Winter Wineland Weekend - Sunday Part 2

I know it/s been a little long for me to get to the final entry from my Wineland weekend, but when things get busy, some things just have to be set aside for when the time presents itself to get things finished. With that said, if you haven't read the first 3 pieces to this story, please check the archives and check them out so you get the full, complete story of my experience.

Mustang Convertible

After leaving the Kachina Vineyards, we headed back out the long road and headed north. We didn't have to go too far either. The next stop on the agenda for the day was at Papapietro Perry Wineries tasting room. When we pulled into the location to find that there were several tasting rooms in the same place. Well that just made things a lot easier for everyone. More to taste! We spent a good amount of time here. I was able to relax for a bit and shoot more photos of some interesting things inside and outside the buildings. Kokomo was another winery that was on the agenda and it just so happened to be at this location. It was nice to have so many in 1 place, but since I really wasn't tasting, I got a little bored.

Papapietro

Kokomo

We finally left and were on to the next stop. We drove about 4 miles up the road to Ferrari-Carano Vineyards. We pulled into the parking lot and I knew that this place was going to be a nice stop. We walked into the Barrel room and once again I just had to start taking pictures. I was relaxed and really enjoyed myself. I just wish that I had had more time to spend checking the surroundings out. We stayed for about 20-30 minutes and then headed onto the last stop.

Ferrari-Carano

The last stop was another nice estate. We completed the day, and the weekend at Sbragia Family Vineyards. The view from the parking lot was awesome. Then we went up the stairs to the tasting room. I walked outside onto the patio deck and the view was even more spectacular. The view of the dam to the North, and the view of the valley to the South. And since this was the final stop of the weekend, we stayed a little longer and enjoyed the view. It was a nice way to end the adventure through the valley. Some awesome scenery, some beautiful estates, and some good pleasant fun. Next year I plan to actually actually be tasting the wine.

Looking South from Sbragia Family Vineyards

Winter Wineland Weekend - Sunday Part 1

To complete the weekend in such a beautiful part of the California Wine country, we left the house in Rio Nido and headed back down into the valley. The morning was a bit foggy and damp, but it made the morning a little more intriguing and the view along the river was a beautiful and yet a little mysterious. We made our way down and hit the back roads towards our destination winery. But before we did that, we needed to drop our car off in a parking lot just off the 101 freeway so we didn't have to be running around in 2 vehicles. While driving through the back roads, my wife and I were enjoying the scenery and admiring rolling hills of the farms and the wineries. We ended up coming up on the West side of the Charles M. Schultz - Sonoma County Airport and caught site of a couple a really nice pieces of vintage aircraft just sitting there at rest. I had kind of wanted to stop and grab a few photos, but I knew we needed to get to the first winery, so we kept going and dropped off the car and then headed up to Alderbrook Winery.

We got to Alderbrook and were the first to show up out of our group. So we went inside the tasting room and while everyone was doing their tasting, I just relaxed and hung out checking out the items they had for sale. After the rest of the group arrived, a friend and I decided to play checkers with the jumbo set on the coffee table. I lost! But then again, I can't remember the last time I even played the game. The winery's tasting room was decorated in a prohibition theme. It was fitting as it was telling part of the history of the family and the winery itself. After about 30 minutes, we were off to the next stop.

Not to far away we stopped in at Da Vero Winery. It was a small tasting room, but the atmosphere was quite friendly. We went inside and just like all the other places, there was plenty of items for the visitor to browse and potentially purchase. If you do visit here, be sure that the cat gets some fair attention. Yes she may be sleeping, but she does love the attention. Other than that, the only other part I do remember is the pieces of art outside. We were then on to the next winery after the usual 15 to 20 minutes.

We made out of the parking lot and headed north. After a few miles, we made our way to the Michel-Schlumberger Wine Estate. Pulling into this estate, I was just amazed at the beauty of this place. The place is just absolutely gorgeous. I could have stayed here all day and enjoyed the surroundings. We walked into the courtyard and my wife was just loving the view. The way this place is set up, we had talked about doing several years ago as an idea we had. But this was reality, not an idea! I pulled out my camera and started shooting. While everyone was tasting wine, I was tasting the sun and the air reflecting off of the white walls of the courtyard. The group stayed around for a good while, which was nice. I actually had time to relax and shoot without being in a rush to get to the next place. And to top it off, They had a Hot Dog Cart. So, since I was getting hungry, I decided it was time for me to grab something. So I went over and ordered a Chicago Style Hot Dog. The only problem was I had absolutely no cash on me. So, The owner decided to comp me the hot dog. But, on one condition. I had to go onto his Facebook page and give him a great review. So I agreed to it. I was hungry! But then I started to eat the hot dog, and his request became something I just had to do. This hot dog was awesome! And just to throw out something to those of you reading this, Be sure to go to Santa Rosa and look for "Chicago Style Hot Dogs". You won't be disappointed.

