Author Archives: vvblogman

Winter Wineland Weekend in Sonoma County

Winter Wineland Weekend– 20th Anniversary 

In January Larry and I had the opportunity to enjoy the Winter Wineland weekend put together by the Wineroad organization up in Sonoma County.  In general the wineries that participate in this weekend are in the Russian River, Dry Creek and Alexander Valleys.  The weekend’s theme is Wine Art, Education or Display.  We only had Saturday available to attend so we made the best of it.

We started in downtown Santa Rosa.  We picked up our glass at Lost Canyon in the Railroad Square.  It is a small but nice tasting room, which is attached to a wine bar.  It’s in a great location if you are in the mood to walk around town. 

Afterwards we drove about 2 miles and went to the Vintners Square, which is an area with three different wine tasting rooms plus the Wineyard which houses a number of different small wineries.  Some of the wineries located at the Vintners Square are:  D’Argenzio Winery, Sheldon Wines, Krutz Family Cellars and MJ Lords Wine Cellars.  We started at the Wineyard and tasted wines from Santa Rosa Community College and Jazz Cellars.  The wines were good and they had delicious chocolate samples to taste with the red wine.  I really like the decor there, they have some really nice artifacts.  We walked a few steps and went into the building where Sheldon Wines and Krutz Family Cellars share a tasting room. It was very crowded and we weren’t received with any warm feelings.  The wine was o.k. I probably should go back on a weekend when it isn’t a special weekend and give them another chance.  We walked next door to D’Argenzio Winery.  We were greeted with smiles and wine instantly.  Both the father and daughter were there pouring the wines and talking to all the guests.  The feeling of the tasting room is of Italy.  The bar goes from the front of the house to the back of the house.  In the back of the house they have tables and chairs with red and white tablecloths.  If you go into the backyard they have a bocce ball court and a fire pit with some chairs to sit and enjoy.  The wine was very good.  We tried their Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Cabernet and Zinfandel.  The highlight was their Super Tuscany blend.  The have a special tasting on Thursday nights where they have a food truck and a live band. 

After “doing” Santa Rosa we took off north to Dry Creek Valley and went to Sbragia Family.  This is way north near Lake Sonoma.  They have a very large tasting room with a large bar.  You don’t feel cramped inside.  If the weather is nice then you need to out to their deck.  They have a number of tables and chairs overlooking their incredible view.  They were serving their Chardonnay, Zinfandel, Cabernet and Merlot.  This day they had a number of vendors with their artwork for sale.  I bought a purse, orange on the outside and zebra striped on the inside.  Pretty wild!

Views from Sbragia

After Sbragia we drove to Lake Sonoma (3 minutes away) and took some pictures of the lake, a bridge and the dam.  It was a beautiful day out, blue skies everywhere.  We sat there and ate our sandwiches we had purchased for lunch.

Lake Sonoma

We then drove 20 minutes west into the mountains to Gustafson Family Vineyard.  They are 1800 feet above sea level.  They were pairing their wines with foods by Baci Restaurant.  We started with their Rose of Syrah in the tasting room.  We then moved on to the beautiful deck and had their Sauvignon Blanc, which was paired with a beet and blue cheese salad.  Then they poured their Zinfandel and served it with soft polenta and short ribs.  We met Emmet their winemaker and Dan Gustafson the owner; they were pouring the wines on the deck. 

Dan Gustafson (left) and Emmet (right)

The tasting room and Dan’s home are one in the same.  The home should be in the Sunset Magazine!  It is so beautiful!  The views from the deck were amazing!  We could see forever.  After we had the wines that were served on the deck, we walked around the back of the house to a path that took us to an oak grove.  In the grove were a few picnic tables and benches.  Here you have yet a different view of the east and Sonoma Lake.  We didn’t want to leave, as it was so beautiful and relaxing.  On our way out we tried their Cabernet Sauvignon that they were pairing with brownie bites.  One word “yummy”!

Dan Gustafson’s Home/Winery/Tasting Room

We thought that we were done, but on our way back to the kid’s house in Santa Rosa we stopped at one more winery that was on Dry Creek Road.  The winery was called Talty Vineyards.  Michael Talty came over and poured our wines for us.  His wines were all estate Zinfandel and very good.  Another wine that they were pouring there was from MacLaren.  MacLaren only produces Syrah’s.  They served us at our own private oak barrel (empty of course).  This was a clever idea especially if they know that it’s going to be a busy weekend.

These last two were not taking part in the Winter Wineland weekend but they were still open.  We were really done for the day and probably shouldn’t have stopped here but we were glad we did.   I liked the vibe at this tasting room.  I want to go back on a quieter weekend.

We had a great day, went back to the kids house to watch the last 10 minutes of the 49er vs. Saints game, which they won.  It was very exciting.  Another Winter Wineland Weekend in the books.

I love going to the wineries in the winter as it is in general very quiet, you usually can meet the owner and or winemaker and have a nice discussion with them.  Some of the wines are freshly bottled and just released.  Can’t wait to go again next year.  We covered a lot of ground on this day and all the wineries we went to were new to us except Jazz Cellars, which we have tasted at a few industry events.

I DO!

I DO!

