Vacation (all I ever wanted) Vino, Part 3.

Ahh..limo day two, Napa. This day started out with a bang. Champagne before we hit the road had us all very loopy and um..raunchy. Our poor driver, Delos. I'm not sure he knew what hit him. Turns out it was only his second day driving! Poor guy. 

First stop, Pride Mountain Vineyards. The drive from Sonoma to Spring Mountain, where Pride is located, is insane. Like, grip your seat, hold on tight, don't look down, crazy pants. In fact, on the back of Pride's t-shirts it says, "I survived the drive to Pride." Yeah, that.

We are all huge Pride fans. I think my brother in law has been drinking Pride wines for close to 12 years. Besides for the insanely awesome wine, the vineyard is gorgeous. A tour is a must. It's informative and totally down to earth. Which, for me, is a perfect wine tour.  

Seriously.

This picture would be perfect. If it wasn't for the 80's porn 'stache my loving husband decided to torture me with all day. He went to shave of the scruff, came out to show us this little number, and decided to keep it when he saw my reaction. Seriously. Look at it. I kept expecting him to say, "Da Bears." 

Barrels in the cave at Pride.

After Pride we drove down the hill for lunch. The winning choice was, Gott's Roadside. Formerly, Taylor's Refresher. If you're planning on going for lunch, which you should, make sure you get there early! Before noon. Otherwise the line is long. And you'll be bummed you have to wait when you see everyone around you eating garlic fries, burgers, and really awesome shrimp and fish tacos. 

Those garlic fries came back to haunt us. But I wouldn't mind some haunting right now. 

Next up was Cade, up on Howell Mountain. Cade is Napa's first organically farmed, LEED certified winery. Which is pretty awesome. The view, more awesome. I've never seen anything like it. The picture doesn't do it justice. 

It looks amazing, right? More amazing in person. You'll just have to go visit!

Cade's Sauvignon Blanc. It's my favorite Sauvignon Blanc to drink with a meal. So delicious and crisp. It's also my favorite to drink without a meal. It's good.  

Yes, his shorts are what you think. Yes, his mustache is hidden, thank you very much!

Our third winery of the day was Joseph Phelps. It was probably the most commercial winery, well maybe second most commercial winery, that we went to on the trip. After the quiet and beauty of Cade it was a little overwhelming with all the people, but the wines are still delicious. If you like really rich, full bodied, red wines, their Insignia is lovely.

And the view, pretty flippin' beautiful. 

The funniest part of this stop was my brother in law telling some poor group of saps that he used to play professional football. This was after they asked if he was famous. I spit my wine out across the terrace and blew his cover. Sorry, man. It was too damn funny. 

We ended the day at Tacos Garcia. A crazy good taco truck parked in a parking lot in Yountville. It's like two doors down from The French Laundry and next to some crazy dive bar.  My brother in law and husband managed to drink a PBR while waiting for our food. 

The Chile Verde Burrito?? Oh.my.god. Do it. 

We ended the day in another blur of cheese, snacks, card games and bourbon. That's the good life!

Our last full day was pretty open. We only had one winery booked in the late afternoon and dinner in Napa. So we decided to head into the lovely town of Sonoma for lunch and a little retail therapy. We stopped at the Sunflower Caffe for lunch. 

The back garden is gorgeous. The perfect place for a glass of wine and a sandwich or salad. Speaking of sandwiches...

This sandwich? This one right here? My sister ordered it. We all tried it. It was hands down the best sandwich I've ever eaten. The end. Homemade chimichurri, marinated grilled flank steak, grilled onions, blue cheese....I need the recipe. I'm right on top of that!

Our last scheduled winery of the trip was none other than Staglin Family Vineyards. There are many reasons to love Staglin. The wines are phenomenal, the winery is gorgeous, the people are fantastic. It's a family owned winery and they take tremendous pride in their craft. On top of their fantastic wine, they are amazing Philanthropists. Since they began the winery in 1985, they have raised nearly $725 million dollars to support charities. Proceeds from their Salus Chardonnay, my favorite Chardonnay ever, and their Salus Estate Cabernet Sauvignon, go to support mental health research. Their Music Festival for Mental Health has raised over $135 million dollars. So, yeah. They're pretty awesome.

Oh hey, it's me and my man! 

Staglin's solar panels. The winery is 100% solar powered. 

Hello, beauties! 

Last winery of our trip was a random stop because we had time before dinner. So we swung into Grgich Hills. Grgich makes awesome, easy to drink Chardonnay. It's my sister's Chard. of choice. The winery itself was packed. Crazy-ville! Still, good chard. 

Plus, I got to take this ridiculous picture of my husband. I'm not sure what this is about. I do know by this point we were very slap happy. VERY. 

And last but not least, Redd for dinner. I had some yummy bourbon cocktails. In sweet little julep cups. 

And, a trio of foie gras. Swoon. 

Wha? 

