Wine Country Travels - Sebastopol - Russian River Valley

Wine Country Travels - Sebastopol & Sonoma

Friday, December 22nd 2017 - We flew direct to San Francisco.  Our flight landed rather late (10:30pm their time, which would translate to 1:30am our time).  We stayed in the Hilton San Francisco Airport Bayfront hotel just to rest up, before planning to retrieve our rental car from the Airport in the morning.  The room service was tasty, and quick (30 mins or less for food delivery) I highly recommend this hotel!

Saturday, December 23rd 2017 - The SFO Rental Car facility is a nightmare.  I am SO glad we left the hotel with a good 45 mins extra time padded on our trip.  If we hadn't we would have been late to our first tasting.  There isn't good signage directing you where to enter the facility.  Our Lyft Driver was just as lost as we were and he WORKS in the area!  And once we found the right building, we still couldn't figure out where to go, there were all these down escalators, but none going up, etc.  We finally got to the 4th floor via an elevator by the bathrooms, and found the Alamo desk.  We were prepaid, so I had hoped we could just walk out to the car, but NO.  So we went to the automated kiosk to register, the machine took me all the way through the registration, and then just before it printed my paperwork, it froze up and got an error message.  Considering that process had already taken us 10-15 minutes, we sucked it up and stood in the ridiculously long line to talk to a real live person.   Thankfully, they were quicker than expected, and soon we were in a White Ford Mustang Convertible, and vrooming up to San Francisco.  We opted to cross the Bay Bridge, since this was our first time ever crossing it, and then up through Sebastopol we went!

First stop was our 11am appointment at Iron Horse Vineyards.  They serve their tastings in a rustic, outdoor setting, with overhead heaters to keep you warm.  You have a lovely view of the vineyard hills below, and the palm tree-lined drive to the side.  Iron Horse is known for their sparkling wines, so we started with those straight away.  For now I recommend the Sparkling (Winter Cuvée is my fave - We took a bottle with us to enjoy on Christmas Day), and the Native Yeast Chardonnay. Wait a bit on those Pinot Noirs.

Considering it was so close to lunch time, we stopped at the Underwood Bar & Bistro for a light lunch.  Maybe I'm a bit of a Southern Girl, but all the ladies working there were NOT wearing any make-up at all. Not that there is anything wrong with that, we started to realize this is a trend in California I guess.  However, I never leave the house without my makeup on, unless I have my huge "Edna Mode" Sunglasses on.  I guess it's just me.  LOL  Anyhoo, they were very cheerful and friendly.  The service was impeccable and the food was delicious. Lovely lunch of Lentil soup, French onion soup, the Marin gems (oysters) on the half shell, and tuna tartare.

Second stop was a 1:30pm appointment at Lynmar Estate.  We were lucky to have friends who were members of their club, so they had setup an appointment for us.  It's rather fancy.  You drive up to a gate, and you must have a 4 digit code to get inside the property for the tasting.  The grounds were just beautiful, and there was a distinct aroma of scrub brush and herbs.  It smelled divine!  Their bathroom even had a lovely rose scented hand lotion.  Lynmar makes Chardonnay and Pinot Noir wines.  They were truly delicious.  For some reason I was very much in love with their Chardonnay, so I bought a bottle to take with me.  We also snacked on a light cheese platter.  Everything was just spectacularly delicious.

Our last visit was a 3:30pm appointment at Dutton-Goldfield Winery.  This location was seemingly casual, as it was in a cluster of buildings housing other tasting rooms, and there was a convenience store across the street.  However, once we entered their garden grounds we were pleasantly surprised to see an enchanting scene of potted succulents and beautiful plants.  Their tasting room was lush with leather couches, and warm lighting.  They had a sign welcoming us to their tasting room.  The wines were good, but I was not ready to buy anything here.

We stayed in a lovely Air BNB called Lemon Moon Cottage.  It was only $119 per night, which is much more affordable than any decent hotel in the area. I loved the view of the lemon tree and the nearby horse farm from our cottage.  It was a lovely retreat.

We were told in advance, that driving in wine country can be a bit challenging.  It really is farm country, only the crops are mostly grape vines.  The roads are winding, narrow, and sometimes there is only room for 1 car at a time.  However, given that we were visiting during a slower season, it was nice and quiet.  We felt like nearly the only people there.

For dinner that evening, we went to Zazu Kitchen and Farm in The Barlow.  It was absolutely yummy!  We had Creme of Chanterelle Mushroom Soup, Lacinato Kale & Romaine Caesar Salad, Porcini Noodles, Beet & Buratta salad.  Then back to the Lemon Moon Cottage for some R&R before we headed off to Sonoma.  We ate the lemon bars for breakfast. YUMMY!