That was the answer last weekend when we enjoyed watching our youngest son get married.  For the past year and a half, ever since Jacob proposed to Brittany while we were all vacationing in Cancun, we have had this wedding on our minds.  And last Friday, July 15th, Jacob and Brittany said “I Do” and now they are Man and Wife.

 

The festivities started for us the Wednesday just prior the the wedding when we drove down to Santa Cruz.  On the way there we stopped at a small bakery, Mama’s in Los Gatos, and picked up 126 heart shaped black and white cookies.  We are talking about a serious cookie about 6 inches tall.  These were to be the give-away for the wedding.  We also had the rehearsal dinner wine in the car with us, not to mention our suitcase and formal wear for the wedding.  The car was very full!  Once in Santa Cruz we went to the restaurant Michael’s on Main in Soquel where the rehearsal dinner was going to be on Thursday night and dropped off the wine for them to cool down.  The wine we choose for this evening was a ’06 Chardonnay from Selby Winery in Healdsburg and a ’07 Sangiovese from Auriga Wine Cellars in El Dorado County.  Then we went to our friend’s house where we stayed that night and the next.  We dropped off all of our things from the car including the cookies.  Then we went to our beach house in Aptos where during the past few months we have slowly been bringing the wine for the wedding to be stored until this day.  We picked up all the wine for the wedding, which was 3 cases of Armida 2010 Sauvignon Blanc, 3 cases of Colby Red from Asti Winery, 3 cases of Korbel Champagne and 1 case of Armida 2009 PoiZin.  We removed 6 bottles of the champagne for the brunch on Saturday and for other events where champagne might be needed.  We then drove to the Chaminade Resort where the wedding was going to be held and dropped off all the wine with them.  We grabbed a bite to eat then went back to our friend’s house as we knew we had work to do.  We did take a little bit of time and went for a walk through a state park to the beach.  It was a beautiful evening.  Our main task for this evening was to put each cookie in a plastic bag and tie it with the ribbon that was already imprinted with Jacob and Brittany on one side and July 15, 2011 on the other side.  This was a tedious job and it took us over 2 hours to do, but we did it and they looked nice.

 

Thursday morning we went to our beach house and Larry proceeded to start to clean up the back yard.  Just a sweep here and a cleaning of a chair there.  Not too much, but he kept busy for an hour or two.  I started to make the fruit salad for the brunch we were having there on Saturday.  All the fruit went into individual zip lock bags and they were placed in the ice chest for safe keeping.  Brandon, Kim and my granddaughter Elli arrived from Santa Rosa and we visited and had lunch.  Brittany went with her Grandma Dee, who flew in from Las Vegas and was paying for the wedding, to get her hair done for the rehearsal dinner.  After awhile everyone was back at the house and it was time for us all to get dressed for the rehearsal and dinner.  That was interesting since there were 3 men and 4 women and 1 bathroom.  We put all the gifts and such into the appropriate cars and headed off to the Chaminade.  The temperature was in the mid to high 70’s and beautiful blue skies with a slight breeze.  The views from where we were having the rehearsal were beautiful.  You could see the ocean with the fog way in the background.  After the rehearsal we all converged at Michael’s on Main.  We had our wine and hors d’oeurve hour outside in their front patio.  They served gazpacho shooters and fritatta bites.  There were 21 of us.  We went inside where Larry and I showed the Imovie (pictures put to music) we put together for Jacob and Brittany.  It went from their childhood through when they met, got engaged, and to the present.  It was about 15 minutes long.  After that we had a nice buffet dinner.  There was Caesar salad, pistachio encrusted salmon, skirt steak in a chimichurri sauce, carrots and zucchini, and fingerling potatoes with applewood smoked bacon.  After everyone ate, Jacob and Brittany presented gifts.  I received a beautiful decanter made by Waterford.  This was a present from Grandma Dee to me.  I was very surprised and elated.  The kids gave their wedding party gifts as thank yous for all the help their friends have done for the wedding.  There were some toasts and silly stories told.  We all had crème brûlée for dessert and left by 9:00.  Brittany and her girls went to the Chaminade where they had the honeymoon suite for that night.  They did girly stuff and had a good time.  We went back to our friend’s house as did Brandon, Kim and Elli.  They got Elli bathed and to sleep.  We talked for a while, then we crashed.

 

