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.

Video: Sacramento Autorama #1 - My Interview with Gene Winfield

So I went to the Sacramento Autorama on Saturday with a good friend of mine. While wondering a round the show I wandered over to Gene Winfields' booth to talk about when his next Metal Working workshop was going to be. Well after chatting briefly I asked if he would sign my vintage track jacket. Then he got me to buy a patch to put on the other side of my jacket. He gladly did so and then I decided to do something I have been wanting to do since I bought my video camera. I asked if I could do a quick interview. Thanks to my buddy Alfredo, I had a cameraman. So we got ourselves ready and did the interview. It was a fun experience! We both just went through it without any idea of what to do and here is what it turned out to be -

Tell me what you think of the interview!

Me with Mr Winfield

Getting Signed

Winter Wineland Weekend - Saturday Part 2

To continue my experience, we next went on to White Oak Vineyards. As we were coming down the drive, I noticed a couple things that were of more importance to check out than the wine. I noticed a very cool old automobile sitting out by a very nice fountain. When I got out I immediately set myself up to get some photos. I looked at the car first to see what it was, It was a White Star Car from the very early 20th century. It was from probably around 1914 or so. It was a very cool car too. I had never seen one before, so Obviously I needed to get a few shots.

White Star Touring Car - White Oak Vineyards

After taking a few shots I was approached by some ladies that were rather tipsy to take a shot of them on the car. So, of course I just had to oblige their request. But, like an idiot, I didn't take a shot with my own camera. Oh Well! Then it was time to take my shots of the fountain. I spent some time trying to see how I wanted to shoot it, and of course, since I didn't have a wide-angle lens, it made it harder to do it, So I went into detail mode. I captured some decent shots though, so I really can't complain about it. Here is my favorite shot from the group.

Fountain - White Oak Vineyards

After everyone was done, we finally headed out to the next stop on of the days agenda, Robert Young Estate Winery. Another winery with a peaceful setting in the Alexander Valley that is a must visit. I didn't spend much time shooting around this winery, but none the less, it was a beautiful place. At least I got to sample some chocolate.

Tasting Room - Robert Young Estate Winery

Then off once again to the next stop. We headed out from here and stopped at deLorimier Winery. The setting here was rather simple and sits in the middle of what else, more vines. By this time a good portion of the group was getting a little sauced and tired. But they managed to get through it and enjoy it. My favorotie part here was the stained glass window. Here's my shot of that.

Stained Glass - deLorimier

We were finally on our way to the final stop of the day. We finished off the day at Trione Winery. Another nice setting that was very relaxing. It was here that, believe it or not, was my first experience in trying fresh oysters. I have to say they were very good. When inside the tasting room, I happen to notice a certain group again. The ladies I took the photo of on the White Star. A fun group that was having a fun day like the rest of us. I did manage to give them my email address so as to get one of them to send me the photo I took of them. We shall see if that actually happens though. With all that said and done, here are a couple shots of what caught my camera eye at Trione.

Playtime Pony - Trione Winery

Trione Tasting Room

Sign Sunset

Since this was the end of the day we started to head back to the rental in Rio Nido. We took the scenic route through the country side to enjoy the views of the area. Conveniently this was about the time of the end of the 49er's game. The final 2 minutes of a game and all we could do was listen in on the radio. Since I am not much of a football fan, I'm normally not into it. But since I am a bay area resident, I was actually into this game. It was exciting! Anyways, we know the results of the game and it was an great way to end the day. We got back to the rental and had dinner then it was time to relax and get a good nights rest.

If you would like to see more pictures from the weekend, please click - WINTER WINELAND PHOTOS

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