Courtyard view
Michel-Schlumberger Wine Estate.

After spending a good 30 to 45 minutes at Michel-Schlumberger, we left and headed back North on Wine Creek Road. Then made a left on Lambert Bridge Road. As the name of the road is, we crossed the bridge. This was a great old steel bridge that would be a great photo opportunity if I was out running around by myself looking for things to photograph. But, since I wasn't by myself, we kept going to the next stop, Kachina Vineyards. When you pull off the road, you think you are just going to be at the next destination. But to our surprise, we headed down a dirt and gravel road into the hills for a decent distance and pulled through a gate into the property. This was a very nice, quite, in the trees winery that when you pull into the parking lot, you are just relaxed by the setting before you even get out of your vehicle. This is another nice, small size tasting room. But since it has such a peaceful surrounding, you don't really care how small it is. You are just to relaxed to care about the size. It's not as small as I make seem to be though, so don't get me wrong or criticize me on that. The building is done in a design style that I would say is close to an Italian country style. Which is a style I would love to have if I was to build my own house. It brings back some great memories of a vacation in the past. A vacation I would love to be able to take once again if given the time or opportunity. The long road to the tasting room even reminds me of that vacation destination. Oh to be back in the Italian country side in the middle of who knows where, enjoying the peaceful beauty yet once again. Only this wasn't Italy! It's in Sonoma County.

Tasting Room Patio
Kachina Vineyards

Wine Barrel Reflection
Kachina Vineyards

TO READ MORE ABOUT THE WINE ROAD, PLEASE GO TO MY ARCHIVES. I WILL BE ADDING MY FINAL ENTRY SOON TO FINISH OUT THIS GREAT EXPERIENCE.

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

Winter Wineland Weekend - Friday

I haven't had any opportunity to get some blogging in lately due to having to spend so much time working on the S15. But since I spent the weekend up in the wine country I figured I would just catch up with the world on what I did for the weekend in Northern Sonoma County. I actually did this last year with my wife and a few friends and had a good time. I was the "designated driver" then, and was again this year. Well at least I thought I was going to be anyways. As it turned out, I ended up not driving at all. And, since I'm not much of a wine drinker, I really didn't care anyways. It was an opportunity to get away with my wife and a good group of friends from the Bay Area and just have a fun weekend in a very beautiful part of Northern California.

Rio Nido Rental

I started out my weekend on Friday having to go to school. Well, as that turned out, I didn't have any class that day, so I just got more stuff done around my house for a good part of the morning. Then I finally decided around noon time that I'd better get my butt ready and head out. I had planned to make a few stops on the way  for some things I needed to get. I I made a few of the usual stops looking for items at places that I could sell in my store on eBay, then I stopped in at a cool comic book shop in Livermore, Ca (Fantasy Books and Games) to get some magazine protectors and cardboard inserts for some other stuff I needed to sell on eBay. Then I headed over to Charlotte's Web around the corner to see what I could find that I just had to have. As it turned out, I picked up the latest copy of "Rod & Kulture Magazine", as well as a real nice hat with embroidered red and white pinstriping. By this time is was getting a little late and I really needed to hit the road to get to the house that we rented for the weekend. My wife was already up in the area with our friends, and I just needed to get there myself.

I hit the highway and headed west for the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge. Everything was going well until I hit the usual Friday night commuter traffic of everyone coming East off of the Bay Bridge. It wasn't to long and traffic got better. I hit the R-SR Bridge and enjoyed the view of the sunset as I went across. Then once again I was in more commuter traffic for everyone going home to the North. By this time it was around 7:00 PM and I was getting a little bored and tired, so I got off the highway and grabbed some food and beverage to help keep me awake for the rest of the trip. Then I got back on the road and before long I needed to get off the highway again for another brake. After a 30 minute breather, I got back on the highway and was near my exit again. I got off the highway and headed west through Santa Rosa. I hit my destination in Rio Nido and made it to the rental house. I got there after 8:30 PM. Only I could take a 2.5 hours drive and turn into a long trip! It was a good ride though. I was able to have a good drive and just take my time and relax. I made sure to keep my commute traffic experience to a calm time and just deal with it. I got the car unpacked and went to bed.