Vacation - Day 4 (Russian River Valley)

Tuesday, September 30
We found a local place to eat breakfast this morning (Roberto's)
then drove to the Russian River Valley (Healdsburg)

Our first wine stop was Gary Farrell. http://www.garyfarrellwines.com/
Karl & Audrey had picked this winery/vineyard
as they both liked this wine that was served at their rehearsal dinner.

The view from his winery is awesome!
There was still some fog lingering (photo before the tour)

The fog is lifting now (picture after the tour)

The fermentation room.
We got to see a tub of grapes dumped in the crusher, destemmed and sorted for quality
before being put in the fermentation tank

After our tour/tasting, we headed in to the town of Healdsburg to purchase some food for a picnic lunch. The Costeaux French Bakery http://costeaux.com/ had sandwiches (on homemade rolls) for purchase.  The pumpkin cookies were also a big hit!

 

We drove back to the country for a picnic lunch at Rochioli Vineyards.

 

http://www.rochioliwinery.com/

 

This is one of only a handful of vineyards that you can picnic for FREE.

After our lunch and FREE wine tasting, we drove back to Healdsburg.
We spent some time walking around the square before our final tasting at LaCrema's Tasting Room.

http://www.lacrema.com/
We did the Wine/Cheese exploration. You get to learn about the history and fundamentals of wine and cheese pairing while enjoying local artisan cheeses paired to perfection with La Crema wines.
This was the least favorite thing of the entire trip!

After our final wine tasting, we decided to dine at the Bear Republic Brewing Co.
http://bearrepublic.com/

Our our way back to American Canyon we stopped by the mall in Santa Rosa.

Vacation - Day 3 (Calistoga)

Monday, September 29

We drove from American Canyon to Calistoga; stopping in Napa for breakfast at Denny's.

Our first stop of the day was the W.H. Wine Tasting Room for a 2 hour Wine Sensory Experience.
http://www.winesensoryexperience.com/Pages/default.aspx

The Wine Sensory Experience is designed to help all level of tasters develop the ability to identify aromas and flavor profiles of wines. Learn how chocolate, clove, smoke and caramel "get into" the wine. Unlock the secrets of terrior and be ready to be amazed at all there is to know about wine making, vineyard management and the simple things like how many grapes does it take to make a bottle of wine?

The Wine Sensory Experience is fun and unique. Located in historic downtown Calistoga the Wine Sensory Experience will teach you all you ever wanted to know about wine.

Lunch was down the street at the Calistoga Inn & Brewery. 
http://calistogainn.com/restaurant.html
The reuben sandwiches were a big hit!!

The afternoon was spent at Schramsberg with a cave tour and tasting.
http://www.schramsberg.com/

1862 : Jacob Schram founds Schramsberg.
1870 : Schramsberg has 30,000 vines and digs Napa’s first hillside caves

1880 : Author Robert Louis Stevenson visits Schramsberg. Descriptions of his stay are recorded in his book, Silverado Squatters. Schramsberg produces 8,403 cases of wine from 50 acres of vines.
1965 : 200 acre Schramsberg property purchased by Jack and Jamie Davies. First crush of grapes under the Davies proprietorship of Schramsberg Vineyards and Cellars. Crush included the sole use of Chardonnay from the Charles Krug winery for Champagne; an innovation in the United States, using the Méthode Traditionnelle process of winemaking.
1976 : Blanc de Blancs (1973) served at the White House Bicentennial Dinner by President Ford for Queen Elizabeth II.
1980: Schramsberg Reserve introduced: vintage dated, aged on the yeast 4 years before disgorging, yet another innovation in the United States.

 We got to see how the bottles are "riddled" by hand.

 Unique bottle stacking technique (every other bottle is stacked front to back)

 Tasting of the sparking wine.

On our way back to the hotel we had some time so we stopped at Grgich Hills.
http://www.grgich.com/
We needed to purchase another wine glass for our home collection.

 At Grgich Hills they have tasting vineyards of each type of grape they grow.
Zinfandel, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Cabernet, etc...
Audrey is shown here tasting some grapes.

 Doug explaining something about the grapevines.

 We stopped in St. Helena on our way back to the hotel for dinner.
http://travignerestaurant.com/pizzeria/

Vacation - Day 2 (Coastal California/Redwoods/Russian River Valley)

 Sunday, September 28th - We enjoyed breakfast at the hotel restaurant before driving to the coast of California.

We took a scenic drive on Hwy 116 to Hwy 1

We had lunch reservations at a restaurant called "Rivers End". This restaurant is located where the Russian River dumps in to the Pacific Ocean. http://www.ilovesunsets.com/restaurant.html

 

River's End Restaurant (view from the parking lot) 

River's End Restaurant (view from the patio)

Before lunch we had some time to stop at a California beach.
Karl chose Schoolhouse Beach.

The view looking down from the parking lot above the beach

The view at the beach.
It was not a sandy beach but more of a pea gravel beach.

There were many mussel shells laying around

After lunch we drive from Jenner to Guerneville
(Armstrong Redwoods State Reserve) 

The entrance to the park.
http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=450

Doug, Karl and Audrey walking the trails of the park. Beautiful redwoods!!

 

 The oldest tree in the park - Approximate age 1400 years.

 The tallest tree in the park - Approximately 310 feet

 

  When we left the park, we drove to Forestville.
Russian River Vineyards.

Then we had dinner at Corks which is on the property at the Russian River Vineyards.
http://www.russianrivervineyards.com/?q=corks-restaurant

 View of the Russian River Vineyards property

 A wonderful wine with dinner.
2010 La Storia Merlot by Trentadue

Vacation - Day 1 (Travel Day)

We have been planning an anniversary vacation with Karl and Audrey since about March/April of this year.  We each did research from the Fodor's book (Napa & Sonoma)

We flew in to SMF (Sacramento) on Saturday, September 27th and drove the one hour to American Canyon (where the August earthquake was, it is just south of the city of Napa)

 

 

 

 

 

We rented a silver Hyundai Sonata from Advantage

 We stopped for lunch in Dixon, CA and ate at the In-N-Out Burger

 Our hotel for the week - DoubleTree by Hilton

 The hotel rooms surround the pond.

 

Dinner at the Oxbow Public Market

Oxbow Public Market, located in the Oxbow District of Napa, has become the local gathering place for great food and wine in downtown Napa and throughout the Napa Valley. The 40,000 square foot marketplace, which includes a scenic outdoor deck with seating along the Napa River, features a diverse tenant mixture of local food vendors, artisan cafes and an organic produce outlet for local farms. Oxbow Public Market and its artisans passionately support the concept of sustainable agriculture and local harvest—promoting a healthy environment, and social and economic equity within our community.

 

We enjoyed an outdoor dinner at C CASA.  C CASA’s menu delivers unique tacos, house-made white corn tortillas, chili-rubbed rotisserie meats, fresh salads and salsas, and interesting sides. All food is made to order from fresh, seasonal ingredients, and sustainable meats and fish. Menu items include a seasoned ground buffalo taco or a duck, spinach, and goat cheese taco or a crab taco. C CASA salads include a mixed field greens salad or a baby spinach and corn edamame salad. Nacho’s Not@ reinvents the idea of nachos with freshly made white or black beans on a bed of house-made tortilla chips, topped with goat cheese, pico de gallo and chippotle aioli. C CASA also offers craft beers and boutique wines, and its menu is gluten-free.

 Back at the hotel we finished off two bottles of wine,
we bought at the Safeway grocery store earlier in the day.