New Week - New Location

January 18
Today we say good bye to Healdsburg and head south to Paso Robles. It's about a 4 and a half hour drive down Rt 101. On our way we'll meet up with Kim & Verdine in San Francisco for lunch. Weather is getting nicer each day... today is bright and sunny. A great day for a drive!

Paso Robles promises to bring new places to explore. Although vineyards are plentiful there as well (the central coast wines are gaining more and more popularity) it is also much closer to the coast. There are many popular beaches as well as the famous "Pacific Coast Highway". Lots of day trip destinations!

A little down time

The week after New Year settled into days of down time. On many days we took a ride to one or two vineyards. The drive to each was very short but took us into different sections of Sonoma. Way to many to list! Eventually I will add a few of our favorites. For now here is an example of a few...

Of course we took home a bottle from most of them...

and most bottles we left behind.

PS: We did have a lot of help!

Visiting the dog park (not sure who was enjoying it more... Russ or Bailey) and collecting wood for the small stove became part of our daily routine. Guess who collected most of the wood?

The key was we were able to get out everyday and find a little sun.

Healdsburg came to an end but not before a visit to the dentist. Russ made popcorn one night and I cracked a filling which sent me searching for a dentists. Two dentist visits later I had a new cap on my tooth just in time to move on.

Next stop Paso Robles!

Napa Day

Today was our day to cross over to Napa. It is about 45-50 min. through the Alexander vineyards on Rt128. After a quick stop in Calistoga, a quaint little town on the way. We made our way to

 V Sattui Winery. 

Russ had arranged with his "wine guy" at Sattui Winery for a club room tasting. We arrived at 11 and made our way to the cellar and club room, connected with Bob and began our tasting. It did not take us long to realize that Bob was not a good match for us. Luckily a few others arrived and he got busy with them. Jordan stepped in and the fun began. The stories, the tasting of everything Sattui had to offer and sharing information. The tasting went from bottle tasting to barrel tasting. By this time Mike and Russ were well on their way... even though tastings are only a few sips, a few sips of 10+ wines is enough to send most to the next level of tipsy. They liked one of the "futures" (wine that is still in the barrel waiting to be bottled) that is when the discussion of buying a barrel began. Tee and I had wandered away and returned to this conversation. Luckily we were able to talk them out of this idea by suggesting it was lunchtime. Once their thoughts turned to food we were back on track. Now we only have a case of wine coming to the house in the spring and not a $7000 barrel of wine. 

For lunch we relocated to our "private" club member garden

overlooking the vineyard. 

Now that we had our second wind we were off to Sterling Vineyard just a few miles away. Sterling is noted for their unique approach to their hill top tasting rooms and villa. Taking the aerial tram is the only way up and down. 
Sterling is also set up as a self guided tour and tasting is done at the various stations that are set up as you stroll from one location to the other. It also has great views of the surround hills and valleys, however we were not impressed by their wines. We have enjoyed so many good wines that made it easy for us to pass up bringing a bottle home. 


So back down the hillside we went.




This was also where we had to say good bye to Tee & Mike. They were staying in Calistoga for the night with plans to head south to the Pacific Coast highway and all it had to offer before they headed home. We were sad to see them leave... we had so much fun the past few days!

New Years Day

Happy New Years!

Stay at home day...
With very little open today we decided to spend the day at home. Mike was on breakfast duty. He made a delicious eggs Benedict. After breakfast Tee and I began preparing dinner items. With everything under control we settled in the living room for some football. Well it was playing the the background, we were deep into competition playing a "trivial pursuit" type of game called WINE. 

So much fun... so many laughs!

New Years Eve

Our evening began with dinner at Baci in Healdsburg. What a great place! 

Good food, good local wines, great staff and of course great company. Thank you Tee & Mike for joining us. You have made our stay in Healdsburg special. 

Back at the cottage we rang in the New Year in the hot tub. It was only about 35 degrees but the hot tub was oh so nice.

Day 2 of vineyard hopping with friends

New Years Eve Day... what a way to end a spectacular year.

What better way to end a year then to do it with great friends. Day two with Tee & Mike began with a hearty breakfast and preparing for another day at the vineyards. We put the guys on lunch duty, with plenty of left overs from last nights dinner it was their task to put some sandwiches together while the ladies when shopping. Healdsburg is such a cute little town that poking in the shops was a must-do. We did not want shopping to cut to much into our vineyard visits so we set an hour and a half limit. Which was just long enough for Tee to fall in love with a barrel rib centerpiece. Which we did not buy... YET! Our allotted shopping time was running out so it was back to the house to collect the guys and lunch and we were off. 