Friday morning (the day of the wedding) Kim and I left the house by 8:45 and made our way to the Chaminade where a limo was picking up us girls and taking us to the Elements Salon in Scotts Valley.  We proceeded to get our hair done and some got their makeup done as well.  We had mimosas and lunch around noon.  The photographer was there when we arrived and took a lot of pictures.  Around noon the limo went to our beach house and picked up the men and took them to the Chaminade.  Around 1:00 Brittany got into her dress, the photographer took pictures of her and off he went to the Chaminade to take pictures of the men.  About 1:45 the limo picked us up and took us to the Chaminade.  When we arrived Jacob was being blindfolded so he couldn’t see Brittany.  She removed the blindfold and the photographer took the pictures of him seeing her for the first time.  After that the next two hours were spent with the bridal party taking wedding photos in different locations.  The florist, Dublin Floral Design, had decorated the chuppah with beautiful greens and purple flowers.  The temperature was probably in the mid 70’s with a slight breeze.  The view from the wedding site was just perfect.  The ocean so blue with the fog sitting way out.  Around 4:15 a few of us went into a room that had been set aside for the Ketubah ceremony.  The rabbi arrived, and the best man, maid of honor, bride, groom, Grandma Dee and Larry and I were there.  We had a tallit (prayer shawl) from Larry’s great-grandfather.  During the ceremony four of us held the tallit up and Jacob and Brittany were under it.  It was a very moving and beautiful ceremony.  The best man and maid of honor signed the marriage certificate and the ketubah, as did Jacob and Brittany.  When this ceremony was over it was a matter of time before we all walked down the isle.  We all gathered in the waiting area and to start off the ceremony two of their friends walked down the aisle, around the chuppah and back up the aisle with burning sage to cleanse and purify everything and everyone.  Before I knew it Larry and I were walking Jacob, who was wearing the tallit, down the aisle.  I got emotional.  It was so beautiful.  Then the girls and the guys walked down, then Brittany and her grandma.  The rabbi did a great job, added in a little bit of humor.  Jacob and Brittany planted a tree to symbolize putting their roots together.  The ceremony only lasted about 25 minutes.  Larry’s mom embroidered a special bag for the wine glass that gets broken at the end of the ceremony.  This made it even more special.  Jacob broke the glass and Mazel Tov was said and then the couple walked back up the aisle together.  Hors d’oeuvres, wine, champagne and beer were set up outside in the patio area.  Everyone enjoyed.  We then did the family photos.  After the photos we went into the reception room.  There were 13 tables of 8 plus the head table.  The room was beautiful with green wreaths in the center of each table with purple flowers and a candle with a hurricane lamp.  Simple and elegant.  The buffet was great; it consisted of many salad fixings, a cheese platter, rolls, grilled assorted vegetables, mashed potatoes, chicken with rosemary in a white wine sauce, sliced to order leg of lamb, and a pasta bar.  The toasts given by the best man and maid of honor were great, the wedding cake beautiful, and the dancing plentiful.  The dancing went on until past 11:00.  Most everyone had either left or went to their hotel room.  We went downstairs to the bar to find the bride and groom and about 20 of their close friends there.  We visited with them until 1 a.m. then adjourned to our hotel room.

 

We had to have a very rude 7:30 wake-up call as we were hosting 50 people at our beach house for brunch at 10:30.  We went and picked up fresh bagels, lox schmear and went back to the beach house.  Two friends had stayed over night there and were a great help to us.  We had bagels, two different types of cream cheese, the fruit salad and homemade cookies.  For drinks there was coffee, orange juice and champagne to make mimosas.  The fog broke around 10:00 so it was just perfect outside while everyone ate and mingled.  The bride and groom showed up with Grandma Dee around 11:30.  Around 1:00 most of the people had left to drive either home or to continue their vacation as they make their way back to Southern California.  I counted 28 people who made their way north for this wedding from Southern California.  So nice!  Jacob and Brittany then opened up their wedding presents while the close family and friends still left watched.  After everyone who was going to leave left, Larry and I went back to our friend’s house and got all packed up and cleaned up the house.  We met up with Jacob, Brittany, Dee, two friends and my Mom and Bob for dinner at Bittersweet Bistro in Aptos.  We had a great dinner to celebrate in a quiet fashion.  After dinner we all went to our own homes.  Jacob and Brittany had a nice quiet night alone.  The next day they picked up Grandma Dee and took her to lunch and then the airport, then came back home.  Larry and I stayed home all day. We watched the Women’s World Cup then watched the Giant’s baseball game.  The most that we did that day was to make dinner.

 

On Wednesday night Jacob and Brittany and 6 other friends left for their honeymoon up to Oregon to a 4-day bluegrass festival.

 

They have been married over a week now and the memories are still right there.  Looking back on the wedding we can’t think of one thing that we would have changed or wished had happened differently.  Now, I have two son’s married and no more to go.  We are done with the wedding thing.  Let the grand-babies continue to multiply!

Friends Enjoy Eats, Drinks & Mindless Entertainment!

Last Friday night we hosted our gourmet dinner and wine club.  Two years ago when we developed this group we named it Friends Enjoy Eats, Drinks and Mindless Entertainment!  In other words… FEEDme!  Which is borrowed of course from the play and movie Little Shop of Horrors, one of our favorites.  There are a total of 4 couples and every quarter a different couple hosts it in their home.  The host is in charge of deciding the theme and letting everyone know that in advance so they can follow the theme with their course.  Each couple also provides the wine to go with their course.  The other couples get to do the appetizer, first course and dessert.  The courses move around so once a year you host and each other quarter you are in charge of one of the other courses.

 

Our theme this time was Chinese.  Last year our theme was “what your grandma would have made” since we had just become grandparents for the first time.  We love Chinese food and find ourselves stir frying fairly often during the week.  We have been to China and purchased some beautiful chopsticks that we set at the table.

 

Liz and Werner were in charge of the appetizer.  They brought delicious chicken lettuce wraps.  They served it with a Mumm Napa Grande Amee 2001 from CA.  They mixed it in the glass with one part ginger liqueur and 3 parts sparkling wine.  This was quite different and very good.  Off to a great start!

 

Chris and Craig were in charge of the first course.  They brought hot and sour soup.  This was very tasty.  They served it with a 2010 Vouvray (Chenin Blanc) Domain La Peu de la Moriette, from France.  This wine was light and a touch sweet, which was a great contrast to the soup.

