For our honeymoon, Jim and I went down to Paso Robles for a few nights where we wine tasted by day and soaked in our private mineral spa by night. Then we headed back up to Calistoga where we stayed in the most adorable B&B, and dined at three of the best restaurants I have ever been to.
Instead of boring you with details that to be quite frank, are a little fuzzy, I thought I’d hand out awards…
Ledson wins Best Pourer
We passed Ledson winery each time we made a trip out to our wedding venue and each time someone in the car said, “holy shit! look at that mansion! let’s stop there on the way back!” and finally, we did. The guy who poured for us was amazing. He started by asking us what we all did for a living so he could adjust his humor accordingly. He was funny, catering, and incredibly knowledgeable about all the Ledson wines. In all my wine tasting experiences, this man was the best pourer I’ve had, hands down.
Justin Vineyards wins Least Likely to Let You Down
Justin is Jim’s favorite wine and so he was a little nervous that the rumors about the pourers being rude would ruin it for him. He walked in, totally star struck and was not disappointed in the least. I would also award Justin with Best Bathroom. It was like a resort in there: spacious, charming, way cool toilet that seemed to hover above the ground…
Mondo Cellars wins Best Underdog
The Mondo brothers bought the property back in the 90’s with dreams to one day quit Corporate America and become wine makers. And they made it. The economy crash has them quote: “hanging on by [their] teeth”, but they made it.
Chronic Cellars wins the Bullshit Award
Not because the wine wasn’t good (it was), and certainly not because the service at the tasting room sucked (they were great). They win the Bullshit Award because they claim that the name, Chronic Cellars comes from SoCal surfer lingo meaning: constantly good. HA! They have this awesome Dia De Los Muertos theme going on all over their walls and on their wine labels. Their top seller features a skeleton with incredibly bloodshot eyes…just sayin’…
J. Lohr wins Most Adorable
From the adorable tasting room cottage to the adorable retired bay area native pourer, this place rocked. The man pouring for us used to live in the San Jose area and when he and his wife were considering retirement, he got a job in J Lorh’s San Jose tasting room to pave the way for them to move to Paso Robles and live the wine and golf lovers dream. The cottage is smack in the middle of miles and miles of vines.
Tobin James wins Most Lively
Ok, bear with me here, I was not exactly seeing straight by the time we arrived here. In fact, I opted out of the tasting and signaled so to the giant Italian gentleman pouring and he said in his fresh off the boat accent, “Bullsheet!” and he slammed a glass down on the table for me. We then experienced rapid wine tasting fire (and dumping as I did as soon as he’d turn his back). The place was poppin’. From the busy tasting bar to the blaring country music, this is the place to begin your wine tasting extravaganza…not end it!
Chateau Montelena wins Most Unpretentious
If you’ve seen the movie Bottle Shock then you know that the Chateau is most famous for putting California wines on the map back in 1976 by winning a blind tasting against the French. The grounds are gorgeous, and that is an understatement. As we walked in through the giant solid wood doorway and passed by the extravagantly decorated private wine tasting rooms, we expected a snooty, ostentatious wine tasting experience. But what we got was a very cool dude in jeans who was happy to tell us as much or as little as we wanted to know about the winery’s great history.
Williamson wins Most Fun
We went to their tasting room in downtown Healdsburg and it was packed! Dawn and Bill, originally from Australia know how to pour a good time. The (complimentary) wine tasting is paired with various cheeses and meats and jams in order to give you an idea about what you would serve along with the wine. Dawn, Bill and a few other pourers operate bar style and so whenever your glass is empty, someone different is catering to your next pairing. I could have stayed here all afternoon…and they would have loved that.
Bear Republic (a microbrewery) wins Oh My God I’m At Bear Republic‼‼
As Justin Vineyards is to Jim, Bear Republic is to me. I’ve been in love with their Racer 5 IPA since I was old enough to drink, and I actually decide whether or not a bar is worth a return visit here in SLC based on if they carry it or not. We did their sampler tastings and ate at their amazing restaurant. This brewery made me so incredibly homesick.
The restaurants worth mentioning are The Girl and The Fig in Sonoma, Bistro Laurent in Paso and River’s End at, well, the Russian River’s end. All three are very different but spectacular! Here is a shot from our table at River’s End where we sipped on a 2001 Medlock Ames merlot that was INSANE.
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