Today we headed to the Russian River Valley:

 First stop, HKG Estate Wines. This stop set us into an afternoon of laughter, fun and becoming wine club members of a few selected vineyards. We not only walked out with a case of wine but seasonal shipments of their wines will be on our doorstep when we get home in March. Since we joined as a team with Tee & Mike each shipment will be split when it arrives. 

Humm! how do you split a 3 bottle shipment?

Off to VML, named after the winemaker, Virginia Marie Lambrix. 

This became our chosen lunch spot for today. Great wine, fantastic scenery and good sandwiches, thanks guys! 

By lunch time we had agreed to join a second wine club. You guessed it more shipments several times a year to your doorstep. This time it will go to Tee & Mike's house. To be split with us of course!

Who do these two guys belong to?

With time running out because most wineries were closing early to celebrate the holiday we only had time for one more stop before heading home. We decided on Matrix, sounded interesting but lucky for us we were not impressed. After visiting the last two that we really enjoyed this one just did not meet our expectations. 

So we headed home... but not until we stopped so Tee could purchase her barrel centerpiece. 

Friends Visit

Tee and Mike, our Prudence Island friends, arrived on Monday evening, the 29th. As we shared some local wine, cheese, smoked salmon, and salami we were engaged in random conversations and a lot of catching up. 

Our conversation and attention eventually turned to a discussion on which vineyards to visit. With hundreds to choose from this was not an easy task. Tuesday morning came quickly and we were off with a general plan and a few locations in mind. First we headed to Big John's Market and deli for sandwiches and then we were off... Dry Creek Valley was the direction of choice and only 10 minutes away. 

First stop, Fritz Underground Winery, a small tasting room located at the entrance of a wine cave. We were the only ones there so our tasting guide was free to socialize and share a great deal of information with us. 

Then on to Francis Ford Coppola perhaps one of

 the most popular tasting rooms in the Healdsburg area. This is not only a winery but a complete complex that includes a movie gallery full of memorabilia, a restaurant, swimming pool, boccie courts and of course plenty of retail options with a great assortment of items for purchase. The main tasting room has one of the largest tasting bars I have seen. 

 Next stop... LUNCH! 

The sunny terrace overlooking the Sbragia Family Vineyard was the perfect spot. We took our tasting glasses out with us and enjoyed a relaxing lunch.






We ended the afternoon with a stop at Ferrari-Carano Winery. We were sorry that we made this our last stop once we found out that earlier in the day they offered tours of the estate. The grounds and mansions were beautiful and must be an enjoyable take-in. And the wines were great too! 

This one will definitely be on our list for next time.

Enjoying our time together

Kim and Verdine were able to spend a few days with us after Christmas so off we went to explore new vineyards and other local areas mother nature provided. 

Armstrong Redwoods State Park (December 27)

Nothing like a leisurely walk through a giant redwood forest after lunch on a sunny winter afternoon. This reserve is located in Guerneville, a small town just south of Healdsburg. It has several hiking paths and trails through the woods. We opted for the easiest and shortest path. What a great place to spend a day with a picnic lunch! 

No matter where you go within 30 miles of Healdsburg you are at the door step of another great vineyard. On the way home, as we drove through the Russian River Valley, we decided to stop at one just as they were closing the gates. With a promise to do a "speed tasting" the gates were opened for us to pass. 

HKG Estate Wines

Great stop... great wines... we'll be back!

As Sunday rolled around we were sad to see Kim and Verdine go but knew they would be back in a few weeks. This was one of the best parts of this entire trip... knowing we would see them soon.

And now the rest of the Christmas Story!

 After a very laid back morning... up late... pork pie for breakfast at 11:00... present sharing... and lots of laughs. 

Time to start cooking!
It was a bit of a challenge. We had to plan things out and take turns in the kitchen. Small space and small stove.
Verdine made his "award winning" brine soaked turkey. (Well we all agreed that it should win an award.) And his very popular gluten free biscuits. I made prime rib, veggies and roasted potatoes. Kim prepared and kept the appetizers flowing, everything from cheese and crackers to locally smoked salmon. 

And Russ ate! Hum... maybe he drank a little bit too!




In between cooking there were nok hockey tournaments and plenty of cocktails. 






After an afternoon of prepping it was time to eat! We probably started to eat around 5 with steamed mussels and finished around 8:30 with flour-less chocolate cake. Dinner was enjoyed by all. 

Then it was off to the hot tub for the kids!

Merry Christmas!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!
To all of our friends and family...