Ahh...what a trip. It was everything a vacation is supposed to be. Relaxing, crazy, funny as hell, and with amazing people. Who, I'm so lucky to say, are my family. It doesn't get much better than that. 

xoxo

Erin 

Vacation (all I ever wanted) California Wine Country. Part 2

Ahh.....Sonoma and Napa. Just saying the words brings me to a happy place. And that's not just the wine talking. The area is so incredibly gorgeous. It looks fake. The landscape looks like a painting. It is so insanely peaceful and so insanely fun. Especially if you love wine and food. Which, lucky for us, we do! So does my sister, brother in law, brother and sister in law, who we got to spend this fantastic vacation with. The tears of laughter flowed like the wine we drank. Of which we drank a lot. Our first full day in Sonoma we had a driver. If you're ever planning on a visit, you should plan on a driver at least one full day, if not two. And if you're planning on having a driver, you should plan on calling the peeps at Beau Wine Tours. This is the second time we've used them and they came through again. Completely awesome. Our first day took us to wineries in Sonoma. First stop of the day, Alexander Valley Vineyards.

Where my, 6' 8" brother in law, tested out a shirt. Does this fit? I can't tell. If you stop, get some Cyrus. It's beyond fantastic. 

Second stop, Lambert Bridge. This was a new stop for all of us, recommended by our awesome driver, Dennis. It was phenomenal. The views, the people, the wine!!! My favorite winery in Sonoma, by far. 

Um, protein. Yeah, that's a slug. You'll be happy to know Lambert Bridge takes these suckers out. Most places, do not. 

My bro showing us the clarity of the wine. p.s. It was HOT. 

Testing the newly pressed Sauv. Blanc grape juice. It was pretty nuts. Crazy sweet. We arrived just at the beginning of harvest which was awesome. We got to see the first grapes of the season being sorted and pressed. Very cool. 

My brother in law, tasting the juice. 

I almost stole this truck. Ok, not really, but I wanted to. 

Hello, ladies. How's your wine? 

We had stopped to pick up sandwiches and ate our lunch on the picnic tables at the winery. I highly recommend doing this. Much easier and takes far less time than to stop to eat at a restaurant. Plus, you can buy wine and bring it outside to drink with your lunch. Bonus! 

After Lambert Ridge, our last stop for the day was at Deerfield Ranch. The hubs and I are huge Deerfield fans. I love all of their wines. We belong to the wine club and eagerly anticipate when the next shipment is arriving. I took not one pic at Deerfield. I was too busy drinking the wine in the gorgeous wine cave, which was too dark to take pics in anyway....the rest of the day we spent swimming at the house, eating cheese, drinking more wine and watching Bridesmaids. It was the only movie we brought, we ended up watching it everyday. I can now recite 99% of the movie, test me.

"You're more beautiful than Cinderella. You smell like pine needles, and have a face like sunshine." 

The next day we slept in. Watched Bridesmaids, again. This time with the whole gang who couldn't stay away, what with the insanely loud belly laughs coming from the down the hall. Seriously, it's hilarious. The only thing we had planned for the day was dinner. Another tip. Try to keep one, if not two days, without set plans. It keeps the trip spontaneous and allows to you stop at wherever you feel like, whenever you feel like it. As long as they're wineries that don't require reservations. We headed over to Sonoma in the early afternoon. As we were driving into Napa, we spotted Domaine Carneros and decided to swing in for a stop. Hurray for sparkling wine! 

I tried the Grande Tasting. Two sparklings and two reds. Yummy. We also ordered some munchies. Charcuterie and cheese plates. I could live on sparkling wine, charcuterie and cheese plates.

My sister could have lived off this olive. It was like an ovary. It was friggin' huge! She said it was good. I'm not sure I believe her. 

Next stop, Trefethen! It just so happened to be their 125th birthday party. I thought the party was from 11-4, turns out it was from 11-2. Whoops! Didn't matter, we got to visit their gorgeous winery and taste some really phenomenal wine. 

His future's not so bright, he just can't see with out his prescription. At all. 

She was awesome. She wore this hat the whole day. Brilliant, yes? 

If you visit you have to try their Chardonnay, Quandary, Dragon's Tooth and HaLo. All phenomenal. I could go for a glass of Quandary right now. 

Next stop, Miner. Where I bought a really awesome shirt and went to the bathroom. Ha!

My sister told me to, "Pose It" And so I did. That backdrop is outrageous. 

Look at the light! Look at the view! Look at my sister! 

We also stopped at Robert Sinskey. They have a kitchen right in the tasting room. She was making gougere. They were delicious. 

Our last stop was dinner. At Auberge Du Soleil. In a word, spectacular. 

On our last trip to wine country, our visit to Auberge was the day after we had gone to The French Laundry. Unfortunately, I think it got overshadowed by our awe of the Laundry. Which is crazy, because it is beyond fabulous. The view, the food, the service, all of it is perfection. 

My sister in law and Miriam our waitress. 

Remember how I wanted to take the truck home with me? I'd rather take Miriam. Her voice! She could make a prison menu sound like a 4 star restaurant. She could read me a prescription label. Anything! She was lovely. 

I would like 100 more of these, please. 

The Hubs bought a big, bubba, bottle of HaLo for us to have with dinner. Thanks, babe! 

There he is!

I think she's thinking, "This is too damn fun. Or, put your camera away. Or, that olive is coming back to haunt me." Maybe all three?

Cheers, peeps! 

And that's only half of it! Stay tuned for part three. Garlic fries, taco trucks and the best view in Napa.

xoxo

Erin