Holiday to Pacific West Coast in Jun 2012: Day 17 – Sonoma

Relaxed start to today.  Good breakfast and then slathered on the sun cream.  Off to Sonoma without any wine tasting or tour reservations on the off chance we could be lucky.

And lucky we were.  We turned up at 10:30 at the Bezinger winery on the recommendation of Josh from the Argonaut hotel in San Francisco and we were well chuffed we followed his advice. 

There were spaces on the first Partners’ tour and we were taken around the vineyards, the wine making machinery, learnt about the wine making process, and tasted 8 wines. 

It really got us into the spirit of the Napa/Sonoma wine country.  We spat (when we remembered), and we were careful about how much we consumed.  Drinking chilled Sauvignon Blanc in the middle of the sun-drenched vineyards was lovely.

This particular winery was a family business; small and therefore the wine was fairly expensive – $40-$80 per bottle.  What made it a bit of a downer for us was that for some unknown reason, the owner had decided to try to create a series of Bordeaux-style wines.  Why would you do that in a New World wine region? 

Consequently we weren’t overly taken by the wines we tasted (well there was one that I loved Three Blocks, but it was far too expensive), but it was a great tour in fabulous scenery. 

The winery is practising biodynamic techniques, everything is organic, sustainable and recyclable.   The Scottish Highland cows (‘Muckle Coos’ to the Keevil family, photo is specially taken for you Mum) are used for their excellent manure.

We grabbed lunch from a Deli in Glenn Ellen – we got huge sandwiches and I insisted on getting this raspberry mousse cake which we were a little disappointed with.  It didn’t stop me almost finishing it off though…

We spent the afternoon by the pool listening to a detailed discussion between one resident and the pool cleaner.  Apparently they are changing all chlorine-based swimming pools to one that use salt – easier to maintain, and better for your body, but just as effective.  Wasn’t that impressed with the pool being maintained during peak period.

Weather was beautiful – very hot with no clouds in the sky.  Another day at 95f.

We will be going to the hotel restaurant tonight so that we can enjoy a bottle of wine without having to drive.

Stats for Day 17: 50 miles, 0 Starbucks coffees (nightmare!), 0 Hollywood celebs spotted, 0 Subway inches consumed, more calories consumed than we should have (speak for yourself!), some calories burned (swimming).

Plan for tomorrow is to drive up to Garberville which is 150 miles away, up into redwood country and nearly out of California.  Today we’re just over halfway through our trip, trying to enjoy every minute and not think about going home.

Follow the whole story here: Holiday to Pacific West Coast in Jun 2012