NAPA VALLEY WINERIES~DAY ONE

On my wish list for my trip to Calif was a visit to Napa Valley.  I lived in Napa back in the early 70's and boy has it changed.  Back then there were a few wineries but the industry has exploded and now you can hardly drive a few feet it seems without another winery.  Calif does produce some awesome wines and Ash and I set out to taste a few...

Our first stop was Valley Gate Vineyards

Beautiful grounds as most of the vineyards are and lovely tasting room

This amazing chandelier hung in the tasting room

Wish I could say the wines were good, but they were just OK.  We tasted (and spit out) most of them.  Ash was driving so she did not drink at all, just tasted.  If I found one I liked a lot I would indulge in a few sips.  

I thought this was cute and almost bought one for Tiger, 
but he is not a whiner so passed!


Our next stop was Domain Chandon

Know for their sparkling wines I choose the 
Reserve Tasting

"Explore the diversity of our sparkling wines with this delicious tasting of our toastiest, creamiest, and most complex styles. This palate adventure includes samples of our voluptuous and creamy Chandon Reserve Chardonnay Brut, complex and robust Chandon Reserve Pinot Noir Brut, and elegantly rich étoile Rosé. Take the accompanying logo flute home with you for the next time you pop a cork and enjoy some bubbly."

It was amazing and some of my favorite tastings of the day....I do like my bubbly!

Ash tried the

Varietal Tasting

"If you aren't familiar with our still wines from the acclaimed Carneros & Sonoma appellations, you can try three of our highly regarded wines with this tasting. You’ll sample our delicious, subtly oaked Carneros Chardonnay, crisp and fruity Carneros Pinot Noir Rosé and tantalizing and food-friendly Carneros Pinot Noir. The Burgundy glass is included."

Don't you love the descriptions of the wine!

They had some of the prettiest grounds we visited

These rock mushrooms were so cute!
Our next winery is one of the oldest in the valley
Beringer Vinyards

They offer tours and several venues for wine tasting
We choose Reserve Wine Tasting in the Rhine House

They were extremely busy but we did enjoy our tasting...we were allowed to pick 4 wines from an extensive list.  My favorite here was the desert wine Moscato white that was 25 years old...Amazing!


Our last stop on day one was

V. Sattui Winery
This was my favorite winery of the day!  We did the Classic tasting and choose 5 wines from a very large list.  They had several whites (my favorites) and I really enjoyed most of them.  Ash who is more of a Red wine girl also enjoyed their wines.  Moderate prices for pretty darn good wine.  This was the only place I bought wine since I did not want to try to get it home with me.  I knew I could enjoy this one bottle before leaving Cali

This wine was fabulous and an award winner

2010 Anderson Valley White Riesling

A drier style Riesling, with aromas of jasmine and pear, grapefruit and green apple characteristics, a slight grassiness and crisp natural acidity.

I really enjoyed sipping this wine!  It cost more then I normally pay for a bottle of wine but since it was the only one I was buying I'm glad I splurged.

We were ready for dinner now and decided to visit this place I had heard was good

After tasting wine all day a nice cold ale was perfect with dinner.  I had shrimp fettuccine and it was delicious.  We then headed to our hotel for the night. 


I will tell you that the wine tastings are not free and can get really pricey!  We used online websites to find 2 for 1 tastings and that was a big savings.  We paid as low as $5 and as much as $25.  Some places will give you credit towards a purchase of wine or even waive it, but others will not. 
Today's wineries were on the main Hwy 29 that runs through the Napa Valley.  Day two will find us visiting some wineries on the Silverado Trail.


Cheers,


Linda 

A DAY AT THE BEACH

No trip to California would be complete without a trip to the beach! 

(warning long post lots of photos)

I am in Northern Calif where the beaches are much different then in the Southern part of the state.
We went to Natural Bridges State Beach in Santa Cruz

This is the only remaining natural bridge
*back in the 1900's 3 arches carved by nature out of a mudstone cliff inspired the naming of Natural Bridges.  The arches were formed millions of years ago when water, silt and clay sediment combined with one-celled marine plants

Wave action against the soft rock formed the bridges and also undercut them eventually wearing them away and leaving only islands.  The outermost arch fell in the early part of the 20th century and the inner arch broke during a storm in 1980

Only the middle arch remains but it is slowly being eroded by the waves
*Information from the State Beach brochure for Natural Bridges

This has become a favorite spot for Pelicans

I had a great time watching them swoop and dive 

I always take a 'foot' photo at the beach

I'm telling you that water was cold!!

Ash enjoyed it also

The other end of the beach has homes perched on the cliffs...we stayed several hours and then went in search of lunch

We went to Zeldas on the Beach at Capitola

Wonderful view from the outdoor restaurant

Mojito anyone?  Yummy! 

I remembered to take a photo half way through my food!  I had a shrimp and crab melt with potato salad... it was very good!

This is the life!
We spent the rest of the afternoon at 
Lighthouse Field

Lighthouse Field State Beach

Also known as Point Santa Cruz, this area forms the northern boundary of Monterey Bay. It is one of the last open headlands in any California urban area. Surfers, tourists, birds – including the rare Black Swift and wintering Monarch butterflies are drawn to this area. Sea lions populate the offshore rocks.

Lighthouse Field State Beach has the distinction of being home to California’s first surfing museum. The Santa Cruz Surfing Museum is in the Mark Abbott Memorial Lighthouse at Lighthouse Point on West Cliff Drive. Overlooking internationally renowned surfing hotspot Steamer Lane, this museum has photographs, surfboards, and other interesting items tracing over 100 years of surfing history in Santa Cruz.

The museum was not open while we were there
but we did see some surfers out in the water

Waiting for that perfect wave
Most of the surfers had wet suits on as that water gets really cold

The view out over the cliffs

The sea lions were really loud!

This was also a dog friendly beach
It was so much fun to watch them run, fetch and dig in the sand.  The owners seem very responsible and most had 'poop' baggies with them

From the beach look towards the lighthouse

Yes, I was here!

The sun was starting to set


We headed home a little sunburned and much more relaxed
 then when we started the day! 


Next....wine country!


Hugs,
Linda