of Chris's favorite wineries, Robert Young. I would probably say that our pourer here was the most friendly, if not the most viticulturally informed, of our pourers over the weekend. In addition to a tasting, we also got a brief tour of the winery and the caves. I ended up with a bottle of the 2002 Scion, which just received a 95-point rating from The Wine Advocate (or was it the Wine Spectator). $54 was the pricetag, not too bad for a bottle that I expect to age for at least a few years - it definitely isn't ready to drink as is.
From here, we headed over to Alexander Valley Vineyards, known to me for their Sin Zin. I discovered that they also have a Redemption Zin, which they weren't tasting. While I did enjoy the wines on offer here at AVV, I ended up not buying anything here because I knew that our final stop was going to cost me a pretty penny - more on that later, just one more winery to go first.
I also purchased nothing at our next winery on the tour, Stonestreet Wines. The reason here was two-fold. First, I was budgeting for our next stop, and second, my favorite wine here was running $80/bottle. Now, Stonestreet just opened their tasting room 3 weeks ago, but it was pretty full. The tasting counter was definitely too small. The way they pour their tastes here is my favorite - three glasses for side by side comparison. I've tasted this way before, and this works best, I feel, to compare different wines of the same varietal or related wines. It isn't really useful, for example, for comparing a white and a red wine.
Our final stop, and the one I had most been looking forward to all weekend, was De La Montanya. Now, I am a member of the DLM wine club, and this happened to be the day of their wine club members' party. I was allowed to bring my three guests along, and we enjoyed free food, live music, and tasting of the newly bottled DLM wines. I have to admit, I was a little disappointed with some of the new wines, the previous vintages seemed to be much better. I was really looking forward to their new 2004 Cabaret (a Cab/Syrah/Zin blend) because I had loved the 2003 so well, but the 2004 was on the disappointing side. Perhaps it needs a little more time in the bottle to develop? As a member, I had to pick up my 6-bottle member shipment, but at the same time I also picked up another 6 bottles of the 2003 Cabaret. I was told that represented all but the final 3 or 4 bottles. I was glad to get my hands on them!
With that, we packed up my case of wine into the car, and drove back to the city. All in all, it was an extravagent, but delightful, weekend. For those of you keeping track, you should have counted 19 bottles of wine that I brought back with me, plus two purchased and consumed, plus two received for free, for a total of 23 bottles of wine. Yes, it was a 23-bottle weekend, but well worth it!
Good afternoon, faithful followers. 
OK, so there are just some things that you shouldn't be doing on a public bus - like clipping your nails. Acting with a great deal of stealth,