What a great day so far. 

We've had a very laid back day with Kim & Verdine and 2 of their friends. Kim's friend Nicole has joined us for Christmas for the 3 time. She arrived last night for Christmas Eve dinner (details to come) and stayed over to share dinner with us today. Eji, Kim's friend Becca, from home's boyfriend came this morning. No one should be alone for Christmas. Becca flew back to RI to see her family, Eji just started a new job so he had to stay behind to work. 

Searching for good seafood

Each year we are away for Christmas and in a new location we find ourselves searching for a place to buy good seafood for Christmas Eve. This year was no different. The week before the holiday we began asking around for a good seafood market every said the same thing... you need to go to the coast. Since the coast was somewhat out of the way, maybe an hours ride, we decided their had to be something closer. So all leads led to Santa Rosa, only 30 minutes away. Once we had finally locate a fresh seafood market we figured we were all set... hmm! not quite. We found out that live crabs were going to be hard to find. This market did not have any when we were they but the captain/owner promised he would have them for Christmas but it was closed on Monday or Tuesday. We decided that buying and cooking the crabs in sauce on Wednesday, Christmas Eve, was cutting it close so on Tuesday we set out on a wild goose chase (or I should say a wild live crab chase) in between our other grocery shopping. At each stop we got another lead to another store that was sure to have them. After the forth or fifth store, I lost count, we gave in and decided we would have to go back to Santa Rosa early Wednesday morning to get the "live" crabs.

Russ and I left early to get there when they opened, so we thought. The line was already out the door and we were taking numbers. While I stood in line Russ surveyed what was happening in the side parking lot. They were steaming the live crabs in giant vats. BUT he was also able to buy them "live". With a smile on his face he came back to meet me in line and was happy to announce the "mission was accomplished". Now we just had to wait to get inside for the rest of the fish, 20 minutes later we were on our way back home.
We had achieved our goal and would once again celebrate Christmas Eve with 7 fishes.

1. Scallops
2. Shrimp
3. Stuffed squid
4. Giant crabs and sauce
5. Whole rock fish - cooked on the grill
6. Giant oysters
7. Smoked salmon - this was a specialty of the fish market smoked on site... delicious!

Getting Ready

This week is all about getting ready for the holiday.

• First we need to find a good fish market - check
• Filling the refrigerator - working on it
• Buying presents - in progress
• Oh yeah, time for more wine tasting - got it

This week's excursion brought us to SBRAGIA. What a great place for a picnic... the view is awesome. 

From there we went to Manzinita Creek. This was a bit strange since we were in their warehouse but if you like zinfindel this is what they are noted for.



 

Rain Rain Go Away

We have been here 2 weeks and have had 2 days with only a few hours of NO RAIN. The promise of a few nice days is coming.
This week is all about getting ready for Christmas. First we need to locate a good fish market. After 3 trips to Santa Rosa, about 30 min. Away I think we found a fish market that will have everything we are looking for but it is only open Wednesday to Sunday.
With that issue resolved we were able to visit a few more vineyards. Wednesday brought us to Francis Ford Coppola Winery and museum. This is a great place for anyone who is a fan of the "Godfather" it has lots of memorabilia.

On Friday we headed to Geyserville. First stop lunch at Diavolo Pizzeria . This place was highly recommended by a woman we met in the wine tasting room.

Sunday - Family Day

The sun finally broke through for a few hours and we were off to town. Lunch at Willies Seafood and Wine Bar was a tapas lovers dream. Lots of little plate tasty treats shared by all. 

Downtown Healdsburg has wine tasting locations by featured vineyards on almost every street corner. Our choice brought us to Portalupi's store front tasting room. The unique wine rack that fills the wall behind the tasting bar is one of a kind. They are also known for their unique milk jug bottling of their well known red and white Vaso di Marina. To get some of the details you can read about it in "their story". 

Christmas Tree Weekend!

Today the sun finally came out for a short time. We met Kim and Verdine in a small town south of Healdsburg called Sebastopol. After a quick lunch we headed to, Frosty Mountain Tree Farm, to hunt for our "perfect" Christmas tree. We made our way through acres of farmland dodging soggy, muddy mounds (remnants of the recent flooding). 

With saw in hand, Verdine led the expedition until we found "the one". 

Then the cutting began. Verdine & Kim had the honor of cutting it, carrying it, 

almost all the way to the car... 



Russ did finally show up with a cart.

They also had the pleasure to transporting it to the house.

The tree is now decorated and stands proudly 

in "our" little cottage by the river.