Bottoms Up!
So as my week of work in San Francisco came to close, my trip west was far from over. Friday afternoon Kirsten flew out to San Francisco and from the airport we rented a car (nothing flashy, just a Hyundai for what we save in money there will be spent on wine) and immediately headed north to one of the major wine regions in California, Sonoma Valley.
As some of you know, I am a big wine drinker so next to Lambeau Field, a place like Sonoma is a top destination for me and it didn't disappoint regardless of the spotty weather. All week in San Francisco the weather was good. Not great, but not bad...50's. Friday night it began to rain and it let up only for about 8 hours on Saturday, which was JUST enough time for us to get our wine tasting in!
We started our day at the winery farthest from the town square in "downtown" Sonoma, Ledson Winery. Of course we had to start with the farthest and work our way back. Can't to the opposite and drive farther with the more we drink! I think Kirsten would agree with me that Ledson ultimately was the winery we enjoyed the most. The others were great, but Ledson was definitely memorable from the minute you roll up to the castle (pictured). We made our way to the tasting room with our 2-for-1 tasting coupon (they were available for most wineries) which was good for a five wine tasting. We happened to be the first ones there (at 10:45 AM) but what was great about that was that we had ALL the attention of the wine guys. We ended up tasting 8-9 wines there for a grand total of $5 (plus a $5 tip) which was a great deal.
Another one I'd like to highlight is SL Cellars which was recommended to us by Mike, our tasting
dude at Ledson. SL Cellars is primarily known as a sparkling wine boutique winery which, like Ledson, only sells their wine either A) At the winery or 2) Over the phone/internet. Can't find it in stores. They also made a pretty stellar Pinot Noir that I enjoyed while Kirsten went nuts with their sparkling wines. She liked them so much that she joined their Wine Club so she'll be expecting 2 bottles every 6 months from there. I tasted one sparkling wine and three Pinot Noirs and Kirsten had about the same, except in reverse types and we paid a grand total of $0 ($5 tip) since we came from Ledson.
The friendly, generous people out there was definitely a trend and the fun we had was too good for words. We're definitely going back, hopfully sooner than later since we only hit about 10% of the wineries in Sonoma alone. I'd highly recommend it.
If you'd like to see more pictures, I've got them up on the website so enjoy. The site is still in it's very early stages so forgive me.
As some of you know, I am a big wine drinker so next to Lambeau Field, a place like Sonoma is a top destination for me and it didn't disappoint regardless of the spotty weather. All week in San Francisco the weather was good. Not great, but not bad...50's. Friday night it began to rain and it let up only for about 8 hours on Saturday, which was JUST enough time for us to get our wine tasting in!
We started our day at the winery farthest from the town square in "downtown" Sonoma, Ledson Winery. Of course we had to start with the farthest and work our way back. Can't to the opposite and drive farther with the more we drink! I think Kirsten would agree with me that Ledson ultimately was the winery we enjoyed the most. The others were great, but Ledson was definitely memorable from the minute you roll up to the castle (pictured). We made our way to the tasting room with our 2-for-1 tasting coupon (they were available for most wineries) which was good for a five wine tasting. We happened to be the first ones there (at 10:45 AM) but what was great about that was that we had ALL the attention of the wine guys. We ended up tasting 8-9 wines there for a grand total of $5 (plus a $5 tip) which was a great deal.Another one I'd like to highlight is SL Cellars which was recommended to us by Mike, our tasting
dude at Ledson. SL Cellars is primarily known as a sparkling wine boutique winery which, like Ledson, only sells their wine either A) At the winery or 2) Over the phone/internet. Can't find it in stores. They also made a pretty stellar Pinot Noir that I enjoyed while Kirsten went nuts with their sparkling wines. She liked them so much that she joined their Wine Club so she'll be expecting 2 bottles every 6 months from there. I tasted one sparkling wine and three Pinot Noirs and Kirsten had about the same, except in reverse types and we paid a grand total of $0 ($5 tip) since we came from Ledson.The friendly, generous people out there was definitely a trend and the fun we had was too good for words. We're definitely going back, hopfully sooner than later since we only hit about 10% of the wineries in Sonoma alone. I'd highly recommend it.
If you'd like to see more pictures, I've got them up on the website so enjoy. The site is still in it's very early stages so forgive me.
posted by Derek at 9:37 PM
2 Comments:
Sounds AWESOME! Chris and i haven't been to any good wineries, just one in Door County... blech. I would love to go to those places you went to in Cali. Glad to hear you guys had fun and I love the pics on your other website. Very cool (thanks for the book by the way!)
sonoma sounds like a good time. reading your post felt a little like reading sideways.
just caught up on reading your posts and came along your visit to the stagecoach inn. my highschool us history teacher, mr (brook) brown and his wife were innkeepers there back in my mequon years. did you happen to notice if they still were there?
wishing you a merry christmas and safe travel.
bab
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