Dispatches from the road...

Been on the road since Monday the 8th.  JD and I drove up to lovely Buellton as the first step on our road to San Francisco.  Stopped at Paula's Pancake House for our usual first meal of the day - tuna melt for me, some sandwich filled with cheesy goodness for JD - and headed over to Buttonwood for a winery lesson with Karen Steinwachs.

I left my camera and notepad in the car, and just listened and tasted as Karen showed us around the winery, gave us a detailed and interesting history of Buttonwood, and pulled barrel samples for us of the 2008 and 2009 wines sitting quietly in either new French oak or neutral (used) French oak barrels.  After tasting the Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Franc, and the Malbec (she's not sure what she's going to do with it, but it was delicious!), we got a chance to taste assistant winemaker Graham's Gewurztraminer.  He was testing the sulfur dioxide levels, and poured the wine directly from a beaker!  It was delicate and lightly spiced; I think it will be wonderful with spicy Asian food!

After over two hours at Buttonwood, we bade Karen and Graham a fond farewell, and headed over to Los Olivos to check out some of the tasting rooms that have sprung up since the last time we hung out there.