 

We served as the main course a spicy mango salsa chicken stir-fry with sweet snap peas.  Along with this we served steamed brown jasmine rice.  We served it with two different wines that had different effects on the palate.  One was a 2008 Dutton Goldfield Pinot Noir, Dutton Ranch, Russian River Valley, CA.  This wine was very nice and drinkable, but it didn’t do a lot with the spiciness of the meal.  The other was a 2007 Estancia Pinot Noir Pinnacles Ranches, Monterey County, CA.  This one was more fruit forward and lended itself better to the spicy meal.

 

Maria and Jim were in charge of the dessert.  They made two different sorbets.  One was lemon and the other grapefruit off of her brother’s tree down in L.A.  Along with this she served some almond wafer cookies and homemade fortune cookies with self-made fortunes inside.  They were very good and a fun way to end the evening.  We found out that their children helped them to write the fortunes.  Too cute!  Their wine selection was a 2009 Rued Winery Late Harvest Sauvignon Blanc, Dry Creek Valley, CA and a 2007 Chandelle Winery “Estraie” Muscat Canelli, Lake County, CA.   Both were great.  The Sauvignon Blanc was a bit dryer and was good with the cookies and the Muscat was quite sweet but went really well with the sweetness of the dessert.

 

We spent over three and a half hours talking, eating and drinking.  It’s always a good time had by all.  The common thread to these couples was Larry and I.  The other three couples never knew each other before we started.  Now we socialize outside of FEEDme!  I strongly recommend developing a group like ours.  It’s a lot of fun, you get to have fun researching your meal, cooking it and serving it, plus you get to try new wines while talking and having fun.  Cheers.

Monterey Wine Festival Celebrates 35 years with historical highlights!

The Monterey Wine Festival Celebrates 35 years with historical highlights!

June 10th 4 – 8 p.m. and June 11th Noon – 4 p.m. 2011

Now in its 35th year The Monterey Wine Festival continues to evolve into a platform for the regional wine industry and the community of wine lovers.  After 35 years the festival will take a historical turn and bring guests along for the sips and scenery.  On Friday the festival will kick at The Monterey Hyatt Regency where bites and sips from the wineries will be enjoyed.  During this evening guest’s can take a quick hop on the Champagne Shuttle sponsored by Sam Linder Auto Group and continue the party at The Monterey Museum of Art-La Mirada.  This museum is known for its historic architecture and the former celebrities that resided there.  Guests can enjoy the views from the hilltop and the art inside the gallery, but perhaps the most ardent competition for attention will be found in the sips of champagne and bites of chocolate dipped strawberries.  What fun to hob-knob in the same location as old Hollywood!

On Saturday the celebration continues at another historic destination The Custom House Plaza and The Maritime Museum, which boasts a snazzy newly appointed foyer.  These historical edifices are on designations that many consider hallowed ground.  Guests will continue this day of celebration with a completely mouth watering experience from both the wineries and purveyors of food.  Along with these two ingredients live music is the final sensation that further ensures a winning combination. Wine, Food, Music! Aaa hhh!

It’s a Chowdah Throw Down!

A sweet addition to the festival this year is the 2nd Annual West Coast Chowder Competition.  Professional chefs from the Western Coast will come to compete and chowder lovers will pay homage to their special creations.  This year chefs from Seattle, San Francisco, Portland, and other chowder known destinations will be landing in Monterey to compete against the local titans of chowder.  All competitors will be trying to slay the judge’s tongues with their creations, take home the prize money and boast of their achievement in what is expected to be one of the most impressive competitions around.  Clam, Seafood and Creative Chowders are the categories that make up the contest and the big copper pot award goes to the people’s choice along with a cash prize.  Guests can sample or buy a cup of chowder of their entries and pick their own personal favorites and compare their palettes to the judges.  Wines that pair with chowders will also be available to sample.

Tickets online at www.montereywine.com

How Wine Became Modern: Design + Wine 1976 to Now


On Sunday my husband and I took our son, daughter-in-law and 11 month old granddaughter to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.  We specifically were going to see the exhibit “How Wine Became Modern: Design + Wine 1976 to Now”.  This is an exploration of contemporary wine culture and the role architecture, design and media have played in its recent evolution – a chance to discover wine as you’ve never see it before.  This presentation was basically showing how, in the mid 70’s, wine in California, Napa primarily, became a part of modern culture.  It developed into one of the biggest single industries in California.  If you think about how many things are affected by the wine industry it would boggle your mind.  A few businesses involved that come to my mind that are wine related are wineries, wine bars, distributors, limousine and tour companies, bed and breakfast, inns, restaurants, spas, golf courses, glass companies, cork and barrel distributors, and retail stores like Cost Plus and Trader Joes.

The museum had a number of different displays in the exhibit.  For example, there was a section with different soils from 17 specific vineyards where grapes are grown from all over the world.  For each vineyard they showed what the current temperature and humidity were, and also showed proximity to the equator and altitude above sea level.  It was so interesting to see all the different soils, rocky, clay, sand, red sand, granite etc.

Another display focused on smells.  They had a flask of wine, and a way you could smell the wine, and descriptor such as “hamster cage”, “anise”, “green pepper” and “petrol” .  Now I’ve never heard anyone describe the wine as tasting or smelling like a hamster cage and when I smelled this one, I didn’t get that kind of scent from it. 

