One Day in Sonoma

As good luck would have it, my spouse had another conference in San Francisco last month and since his flight was paid for, we decided to tack on four extra days to the front of the trip and go back to wine country. Because life is too short to not enjoy when opportunity knocks!

After a very early morning flight, and a ridiculous wait in line at the rental car counter, we finally made it out of the city and on our way to the Golden Gate Bridge. I did not anticipate that everybody and their brother would be trying to go over the bridge on a Sunday morning, but that's how it appeared. And then google maps was showing lots of red, due to an event at the Sonoma Raceway. We were headed for lunch north of Sonoma Square, but after the grueling drive and detours, my husband just wanted to stop at the nearest winery. So, that's what we did!

First stop of the day was Robledo. Upon entering the tasting room, I noted that all the employees were extremely attractive. Turns out, they were all related! Robledo is a family winery, started by a Mexican immigrant who came to California in the late 60's to pick grapes. As they say, the rest is history (see the flags?) He, his children, and now his grandchildren own and operate this successful winery. We really liked all the wines, but the port was fantastic, almost like drinking chocolate. Good stuff!

 

We drove north to VJB Cellars in Kenwood. VJB makes Italian varietals and we enjoyed a tasting at their bar before our lunch.

Their piazza is a popular spot on a sunny afternoon. We had a wood fired pizza from their outdoor ovens, loaded up on water, and enjoyed some strolling musicians while we people watched.
 

Next, we headed south towards Glen Ellen to Arrowood. How gorgeous is this place? The entire trip, I could not get over the flowers. We just can't grow huge flowers here, partly due to climate, mostly due to deer.

I chose to visit Arrowood because unlike some wineries, you can just buy a glass of wine instead of doing a tasting. We practically had their wraparound porch to ourselves. It was a relaxing time with a wonderful view. 

We were able to walk down the hill from Arrowood to Imagery. We had visited Imagery 11 years ago, almost to the day. Imagery is unique in that it pairs its wine with art. Each bottle has a work of art featured. This cabinet showcases some of their many labels over the years. If you are familiar with Benziger wine, Imagery is a sister winery. We just walked around and admired their collections.

Our last stop of the day was my favorite: Buena Vista. It's a historical landmark and the first winery in California, started by a Hungarian Count in 1857. After you park, you walk up a long driveway through the woods in which you are surrounded by cut-outs of historical figures. There are signs describing what was going on with the land, from the time of Native Americans to today. See George Washington to the left? I thought it would be super creepy at night!

 

Inside the Press House/ Tasting Room. The wines were really good and their Zinfandel was probably the best I've ever tasted. We noticed an orange wine behind the bar and my husband, who is much more forward than I am, asked if we could taste it. It was their Hungarian Tokaji Aszu. It was delicious, but at $100 a bottle, too expensive for our wallets.

 

On the way out, we could not resist this maze. I'm proud to say I had no trouble finding my way out.

Then we were on our way over to Napa Valley, to the charming town of Yountville. Our B&B was fabulous. We had this private patio right outside our room. In the back you can see the main house, where they served hors d'oeuvres and breakfast. Everything was in a French country theme.

Yountville is known as the restaurant mecca, with more Michelin starred restaurants than anywhere else in the world. The most famous being Thomas Keller's French Laundry. We opted for Hurley's because you could sit outside (and it costs about 1/5th the price of French Laundry). I had a delicious horseradish crusted salmon in a red wine sauce with basil infused potato puree and asparagus. My husband convinced me to try a cocktail and I got the Orange Blossom. It tasted like a children's Bayer aspirin to me . . . I'm sticking with wine! We had never stayed in Yountville before and are so glad we did. Every restaurant was within walking distance from our inn. It was so pleasant to be able to stroll around the town at night, without the heat/ humidity that we have at home. As my favorite speech/song 'Wear Sunscreen' goes . . . "Live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft . . ." Oh, how true!