Chimney Rock

Mmmm, delicious sampling of their limited production wines. Could have stayed and sampled all of their wines and almost did!!

Fois gras

The big news around here is the California statewide ban on Fois gras that begins July 1. Most restaurants have already sold out of their stock. Wonder how long before this trend heads east. Sorry,no pics.

Back to Napa

Drove back through Carneros to Napa. Had just enough time to hit up Clos du Val, before Darioush.

Bodega Bay on Sonoma Coast

Armstrong

Armstrong Woods in Sonoma County. Largest tree,325 feet and1400 Years old.

Fog in sonoma

At 6:30 in the morning, the fog has rolled in and covered the vineyards behind the house. The fog is critical in helping produce quality Chardonnay grapes and is why Napa sources that varietal from here.
Today, we are taking a tasting break in the morning to check out the Redwoods at Armstrong Woods, then a little time on the coast, before heading back to Napa for Darioush, Plumpjack, and maybe Silver Oak.

Today,we have headed back over the hills to Healdsburg. Sonoma is so much different than Napa...it is a totally more laid back mindset. We are staying at a farmhouse that is surrounded by vines. Dave Mathews was here a couple of months ago. Anyways, we were all over the place today, tasting Longboard and Thumbprint, as well as the traditional stuff. Would love to spend a couple of days here, but we are running out of time.

Sundown at Auberge du Soleil

After a tasting of boutique wines in Kenwood, we headed back over the mountain to dinner and barrel tasting at Franciscan.

Matanzas Creek winery in Santa Rosa preparing for the lavender festival. Look closely at the fountain and you see a hummingbird.

Next up, we headed over Spring Mountain, to Santa Rosa where we tasted at Matanzas Creek. We are seeing the difficulty of efficiently seeing the wineries that we want to visit. Time contraints caused us to miss Terra Valentine and Pride as we just did not have time to make it work. Going over Spring Mountain is a roller coaster. Garner's driving was on point.

Ok, so today we started at Mondavi where we saw the history and ups and downs of a dynamic winery. Even though it is well known that Mondavi produces great wines, there is still a stigma related to their volume tier production of lower end wines. We sampled all reserve wines from their 2010 reserve fume blanc to the 2008 and 2003 versions of the Robert Mondavi reserve Cabernet. The place is amazing with their old school French oak fermenting tanks lined up as far as you can see. Here are some photos from that tour..

So, we've move on from the Victorian inn, up the street to franciscan's mustard house. We're in a residential area, but the vines flowing out from the backyard go on forever. While on a jog this morning, I see that these vines belong to spottswoode. Last night, we hit up calistoga after they rolled up the streets of st. Helena at 8:00. So today, we have a mondavi tour at 10:00, then we decided to head up spring mountain to Santa rosa. There we will see matanzas, pride mountain, and maybe a couple more . Dinner and library tasting at Franciscan tonight. Busy day today. Hard work, but someone has to do it. Here are the spottswoode vines in our backyard. Stay tuned for more pics.

Nothing like sitting on the back porch at Joseph phelps, tasting 05 and 08 insignia. Did not even know they produced white wines , but their Sauvignon blanc, Chardonnay, and dessert wine eisrebe were excellent. the vines that you see in the pics are actually all white, mostly Sauvignon blanc and eisrebe. Also their carneros Pinot noirs were very tasty.

Rombauer, which is number one Chardonnay by the glass is also an amazing facility. Tucked into the side of a hill, they have created a huge tunnel system for barrel storage. Enjoy the pics.

Day 2. Starting at chandon at 10:00 and then head over to Joseph phelps at 12:00 and then a tour of rombauer. May hit duckhorn and darioush if we have time. We change location from the Victorian inn to Franciscan. The folks here at the Victorian inn have put on a show with their place. Garner and I enjoyed fine cigars and port on the patio before turning in. Thanks again to triple c for setting this up and beverage control for setting up Franciscan. Hope to free up some time to find some hidden gems. Anyways, 2 more days here, then we head to Sonoma to simi.
Last night's dinner was at farmstead...very good farm to table dining. The previous night we ate at tra vigne and the food and service there was incredible. Pictures later.

Had a nice 100 percent petit verdot at trinchero. None of us have ever had this typical blending grape as a primary. It was actually softer than I would have imagined.

Trenchero vineyards

Chandon, what a crazy operation.350000 case production.tasted 6 sparkling and 4 still wines. Winery looks like a park. Don't miss if you get to napa.

So, we had a great tour of William hill winery and tasted some really good product. Then we had lunch and some more great wine at louis martini. The history of this place is incredible. Here are some photos