They had a display on the different media and movies on wine.  They showed the I Love Lucy episode where she was crushing the grapes with her feet.  They also showed clips from the movies Sideways and Bottle Shock as well a commercial filmed by Orson Wells for Paul Masson Winery back in the 70’s.   You might remember those commercials for the tag line “We will sell no wine before its time.” 

There was a fantastic display on glassware both for drinking and for pouring.  Some were very unique glasses and decanters developed by different glass companies.  Some were designed for show and not very practical, but most could be used. 

They had a beautiful
display of a grape vine with the root system and all.  It was cut in half
to show you how you would graft one grape varietal to a different root system.


Fun day in San Francisco,
and a great exhibit, but the exhibit closes April 17, so hurry up and get
there. 

Have You Rhoned Lately?

I did yesterday!  My husband and I went into San Francisco to Fort Mason, which is right on the northern point of San Francisco Bay near the Golden Gate Bridge.  There we went to a Rhone Rangers wine tasting extravaganza.  We got there at 2:00 when it opened.  Once inside I got my glass and a brochure of who is there and off we went.  There were well over 100 wineries represented there.  Everywhere from Santa Barbara, Los Olivos, San Luis Obispo, Paso Robles, Monterey, Santa Cruz, Sierra Foothills, Russian River, Napa, Oregon and Washington state. 

 

Each winery was serving their Rhone varietals.  You might ask, what is a Rhone varietal? The most common red Rhone varietals are Syrah, Grenache, and Mourvedre, with Syrah predominant in the Northern Rhone and Grenache in the Southern Rhone.  Other relatively common red grapes include Cinsault, Carignan, and Petite Sirah.  Finally, the list includes some grapes that are found only in trace amounts even in France, and are just beginning to be explored in the United States, including Counoise, Muscardin, Picpoul Noir, Vaccarese, and Terret Noir. The principal white Rhone varietals are Viognier, Roussanne and Marsanne, each found throughout the Rhone Valley, with Grenache Blanc a widely planted but less well-known contributor in the Southern Rhone.  The other white grapes include Bourboulenc, Clairette Blanc, Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains, Picardin, Picpoul/Piquepoul Blanc, and Ugni Blanc.

 

Some of these varietals are great on their own and most of them are even better when blended together.  A very popular blend is called GSM, which are Grenache, Syrah and Mourvedre.  Each winery does their own percentage when it comes to blending.

 

Some of the wineries that stood out to me were:

Quivera, Healdsburg, CA – ’08 Red Blend and ’10 Rose

Bonnie Doon Santa Cruz, CA– ’07 Syrah, San Luis Obispo

David Gerard Placerville, CA– ’08 Syrah

Morgan Salinas, CA– ’08 Syrah

Cypher Templeton, CA– ’08 Red Blend of Zinfandel, Mourvedre and Syrah

Thacher Paso Robles, CA– ’07 Syrah, Paso Robles

 

We stopped and tasted at about 40 wineries, but after awhile, even if you are spitting, you mouth get numb.  There were a few non-wine vendors there.  I bought a packet of lavender salt and a cookie mix of lavender refrigerator cookies from Little Sky Lavender.  We tried different chocolates, cheese, cookies, bread sticks and barbeque sauce to name a few.  The event itself serves sliced French bread and cubed cheese throughout the facility.  They also make sure that you re-hydrate yourself with water by providing Fiji Water.

 

We spent 2 ½ hours there and had a great time.  I would highly recommend planning on attending this event in the future.  They have them in Washington D.C., Paso Robles, Los Angeles and Seattle.  So many of the wineries you will have not heard of because they are so small in production but they attend because they want to let you know about them.  If they don’t have a tasting room, they will accommodate you if you call in advance and make an appointment.  I urge you go to some of the wine tasting areas that I mentioned above and look specifically for the smaller wineries.  They can be a very special find.

Wine and Chocolate Tasting for Valentine’s Day

Last weekend I went with a couple of friends to Livermore to check out a couple wineries.  Some of the wineries were having a special chocolate and wine-pairing event for Valentine’s Day.  Both of the wineries we went to we had never been to before.  They were on Tesla Road but at least one mile farther east than I had been before. 

First we went to Les Chenes Estate Vineyards .  We arrived about 3:15 in the afternoon.  There was a van full of people who had arrived before we did.  It was pretty busy there, but they were able to handle the crowds.  They split up the group to three different areas within the tasting room (which is in their barrel room).  We paid the $5.00 tasting fee, which comes off if you purchase wine.  We tasted their wines.  When we got to their Syrah they paired it with a chocolate soufflé (mousse like) in a cup served with a chocolate heart.  This was a nice pairing.  As we were sipping their Tawney Port we found that they had cheeses out for sampling.  They had a horseradish Cheddar, a jalapeno and cayenne Jack and smoked Gouda with bacon.  They were all very different and good.  Next to the cheeses they had an area where you could sample different mustards with pretzel sticks.  The mustards were good too.  My friends each bought some cheese.  The tasting room was very comfortable and right next door to the owner/winemaker, Richard Dixon’s, house.  The views from the winery were very nice.  They had one or two tables for picnicking if you wish. 

