Wine Trip!

In mid-July we drove to the beautiful Santa Barbara County wine country where we met up with our friends and checked into the Wine Valley Inn.

This is the clock tower at the Wine Valley Inn (WVI) in Solvang where much of the architecture is reminiscent of a small 19th century Danish town.

The WVI is a little nicer than a 19th century small-town Danish hotel. It even has free Wi-Fi! This is a detail just outside our room #313.

Here is a fake red Danish bicycle with bread and baguettes outside the bakery, which was not Danish, but had good baguettes!

Solvang street scene 

For some reason, Solvang attracts quite a few Asian and European tourists, as well as wine lovers from around the world. But mostly Asian and European tourists.

On Monday night we had dinner across the street from the WVI at "Mad and Vin" in the Landsby Hotel. We had a good server, good food and good wine (which we brought with is for the occasion). The Monday crowd included Lorri, Mitzi, Greg, Rodger, Kelly, Jan, John, and me.

On Tuesday, I took everyone on a tour of the valley in my new SUV!

Just kidding. Our first stop Tuesday was Andrew Murray Winery. This is Andrew Murray himself, the owner wine-maker and all-around good guy.

Andrew spent a couple hours with us and showed us around his winery and surrounding vineyards.

In mid-July, the grapes are still a little green, maybe a lot green.

The hillsides have dried out and taken on their summer buff and tan colors, but the live oaks offer a nice dark green contrast.

Andrew's fermenting and storage facilities.

John and Rodger of Forgotten Barrel Winery taking in a point made by Andrew Murray.

The wall behind Greg is filled withy Andrew's collection of wines, rare and not so rare, that he has accumulated. There is a story behind each bottle and the rack is full. When he acquires a new bottle, he must choose one from the rack to drink.

We had barrels of fun at Andrew Murray.

The main event of the trip was Grenache-a-Rama III with Sonja Magdevski of Casa Dumetz at Hilliard Bruce Winery.

Sonja has her own labels, Casa Dumetz and Clementine Carter, but uses the Hilliard Bruce facilities to make and age her wines.

I never get tired of the views.

It was a little on the warm side so we tried to stay in the shade.

Sonja is a dynamic and engaging personality, passionate about making wine and sharing her expertise with everyone.

Hilliard Bruce is a marvel of the latest in "green" winery architecture; clean, efficient, and beautiful.

Richard is thinking that later on, we'll actually be drinking these wines and smoking cigars! So was I. 

Se here we're getting down to some serious Grenache tasting, including barrel samples from the 2017 vintage. A little later we devoured what was once a fresh feast from Industrial Eats! 

Wednesday, July 18, 2018

The lady on the right is Chris Curran, of D'Alfonso-Curran Winery. Chris and Bruno are as famous for their warm hospitality and fun wine-tastings as they are for their excellent wines and encyclopedic knowledge of the industry. 

Bruno and the ladies, Mitzi, Kelly, Dana, and Lorri

Somewhere, there is a photos of the guys with Chris.

We had a great lunch at Alma Rosa where we had the private tasting room to ourselves. We ordered food next door at Industrial Eats and they delivered to us in our room at Alma Rosa.

In the afternoon, we had a private tasting at the Dragonette production facility in Buellton. Here we are in amongst the barrels with our host, Patton, who was very knowledgeable and also has his own label on the side.

Rodger scored a magnum of something and it looks like Richard is taking home some goodies too.

Later, back at the WVI, we gathered in the courtyard and settled in for a long evening of wining, dining, cigar-smoking, and just hanging out with great friends.

Things were looking up! 

We had a great couple days with our Grenache-a-Rama group!

Thursday, May 19

The rest of our friends left today, so Lorri and I were left to explore strange new worlds on our own. First stop was MARS!!!

Well, not Mars the planet, but Martian Ranch and Vineyard, located off 101 on Los Alamos Canyon Road, a few miles north of Los Olivos. The Martian name actually is derived form the names of the owner's two sons, Martin and Ian, get it? I like the wine names. 

This is Lorri visiting the Martian tasting room.

We next stopped at Koehler Vineyard and Winery, which was also a new one for us.

We enjoyed their wines and the ambiance of their tasting room.

Koehler's barrels.

We decided to head down Ballard Canyon Road toward Rusack Winery. Ballard Canyon is a very scenic drive.

Many a famous artist has painted scenes from Ballard Canyon, including this one.

Summer vines and the Stolpman Guest House, I think.

My "new" car.

Here we are at Rusack

Rusack winery with the patio area that stretches back under those old oaks.

We love the shaded patio at Rusack. We bought a bottle and spread out our cheeses, bread, fruits and nuts. Does life get any better?

View from Rusack's front porch.

...and another

Lorri at our Rusack table

It was a great get-away with great friends!

Cheers to all. I guess we got tired of wine!