I just spent Thanksgiving weekend in the Sonoma/Napa area if California & it was a truly great trip. We had some spectacular wines & great food!!! We found out early that 2-3 wineries are about the limit for the day.
Of course our 1st day we visited 5, Chateau St. Jean, Imagery, Schug, Cline & Jacuzzi. I had to dump a lot of wine & some were too good to dump. I can still say now that I have tasted just about everyone of Jacuzzi's wines I haven't found one that I didn't like. I have to say that doing tour & Private tastings were much more enjoyable then tasting with everyone else on a busy weekend when there is a special event where you spend $44 for a 2 day weekend & get to taste at 120 different wineries. We then went to dinner in downtown Sonoma at a place called the Depot. It was very good but we were a bit wined out so we just ate with no wine. I had a tenderloin with a pepper sauce, whipped potatoes & some steamed veggies. All very good!!! We then headed up to the Russian river to the Korbel estates & spent the night in one of the guest houses.
The next morning we got up & walked around to discover that the estate is really an old railroad town that Korbel had purchased & turned into their winery. We then headed back down to Sonoma to Kenwood & then Vally of the Moon. They are both owned by Korbel. In between the two tours we went to the Meritage where I had a lobster salad sandwich on their home made foccica with a side of fries. Very good!!! I split my sandwich with my hubby & in return I got half of his burger with cambazolla cheese & bacon, also very good!!! Doing only 2 wineries was a much better idea. We then headed back to Santa Rosa were we stayed the night & went to dinner at Zazu restaurant & farm. It would have been nice to get there in while it was still light to see the farm but it was dark. There I had a fatoush salad that was made with mint & parsley for the greens with pomegranate seeds & goat cheese. It also had red pepper that was a little over bearing but I just picked them out. For my entree I had the flat iron steak that was cooked perfectly & served with blue cheese ravioli, whole roasted garlic cloves & red chard. It was all sooooo good!!!!
The next morning we headed up to Lake County to visit the Langtry Estate & Vineyards for a tasting, lunch & a tour. It was truly spectacular. We had lunch up on a hill where the cab grapes are grown that overlooks the whole Langtry valley. Our guide, Scotty, was extremely knowledgeable about the winery & knew all aspects of the process. We were able to enjoy wines from the barrels & the stainless vats, which was very cool to see the differences in flavor of each. It was a great way to spend our last day. We then headed back to SF to the airport. Of course when ever I am at the SF airport I have to pick up 2 of my favorite things in the world, See's candy & SF sourdough bread, to bring home with me. ...& I don't share!!!