After that we went to Eagle Ridge Vineyards .  There tasting room was also in their barrel room that looked like a converted barn.  We arrived around 4:10 and were the last guests of the day for them.  We sat ourselves down on their barstools and sampled their wines.  They do not have a tasting fee.  I liked their ’08 Pinot Grigio.  They served us chocolate covered cake balls with their Petite Sirah.  That was a very nice combination.  We also sampled their ‘05, ’06 and ’07 Zinfandel, and their Cabernet Sauvignon and finally their “Mad “Lyn” Port.  I left there with a couple bottles of wine, as did my friends.  They don’t really have a place to picnic, but the views from the tasting room are beautiful.  You can see most of the Livermore Valley.  Jim Perry, the owner, was very nice and his friend Phil who was also pouring was great.  We had a lot of fun talking wine.

Once again, I’m going to highly recommend that you get out on the weekends and go to a winery or two that you have never been to.  If you don’t live near wineries, then go to a wine bar and sample some wines from different wineries.

Concannon Winery and Underdog Wine Bar

My cousins were in town visiting from Los Angeles and we had a few hours to kill.  So in thinking what we could do, the answer was to go to the Livermore Wine Region.  I had heard that there was a new restaurant at the Concannon Winery so that is where we headed.  The staff greeted us very nicely.  This was around 12:30 on a Friday afternoon January 2011.  We each spent the $10.00 for the tasting (which includes keeping the logo wine glass).  We were poured their Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz, and their Petite Sirah (which they are known most for).  We enjoyed tasting their wines and had a good time doing it.  They have a lot of room to roam while sipping the wine.  Their tasting room is filled with great items for sale.  We purchased some chocolate bites that we sampled with our Petite Sirah.

 

After the wine tasting we went over to the restaurant check-in area, which is on the opposite side of the tasting room bar.  The restaurant is called the Underdog Wine Bar.  We were seated right away.  Inside the restaurant there are two large rooms.  One is smaller than the other and has a beautiful bar and a few tables.  The larger room has another beautiful bar and quite a few tables and chairs.  The décor is all done with dark woods and has a very nice ambiance.  Along
the hallway down to the restaurant from the winery there is a lot of
the Concannon Winery family history posted for your reading enjoyment.  We opted to sit outside as the sky was blue and the temperature was in the mid to high 60’s.  There was a bit of a breeze but where we sat we were blocked from most of it.  Outside they have a few tables with chairs and a few couches with a coffee table in front of it.  None of us ordered wine with lunch as we had just enjoyed our tasting.  Karen ordered Orange and Thyme Marinated Olives and Brown Sugar Rosemary Cashews and Almonds for us all to share.  After a bit Karen ordered the Ahi Tuna Tartar Tower and Rod and I ordered the Panini with Prosciutto and Gruyere Cheese for our main lunch entree.  Everyone enjoyed their dishes.  It was very relaxing sitting outside.  Some families had opted to bring their picnic lunch and went onto the lawn and enjoyed at the tables provided.  The three of us shared a dessert, Petite Sirah Marinated Fresh Berries with Vanilla Bean Sabayon.  Very delicious!  The service was very good and even though the menu seemed a little bit limited, there was something on it that everyone enjoyed.  Their hours are Thursday thru Saturday 12:00 – 10:00 and Sunday thru Wednesday 12:00 – 8:00.  

Winter Wineland, Northern Sonoma County – Day Two

ViciVino.com was very fortunate to receive two complementary tickets to the 2011 Winter Wineland Weekend.  This is a weekend in which over 140 wineries in the Russian River Region, from Santa Rosa through Russian River Valley, Alexander Valley, Healdsburg and Dry Creek Valley get together to let wine lovers experience the different wineries.  The theme this year was “Education and Art”.  Some of the wineries are not normally open to the public, some by are by appointment only but on this weekend all the participants are open and ready to receive you.  More wineries than not offered food to be sampled with their wines.  Larry and I went through the map and listing and tried to locate wineries that we either haven’t been to or haven’t been to in a long time.


Day 2 – Sunday January 16 – We had slept over at our son and daughter-in-laws house in Santa Rosa, so we were able to get a later start.  We left about 10:30 and headed way up north to Silver Oak Winery up in Geyserville.

 
Silver Oak Winery – It seemed like a good idea to go way up north to start out the day and then go south from there.  When you arrive at Silver Oak Winery you walk through their stone foyer where there is a beautiful fountain.  They were pouring the first of two Cabernets there by the fountain.  We enjoyed the view, went into one of their barrel rooms where they were pouring the other wine.  In there they were also serving a mushroom cake and had information on sustainable farming.

  

                           Silver Oak Barrel Room                                                              Silver Oak Foyer with Fountain

Geyser Peak – We went to Geyser Peak one because it was on our way south from Silver Oak, but more because we were familiar with their Sauvignon Blanc.  They were a bit crowded in their tasting room.  We sampled some of their wines but they weren’t pouring the Sauvignon Blanc.  So we left rather quickly and were disappointed.

 

                               Geyser Peak Winery                                                                       Geyser Peak Winery                                    

 
Frick Winery – We had heard about Frick Winery but had never been.  It’s a very cute house like building with a front garden, a fire pit and a picnic table.  We went inside and just so happen to have Bill Frick the owner and winemaker pour for us.  He makes Rhone varietals and blends.  We did a vertical tasting of their Syrah from ’03 to ’08.  That was fun.  People were roasting hot dogs and making s’mores out in front using the fire pit.

