Winter Wineland Weekend - Saturday Part 1

We started out our morning on the way to our first wine stop. We left Rio Nido around 10:30 AM so that we could be at our first winery by 11:00 AM. The weekend was planned by a good friend who also was in for the event of what the 9 wineries were for each day. We stopped in first at Merriam Vineyards and met up with the group. We did our check ins and everyone started with their tasting. Since I wasn't drinking, I was only able to try the food that had been prepared for the visitors. Chef Mike Watson had prepared a delicious braised pork with red eye gravy and grits cake to be paired with the wines. For the first thing to taste food wise for the weekend, I was just loving it. It really was quite delicious. I even made sure to let the chef know I loved it. After about 20 minutes or so, it was time to head out to the next stop. I would have posted a shot of the winery, but I didn't take my camera out. Not sure why either.

We took off and went through the main part of town of Healdsburg. It was a very cool old town too. I'll have to make sure to go back and spend more time checking it out. We got to our next stop at Simi Winery. This place was very nice. The pasta that was prepared was phenomenal. This place was Sonoma County History. It sits across the street from the old train depot. This is another place I will definitely have to come back to spend more time checking out. Once again, I left the camera in the car. What the heck was I thinking? Oh Well! I just spent my time checking the place out anyways and getting to know some in the group that I had not met yet. Once again after about 20 minutes or so, it was off to the next winery.

We hit the Alexander Valley region and pulled into Soda Rock Winery. Immediately my wife tells me to pull out the camera and get some photos. The main building was the original Alexander Valley General Store and Post Office. We walked in the door and I was just loving this old place that had been restored to a beautiful tasting room. It was simple, but very extravagant. I tried to get some interior shots, but since I don't have a wide-angle lens, I wasn't able to capture the beauty I wanted to. But I also needed to figure out some of the features again on the camera since I haven't been able to use it for some time. But I did manage to get a cool shot by mistake. So Here it is. 

Soda Rock Winery - Mistake Shot

As usual, it was a rush and we had to leave to get to the next stop, Hanna Winery. Once again I was enjoying another great place. This tasting room sits on a nice area overlooking the valley. It was beautiful! So I took a few more shots and had some good fun.

Here are a few more of my shots.

Looking up the hill - Hanna Winery

Vine Wires - Hanna Winery

If you would like to see more of my photos from the weekend, please click  - Winter Wineland Photos