Wine Country Travels - Dry Creek Valley

Wine Country Travels - Dry Creek Valley 

Wednesday, December 27th
We had basically a repeat of the same amazing breakfast at Caffe Sunflower - it was just SO good.  this time I didn't get the green dream, but I did get the Monster Mimosa.  It just so happened that there was an older lady sitting nearby our table with a 4 month old French Bulldog named Chloe.  And then a few moments later, another woman with a 4 month old French Bulldog of the same coloring, named Baron sat down.  Of course the two doggies HAD to meet.  It was just too much adorable in one place. awww!

Then it was back in the car to drive to Dry Creek Valley.

Our first winery visit of the day, was to Michel-Schlumberger.  We had friends who were previous wine club members here, and thus we had tasted some of their wines before.  However, we hadn't tried their current production and we were interested in seeing their beautiful property.  I decided this was my favorite tasting of the trip with regards to the quality of wine, and the lovely setting.  We sat outside at a table with a lovely view of the gardens and vineyard.  There was only one tasting person there, so he would come and go, but we had the chance to sit quietly and enjoy our wine tasting privately.  I really prefer this to the stand & sales pitch method.
Every wine was absolutely delicious. Not a "meh" one in the bunch.  If we hadn't already made a pact to NOT join any wine clubs this trip, I might have been tempted to join this one.
We tasted the first line up, and then they escorted us to the barrel room to taste 3 barrel wines.  Before we left w purchased 1 bottle 2014 Michel-Schlumberger Cabernet Franc  - $45, and 2 bottles 2014 Michel-Schlumberger 'Deux Terres' Cabernet Sauvignon - $75 each.

Next stop was Kokomo Winery.  I had met the winemaker twice in Atlanta before, but he wasn't in the tasting room this trip.  We love their wines, and once again they showed beautifully.  We left with a bottle of Chardonnay and a bottle of Claret.  Their wine club is more affordable than some, and I also considered joining this one.

Right next door was the Family Wineries building, so we did a small tasting of Dashe Cellars wine.  We'd met Anne Dashe before, and her wines are superb as well.  My hubby was getting hungry so we "dashed" off (ha ha pun intended) to Dry Creek General Store for one of their famed sandwiches.  I had the Dry Creek Stacker - Cremenelli toscano salami, imported mortadella, turkey, provolone cheese, pepperoncini, lettuce, tomatoes, red onions, oregano, mustard, olive oil, golden balsamic vinegar and roasted garlic mayo on a sourdough roll.  It was to DIE for.  I only ate half of it, but my goodness, we saved the other half for later!  He had the Reuben - pastrami, gruyere cheese and Sonoma Brinery sauerkraut on toasted rye bread with your choice of mustard, Thousand Island dressing or both.

Last winery of the day was Ridge Vineyards Lytton Springs.  We had a special memory with Ridge Vineyards wine in our past.  We once celebrated Thanksgiving in Manhattan at Bar Boulud, and they were serving a magnum of 2005 Ridge Geyserville Zinfandel.  It was so good, it left a lasting impression.  So here we are, 12 years later at Ridge!  The grounds and view were quite pretty.  We did the tasting, and bought the holiday gift pack which had a bottle of the 2015 - 50th anniversary - Ridge Geyserville Zinfandel, and a bottle of the 2015 Pagani Ranch Zinfandel.  Both were just exquisite.  We enjoyed those 2 bottles on New Years Day.

We drove back to our BnB for a well-deserved nap, and then we went out to dinner in Sonoma square at at Oso.  We had the Caesar Salad, Deviled Eggs with Dungeness crab, Moroccan Squash, and Salmon with Kale and Sweet Potatoes.  Delightful per usual.

Thoughts about this trip:
I prefer to sit down with a bottle of wine, and relax while tasting it.  Having a wine tasting, while standing up is not the same experience. Neither is going quickly through many different wines while someone is pouring them as fast as you can drink them AND giving you the sales pitch about their wine club at the same time.  Even when we had time to stand and reflect on the wine, it was difficult as the sales person was always nearby, and you couldn't chat with your spouse about the experience privately while there.  This was probably why I enjoyed Stag's Leap Wine Cellars and Michel-Schlumberger experiences the best - we had a moment to sit DOWN and really enjoy the wines.

Apart from those, I really loved Imagery winery.  The whole concept is so interesting, and I love that there is an art gallery there.  Their wines are truly lovely.  You cannot buy them in stores.

If you do this trip, you will need to go to the restroom a LOT!  Every stop, I had to go when we arrived, and before we left.  Think about it, you're drinking wine, and then water, and then coffee, and then more water, and more wine, in a cycle.  It's a lot of liquid to process.  And then the food.  You don't realize it, but you end up eating quite a bit of food.  Don't forget your greens! Trust me.