playin' hooky

[rone]

I took the day off today to go wine tasting with 2wanda and elmuchacho (captain_nesky was supposed to come but couldn't).  We didn't make a decision whether our destination would be the Santa Cruz Mountains, Paso Robles, or Sonoma; at the last minute, we chose Sonoma so i could drop by Lambert Bridge and say hello to my winemaking class instructor, who is Lambert Bridge's winemaker.

Kim and i have never made a trip with Sonoma as our destination; we've often been to Calistoga, and from there jetted down Highway 128 through Knights Valley and Alexander Valley to hit Dry Creek Valley, where Preston and Ferrari-Carano are favorite destinations.  So, this time, i wanted to hit Russian River and Sonoma Valley.  But as Lambert Bridge is in Dry Creek, and we did want to hit Preston... hello Dry Creek!  Again!  But before we hit the wineries, we had lunch at Sake'O, which consisted of good sashimi and a very tasty tempura banana with a scoop of the best vanilla ice cream i've ever had.

We hit Lambert Bridge first and said hello to Jill, who generously gave us a thorough tour, and we got to talk a bit of shop (or, at least in my case, future shop).  Then we went on to Preston, and then Pedroncelli, Geyser Peak, and finally Meeker.  We were greeted and served cheerfully everywhere, but as always, i spent way too much money; this is why i can't take a trip to wine country more than once, maybe twice, a year.  Also, the generosity at Pedroncelli and Geyser Peak made our tasting at Meeker a bit suspect due to tongue fatigue (not that i'm saying that they were stingy at LB or Preston, mind you).

The sushi didn't stick with us, so we stopped at the Healdsburg Bar & Grill for dinner.  David got a beef rib dish which was just amazingly delicious and made me wish i'd gotten it.  And then, we drove home the end.

Comments

[ikkyu2.livejournal.com]

Sweet.

I need to go back up to Sonoma. We're all out of pinot noir, and there's a case of Davis-Bynum merlot with my name on it.

[mrbalihai.livejournal.com]

I love Sonoma. We had many a fine picnic on the grounds of the Buena Vista Winery back in the Eighties.

[arian1.livejournal.com]

*jealous*

[psycat90.livejournal.com]

Nice. I need to hit a winery today on my lunch break. I've got a tasting room review that's due in one of my classes on Tuesday. I'm kind of thinking of Russian Hill (http://www.russianhillestate.com/russianhill/index.jsp) since it's right down the road.


I'm sure the staff at Geyser Peak are on their very best behavior. There was a stinging review in the Chronicle a week or two ago. Out to Lunch (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2007/03/30/WIGIPOSQBD1.DTL&type=wine)

[ronebofh.livejournal.com]

Ouch. Yeah, our experience was completely not like that. Both of the people behind the counter were very nice; they threw out a bottle of their cab which had a bizarre note (my description was "tomato lobster bisque"). I came back in after we'd taken the wine to the car to buy some bottled water, but the lady waved me away as i was headed to the cash register.

Next time we head up there, i think we'll definitely do Russian River and send you e-mail in advance.

[kawgirl.livejournal.com]

I'm green!

That sounds like so much fun and it's so close to where one dives for abalone!!!