  

                                        Frick Winery                                                    Roasting Hot Dogs and S’mores at Frick Winery

 
Kachina Vineyards – To get to this winery you have to go up their very, very long driveway.  This driveway takes you way up into the woods.  Once you are at the winery it is very quiet and private.  They make Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel, and a Zinfandel Port.  They were pouring in their barrel room.  They are only open by appointment normally.  They have some nice picnic tables outside to take in the view.  Sonoma Chocolatiers were there passing out truffles made with their Zin Port.

   

             Kachina Vineyards Barrel Room and Winery                                       Views from Kachina’s Vineyards Deck

Maurtison Winery – This winery is in its 6th generation of wine making.  They own 230 acres throughout the Dry Creek and Alexander Valleys.  When we got there they were having the main tasting in their barrel room.  But first you walked into their tasting room and there they poured a white wine.  Then as you walked into the back they had it decorated with tiny white lights all over the stacked barrels.  They were pouring both bottled wines and wines from the barrel.  They had their vineyard manager sitting at a location ready to talk about different soil samples from Rockpile Vineyard.  They make estate Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Zinfandel and Cabernet Sauvignon.  From the Rockpile vineyard they do a Zinfandel and Petite Sirah, Syrah, Malbec and some blends.

    

                               Mauritson Winery                                                                     Mauritson Winery Barrel Room

Armida Winery – When we arrived we lucked out and found a parking space near the tasting room.  It was crowded.  They had a football theme and had TV’s in different locations with the playoff games going.  We were hungry and so we went and got a plate of    sausage and smoked turkey.  We grabbed some wine and sat out on their beautiful deck, which overlooks their bocce ball court and lake.  They make Pinot Noir, Zinfandel, Chardonnay, Barbera, Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon and they are famous for their PoiZin.  Their winemaker was barrel tasting hisChardonnay and Zinfandel.  That was fun to try.

      

                        Armida Winery Tasting Room                                            Armida Winery Football Celebration and View

   
Michael Bernard – This is a new tasting room.  It just opened late summer 2010.  They have a very beautiful copper counter inside.  Their tasting room isn’t large but it wasn’t crowded feeling either.  They have a very nice deck with tables and chairs over looking their vineyards.  They make a sparkling wine, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Gewurztraminer, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon and a blended wine. 

   

                            Michael Bernard                                                                  Michael Bernard Tasting Room

Hudson Street Wineries – We drove into the town of Healdsburg.  Just a few blocks off the square is the Hudson Street Wineries.  Here they host five different wineries.  It is just a tasting room in a small warehouse building.  They had plenty of parking across the street.  The wineries they pour there are Bluenose Wines, Rocking Z Vineyards, Sadler-Wells Wines, Teira Wines and Willowbrook Cellars.  The staff was nice.  They were service a French onion soup, very tasty.

                                            

                                                                                    Hudson Street Wineries Tasting Room


Longboard Vineyards – A few blocks from Hudson Street Wineries heading back towards the center of town we ran into Longboard Vineyards.  As you enter this winery you see about a dozen different longboard surfboards hanging from the ceiling.  They make a Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, and Pinot Noir.  We got there near the end of the day so they were all out of the food they had been serving.  We had some troubles getting the staff to pour wine for us.  It is a nice tasting room and I would like to go back when it isn’t so crowded. 

      

                Longboard Vineyards Tasting Room                                                  Longboard Vineyards Tasting Room

Hauck Cellars – This tasting room is just a few doors down from the Healdsburg Square.  Parking is more challenging but worth the effort.  Both the owners Greg and Jennifer were pouring the wines.  We sampled their Sauvignon Blanc, Rose’ of Syrah, Zinfandel, and Meritage (which was on sale).  They also make a Petite Sirah and a Cabernet.  This was a very nice tasting room with items for sale.  They had a large counter and room to stand.

    

                                Hauck Cellars                                                                          Hauck Cellars Tasting Room

Selby – Just a few doors away from Hauck Cellars.  When we arrived their tasting room was packed.  But, they noticed us and we able to serve us wine.  The crowd there seemed to be having a good time and didn’t want to wander away.  They offer Sauvignon Blanc, Rose of Syrah, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Merlot, Malbec, Syrah, Petite Sirah, Cabernet Sauvignon and a Zinfandel.  They had their ’06 Chardonnay on sale, which we bought a case of for our son’s wedding this summer.

                                           

                                                                                    Selby Tasting Room

This day of wine tasting ended about 4:30.  We were pretty tired again.  Larry spit out all of his tasting so he was able to drive us around safely.  I however, just took little sips all day long.  We got back to the house and made some nachos to have before dinner.  We then had a nice birthday dinner for our son Brandon once he got home.  We enjoyed some more wine with dinner including a very good Windy Oaks Pinot Noir to go with the steaks.  We slept over that night as we were going to be watching Elli the next day so Kim could go to work.  The weekend was a huge success.  We went to 20 wineries in the two days.  Next trip up there will be the first weekend in March for the Barrel Tasting Weekend.  That is always fun.  We will have to go and explore more wineries that we’ve never been to.  Until then, Cheers!

