Vacation - Day 2

Thursday - September 19th

 Today would begin our wine tasting in the Russian River Valley. Our first stop did not open until 11am so we had plenty of time to explore (aka...get lost driving the back roads of the Russian River Valley). Every road seemed to be called Trenton Road or Mirabel Avenue. Confusing. Doug had to take a work call and with the bad phone reception, Ken stopped the car and we got our bearings using every map we had on hand.

Our first stop of the day was the Martin Ray Winery

 

Established in 1881 as the Twin Fir Winery, the historic site is distinguished as the oldest winery in continuous operation in Sonoma County and one of the oldest wineries in California. The winery was able to stay in operation during prohibition by selling sacramental wines by train to San Francisco and points beyond. Martini & Prati Winery, which was established in 1902, was run by five generations of the Martini family until July of 2003, when Martin Ray Winery's founder and proprietor Courtney Benham purchased the facility. 



The wine tasting was $5.00 per person and included tasting of 5 selections of the Martin Ray, Angeline and Courtney Benham wines.  Our wine tastings were waived since Kim became a wine club member.

 

We stopped for lunch at a Subway restaurant and then headed to our next appointment.
Chalk Hill at 1pm. Chalk Hill Estate Vineyards & Winery is located at the eastern edge of the Russian River Valley — south of downtown Healdsburg in Sonoma County, California.

We did the Chairman’s Reserve Tasting

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Tour of the 1300 acre estate, stopping at several vineyards. This experience will include a flight of Chairman’s selection wines. These limited production wines are reserved to feature at this special time, along with a lively discussion about our land’s distinct character, history of winemaking, and unique qualities of our estate. This seated tasting is offered with artesanal cheeses to complement the wines and the conversation. Available by appointment Tuesday through Saturday at 1:00pm.  1 1/2 hours, $50 per person.

After this tasting we had some time so Ken drove us to the Healdsburg square.
Here there are 31 different tasting rooms within walking distance of one another. We stopped at a few of them.

 The first stop was Ferrai-Carano's - Taste 4 wines for $5.00

 

The second stop was Williamson Wines - The "Fridge Foods and Fine Wines" tasting was complimentary.  Williamson Wines paired with foods you might find in your own fridge. This was served at the bar. Our tasting consisted of 6 differnet wines compared with their cheeses/mustards that were for sale. We purchased a Beet Horseradish whole grain mustard.

 

So after 4 "quick fire" tastings we headed back to the hotel to get dressed for dinner at The Farmhouse Inn. Here is the TripAdvisor review on this restaurant. #1 rated restaurant in Forestville.

Here is the link to the menu: http://www.farmhouseinn.com/restaurant-0/menu/
For the main course: Doug had the Halibut, I had the Rabbit, Ken & Kim had the Beef Tenderloin.
The wine selection was a little harder to make as it was 29 pages long. I don't even remember what we ordered.
That ends our time in the Russian River Valley. Tomorrow we drive to Napa Valley!