Sonoma and Beyond

My second day in San Francisco involved trying to find a way back to the airport to get our car rental. True story: my husband downloaded the Uber app, after seeing how much everyone else was using it at the conference to get to places at night. At home, we really don't have the need for Uber, though I can see us using it in the future. Well, after about 20 minutes of attempting to answer all the of the questions (where to, how many of us, finding a car near us, cost) neither of us could quite figure out how to proceed with getting the car to our current location. Where were our kids when we needed them? We broke down and just took the limo that was parked out front. Probably wasted $30, but live and learn.

The rental car agent advised that since it was 8 am, we probably didn't want to drive back through downtown San Fran, so he mapped us a way that took us up part of Highway 1, over the Golden Gate, and then heading east towards Sonoma. Great views and I was able to show my husband some of the spots I had visited the day before along the ocean.

When the city turns to farm land, you know you've arrived in Sonoma. If you've never visited the Napa Valley area, Sonoma is like the laid-back country cousin. The wineries are less like showplaces and more like working farms. I highly recommend visiting both areas, as they are quite different.

Our first stop was Cline. I was immediately struck by how TALL the rose bushes were. We can't really grow roses here because of the deer and Japanese beetles. The gardens surrounding the property were gorgeous. Wine tastings are provided either at their outdoor bar or inside the house around a small wooden bar. I won't go into details about their grapes or where they are grown as I don't think any of my readers care. However, they sell reasonable priced wines (many under $20) all over the U.S. We like their Cashmere line.

Across the street from Cline is their sister winery, Jacuzzi, known for their olive oils. We tried a variety of different flavors, along with their many vinegars, ranging from fig to champagne. I took a photo of this olive tree out back, just because I don't remember ever having seen an olive tree in person! And no, you can't eat them off the tree as they must be processed somehow (we checked online - ha!) As an aside, I had no idea that the 'jacuzzi' was named after its inventor. Same guy whose grandson named the winery after.

And this is why I love coming to Napa . . . how fabulous is this place?? It is Domaine Carneros, owned by the Taittinger family, famed producers of French champagne. We were in serious need of lunch at this point, (neither of us had eaten breakfast), so we skipped the patio tasting and just walked around the property and took pictures. It sits up on a hill, so the view is incredible.
 

We at elunch at this cute little place in the Carneros region. My husband had the chicken & waffles and proclaimed them the best he's ever had. The tables were close together, so we struck up a conversation with a couple from Orange County. We hope to make it to their hometown in the next few years, so they gave us some pointers.

Our next stop was Artesa, which is built into a hill. Rather than do a tasting, we just got two glasses of wine and sat on their outside patio to soak up some California sunshine and enjoy the views . . .

because when this is your view, do you really want to leave?

 

 

We did want to visit one more place that day, so we headed to Hess. Skipped the tasting and instead, we enjoyed their modern art collection, which took up three floors. LOVED it!

 

 

 

 Then it was north to St. Helena to check into our inn, nestled in a vineyard. Here is the view from the room.
 

We opted to skip dinner and just enjoy the inn's wine and cheese hour, which turned into two hours and was much more than wine and cheese. I was super excited because they were also serving Schramsburg champagne. We chatted with a couple from Buffalo about the Finger Lakes and what wineries we had both visited that day.

 

Here I am enjoying the property that evening. 
Wishing my Blogger friends a Happy Thanksgiving! Cheers!