Fine Wine
(our haul from the day)
Friday, Py and I took the day off of work to have some fun. It was the last day of Maya’s spring break, and originally we thought we might go to a local amusement park, but it turned out that they were closed. Most of the school districts in our area had their spring break either the week before Easter, or the week after. Including those of all of her friends. but not hers. So what else do you do with a 12 year old on spring break in Northern California? That’s right, you go wine tasting!
We went up to Napa Valley for the afternoon, and did some tasting at some mighty yummy vineyards. Actually, we only had a few hours, because we slept late, blogged, went out for breakfast, walked the dog, and generally wiled the morning away, and we had to be back by 5:00 in order to make it to a 6:00 BSG party. So we only went to two wineries. But what wineries we chose!
First, we have a membership at BV vineyards, so we sampled their reserve tasting, usually $30 per person, for free. That was lovely, and it was such a serene and beautiful setting. Of course, the key to tasting wine is not to get drunk before you get back in the car. Sadly, this means a lot of very yummy wine gets wasted. This is the wine we didn’t drink.
Then, we went to my favorite winery, Clos Pegase. It’s not that it’s my favorite wine, though the wine is wonderful. It’s that it’s a beautiful winery, much prettier than the average. Also, they have a lot of art right there on site, so if you’re tired of hearing about how long wine sits in French Oak, you can walk outside and see sculptures, or walk through the rooms and see wonderful art on the walls.
It was a wonderful, relaxing day, driving through the beautiful vineyards, the lovely green hills, with Wisteria vines in bloom around every corner, and flowers on many of the trees. It’s beautiful. Then follow it up with the first new episode of Battlestar Galactica in almost a year, and it’s the recipe for a lovely day. Or, since the letter today is ‘F’, I’ll change that from ‘lovely’ to ‘fabulous’.
(this is Bacchus, or, as the Greeks would say, Dionysis. He looks kind of evil in this picture, but I’m guessing it’s just because he’s drunk.)
10 Comments
lalunas
Ted looks mighty handsome in that photo. That sounds like a really wonderful day trip. It was a pretty day on Friday.
Py Korry
I wish we could have at least done a tour of a winery, but…
Still, it was nice to take a drive and see Napa on a day when it wasn’t crowded. 🙂
Joan
thanks for sharing your adventure. I’m envious. I’ve never been to California. I shouldn’t complain. It is very beautiful here in NC still I want to go west.
Starshine
Bacchus looks like he’s drunkenly saying, “Hey…you want some more wine?” 🙂
Chrissy
Sweeeeeeeeet! J, I am envious! I’ve been on several rum tasting tours. While in the Dominican Republic and in Barbados I had a chance to visit some distilleries. I think I visited three of the major rum factories when in Barbados.
I’ve always wanted to go on one of the Niagara-on-the-Lake wine tours. Niagara Falls has started to make a name for themselves recently…especially with the ice wines.
One of the restaurants on the Island (where I live) had its wine tasting event on Friday and Saturday. I didn’t attend. Maybe next year.
P.S. Yes, Bacchus definitely looks like he’s had one too many glasses of vino 😉
Autumn's Mom
Although I’m not much of a wine drinker..I’m looking forward to doing this with John some time soon 🙂 What a nice relaxing afternoon!
Karen MEG
What a lovely day! We did a Napa Valley trip almost 6 years ago (took L when he was 2) … I think we need to make another trip!!
Jimmy
That reminds me!
And Bacchus sang!
“Jeremiah was a bull frog
Was a good friend of mine
I never understood a single word he said
But I helped him a-drink his wine
And he always had some mighty fine wine”
Gina
Sounds like a lot of fun!
We are thinking of maybe coming up to SF area in June, although Hubba-hubba is concerned that there won’t be enough for Mr. P to do.
All I can think of is the Exploratorium, but I know there has to be more, right?
J
Gina, I’ve never been a huge fan of the Exploratorium, though I know many people are. Chrissy field has been redone, and it’s a great place to go let him play in some waves, without the worry of him getting swept away that you might have at Ocean Beach. Sadly, the academy of sciences is still closed. It’s been under renovation for awhile now, and opens in Sept., I think. But there’s a great kids playground in Golden Gate Park. There’s the zoo, which I don’t like as much as the Oakland Zoo. There’s a baseball game. 🙂