Valley Performing Arts Center, Northridge – Grand Opening

Larry and I went on another road trip down to the Los Angeles area, Northridge to be exact.  Our primary reason to go down was to attend the gala of the grand opening of the Valley Performing Arts Center located in Northridge on the campus of CSUN.  My mother-in-law and father-in-law are large donators and bought a table to share with family and friends.  We drove down on Friday and got in just before the bad traffic started.  We had a nice dinner with Larry’s parents and his brother and family.  It was nice to have quiet quality time together.  Larry’s parent’s barbequed flank steak and we had roasted red potatoes and salad to round out the meal.  The boys opened three bottles of red wine.  One was over the hill and had to be thrown out later in the evening.

Saturday I went to visit my aunt at her house.  After awhile an old friend of mine, Luanne, came over.  The three of us chatted about the old days, when my aunt would host a number of temple youth group functions at her house.  It brought back some good memories.  Luanne and I went out to lunch to have “quiet time” to get caught up.  We hadn’t seen each other for 30 years or so.  We were best friends when we were teenagers.  It was fun getting caught up with her life and talking about old times.  After lunch I went back to my in-laws and got all dolled-up.  The gala was a black-tie affair.

We were picked up by Larry’s brother and wife and we went to CSUN campus, only a 5-minute drive from the house. The performing arts center is a beautiful 3 story, fairly circular building with tons of glass windows overlooking campus.  There is one very large and dramatic staircase going up to the three stories, or you can of course take an elevator.  On each floor there is a no-host bar and some tables and chairs for lounging before the performance or during intermission.  The event started at 5:30 with hors ‘d oeuvres and cocktails.  I had a cosmopolitan and Larry had a margarita on the rocks.  The passed hors ‘d oeuvres were; tuna tartar on a corn tortilla chip served with a small dollop of wasabi and fish eggs, smoked salmon served on a potato chip, a potato pancake served with cooked apples and sour cream on top, asparagus wrapped with teriyaki beef, and a stuffed mushroom.  When this hour was over, we were seated in the performing arts center and were treated to a 90-minute variety performances.  There was a Shakespeare invocation with Benjamin Bratt, Tyne Daly, Keith David, Jane Kaczmarek, Steven Weber and Noah Wyle.  Then there was a ballet duet performance of Don Quixote.  Carol Vaness came out and did a song from an opera, one song solo the other with on of her students Andrew Lundsford.  After all of that they opened up the curtains and there was a whole band situated there.  On the left were the strings and clarinets.  On the right was the CSUN Jazz “A” band.  In the middle was the piano and percussion.  Besides the bands playing and having special guests both playing and conducting there were some singers like Monica Mancini (the daughter of Henry Mancini).  Dave Koz came out and played his saxophone and Atruro Sandoval came out and played his trumpet.  Andy Garcia even played his bongo drums.  There was a comedy act with Cheech Marin who is an alumnus of CSUN.  He came out with his wife who accompanied him playing the piano.  It was funny, but you had to have been there.  Davis Gaines came out and sang a song from Phantom of the Opera and Tyne Daly came out and sang a tune from Gypsy.  Some of the presenters of the evening were Calista Flockhart, Doris Roberts and Eric Stoltz.  When we saw that Calista was going to be there we were kidding around saying that wouldn’t it be cool if her husband came too!  You know, Harrison Ford.  Once we took our seat, no kidding, Harrison Ford was standing with their son about 15 feet away from me.  He was figuring out where their seats were.  I got so excited!  He ended up sitting in our row, but at the other end.  That was one of my highlights of the evening.

After the performance we were all led to a huge tent where 700 people were served dinner.  They was a 7-piece band on the front stage near the very large dance floor.  When we sat down the first course was already sitting there at our place.  It was a red, yellow and orange cluster of tomatoes sprinkled with fleur d’sel and composed with micro arugula, tossed with balsamic vinaigrette and topped with Burrata cheese.  The second course was braised boneless short ribs served with a mushroom bread custard, baby carrots, asparagus spears and crispy fried onion rings.  Then the dessert came that was called, Dessert Duo.  On the plate was a warm chocolate flourless cake topped with whipped cream and white and dark chocolate sauce, and a Meyer lemon berry meringue tart.  There were strawberries sliced in between the two items and a rolled chocolate candy stick.  It was beautiful.  Of course, everything was delicious.  There was a lot of food between the three courses, but I managed to have a sampling of everything.  We were served wine with dinner from Margerum Winery in Los Olivos in Santa Barbara County.  They were serving a Sybarite Sauvignon Blanc 2009 and a “M5 2008”, which is a Chateauneuf-du-Pape style blend using five grape varieties from twelve of the highest quality vineyards in Santa Barbara County, I enjoyed the M5, which was a nice blended wine.  People were mingling and dancing throughout the night.

It was a lovely night and well worth the price of the ticket.  And I want to thank my mother-in-law and father-in-law for treating us to such a beautiful affair.

Sunday we got up late and Dad made us homemade Belgium waffles and bacon for breakfast.  My friend Luanne came over to say hi to everyone there.  After that visit we packed up and drove over to my uncles house where my 96-year-old grandma is living.  We had a nice visit with them.  After that we then drove the 5 ½ hour drive home.  It was a very short weekend, not too relaxing but we saw a lot of family and friends and attended the gala of the Valley Performing Arts Center!