Day 9 – July 8, 2009

 

       Today was Sonoma Valley day. We sampled a variety of vineyards, beginning in Geyserville, some 25 or so miles to the north of Sonoma. Our first vineyard was Ferrari-Carano, a recommendation of Debbie & Richard Case, Lee’s son. The grounds were beautifully manicured and the tasting was in a stately mansion, all exuding an atmosphere of wealth. The wines were interesting and we purchases a few, before heading to a much smaller operation, Michel-Schlumberger, in what is known as the Dry Creek area. I particularly liked this vineyard because it was smaller and more intimate.

       Next, we continued south to Healdsburg where we stopped for lunch — very "yuppie." After lunch, we drove south on Rte 12 through Santa Rosa to find the remaining vineyards on our list. Here we stopped at Ledson Winery, which is impressive because of its huge chateau, but the wines were disappointing and the tasting room was not very friendly. Nearby is the St Francis Vineyard, who’s adorable adobe building was very welcoming. We enjoyed our experience here, although we were not tremendously impressed with the wines. A bit further south was Chateau St Jean, Lee’s favorite so far. The wine-server was very accomodating and easy to talk to. We especially liked their Reisling.

      At this point we were somewhat wined-out (and perhaps a bit tipsy — only kidding), so we headed for the hotel, and then had a lovely supper at Della Santini’s, just off the Plaza in Sonoma. There are recent pictures posted from this day of wine-tasting.