Napa Trip Day 2

For our second day we did a shuttle tour of the lower Sonoma Carneros area. The Careneros region of Napa/Sonoma are know more for their pinot noir & chardonnay grapes. We visited 4 different wineries, all included tastings, a yummy deli sandwich lunch, and even better we didn't have to drive! They picked us up at our hotel, drove us around all day, and took us back at the end of the day! :)

What I love about these wineries & vineyards are that they're all family owned and passed down from generation to generation!

The first winery we visited was ROCHE (http://www.rochewinery.com). This place was gorgeous!! It was nippy out so we quickly bundled into the tasting room. We tasted quite a few of their wines, as well as some barrel tastings! I learned a lot about wine & wine tasting here at ROCHE from Maura, whose family owns the winery! They don't sell their wines in store, and are only in a few restaurants. You can only purchase their wine from the tasting room, or through the wine club. We ended up picking up a bottle of their 2003 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon Silver Medal winning wine for 'cheese', & their 2007 Late Harvest Chardonnay for me!

'cheese' has a taste for Cabernet Sauvignon, & I like dessert wines.

Here's us at ROCHE, atop the hill. I didn't get too many pics here even though it was breathtaking. Why you ask? It was damn COLD!

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Next we went to CLINE CELLARS (http://www.clinecellars.com/). Their known for their ponds, but as it had been raining, they were in the middle of draining and cleaning them out. They also have a house that holds all the original 21 California Mission Models from the 1939 World's Fair.

This is also where we had lunch. Since it had started to rain while we were there, we didn't get to walk around too much. It was still pretty though!

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Right across the way is the JACUZZI FAMILY VINEYARDS & OLIVE PRESS (http://www.jacuzziwines.com/)! Yup, you heard right!! Jacuzzi!! As in the hot tub peeps! They make wine too!! LOL!! And another tidbit... they're related to CLINE! Cousins in real life!! The founding families!

This place was beyond gorgeous!! OMG!! It would be the perfect place to get married!! I swear their barrel reception room is gorgeous with stained glass windows, & they have a big courtyard, & a fountain!! All of this is in the back and overlooks the vineyards! Click on the link I gave you and look at the photo gallery! GORGEOUS!!!!!!!!!

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LOL! Someone had put sunglasses on Poseidon on the fountain! They also have an Olive Pressing Room in the winery, so they can produce oils as well! Instead of wine tasting, 'cheese' & I opted for the Olive Oil Tasting. Mmmmmmm!! 'cheese' even ended up buying a bottle of Blood Orange Infused Olive Oil for home!

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Our last winery was MADONNA ESTATES (http://www.madonnaestate.com/). Read up on their history, it's a great story! They're a smaller winery, they still do a lot of bottling by hand! 'cheese' bought a bottle of their 2004 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve & I got a bottle of the 2007 Muscat Canelli!

These yellow flowers you see are actually mustard!! They grow everywhere in Napa/Sonoma!! On the side of the roads, in between the vines, they're even fields of it!! At first we thought it was a weed or wildflower, but apparently mustard flowers are the ultimate fertilizer for vineyards!! And Napa is even know for it's mustard, which is a higher grade then Dijon!

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Well that's Day 2!! I think I'm gonna have to break Day 3 up into 2 parts, cuz we went to a bunch of wineries that day!! Until the next installment!!

:)