Friday, September 10, 2010

Wining in Napa, Sonoma and Lompoc...Part 4...

After a lovely day tasting in Napa, we packed our bags and headed to Sonoma. We stopped on the way at Jacuzzi Family Vineyards. We've had Jacuzzi wines before - mainly their Chardonnay - and found it pleasant and drinkable. The winery itself is beautiful - a great place for a party. And, judging from the crowd on a Wednesday morning, it is clearly a popular stop for wine lovers. The wine list is long and diverse, with a lot of Italian varietals, and we were happy that our barista, Kerstin, offered us spit cups.

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Wining in Napa, Sonoma and Lompoc...Part 3...

A perfect Napa day
After being treated with less respect than I am used to, JD and I decided we wanted to go somewhere we knew we'd be treated well. So we headed over to Mumm Napa, where, when I flashed my business card, the charming Karri asked if we were interested in tasting some VINTAGE bubbly on the exclusive Oak Terrace. Well, yeah!

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Wining in Napa, Sonoma and Lompoc...Part 2...

July 27th. Decided to spend the day checking out wineries along Rte. 29. First stop, Peju Province.  We had met the Peju folks at various LearnAboutWine events, but didn't call ahead for a private tasting. Won't make that mistake again. Peju has lovely wines and a gorgeous winery; they obviously receive truckloads of visitors, and have figured out a kind of assembly-line tasting experience. JD and I were herded to a counter along with 4 other couples. I pulled out my card, and Jeff, the very pleasant sommelier behind the counter graciously comped our tasting and gave us the trade discount. He poured 8 wines, spoke knowledgeably and enthusiastically about all of them, offered wine jokes and stories, and kept interaction to a minimum. The presentation was very professional, but felt scripted. Next time, we'll call first.