A little less than a tasting...

So, after posting about our anniversary, I neglected to mention that I was the awful wife he flew out of Minneapolis the evening of our anniversary to head to San Francisco for girls weekend, wine tasting and touring of Napa Valley and Sonoma. Yes, its true. I'm just awful. And it was even after I learned that Drew had given me this for our anniversary/birthday (more on the camera later).

Off I flew, into the humid air to meet Liz, Karen, Lisa and Stephanie to enjoy a long weekend in San Francisco and the northern territories spotted with wine tasting. Soon after we all arrived to San Francisco we headed up to Napa Valley, which also happens to be where Lisa got engaged, and began the wine tasting. Well, they began wine tasting, I began designated driving.

First we had lunch at this beautiful estate called Laird Estates where we had private tasting of wine and a fantastic lunch looking over a beautiful vineyard. I attempted by first "taste and spit" and just felt awful about wasting so much wine, so after the first tasting I returned to water and passed my tasting on to the girls so they could have double the fun.

Then we wandered over to the Silverado Trail, a beautiful meandering drive that strolls pasts dozens of wineries, including one of the oldest in the area, Regusci Winery. We stopped here, upon recommendation and the girls enjoyed the wine while I loved all of the dogs running about. This place has 15 to 30 little furry guys cuddling up to all the patrons. The girls toasted the baby and started carefully tasting the many different varieties of wine, mostly reds, but all delicious (or so they told me).
Regusci was particularly beautiful because it overlooked a beautiful hilltop of vineyards and included a lunch terrace where I continued to soak up the sun. Liz, Lisa, Karen and Stephanie didn't buy any wine here, but we did get another recommendation to go to another local place from locals. This time we wandered down to a private reserve winery and wormed our way into a "by reservation only" location, without a reservation. All over Napa the views were particularly stunning. The sun was shining on us, a frequent breeze and rolling hills of luxurious grapes as far as the eye could see. I was nearly in Napa heaven. Even though I couldn't drink it was still fantastic to see all of the rolling landscapes in Napa Valley. At every stop I picked out a great sunny spot to enjoy the sunshine and think about nothing but where to take my next mini-nap. I was getting some well earned time to relax. With Collin chasing me around, this pregnancy has left me a bit tired with few free minutes to try to catch up on rest, and out here in the middle of Napa valley I was getting to do just that.
Tasting at the private reserve was quiet and simple. They were fairly new, with first wines harvested in 2006 and 2007 and had a very relaxing patio with a garden view. After relaxing here for awhile we traveled on to Signorello, where Lisa suggested we stop because she had been here before with Kyle. They tasted nearly all of their wines, and one of their specialties, called Padrone, which was highly anticipated and very much enjoyed. Really, though, Lisa wanted to bring us here for the amazing view. This vineyard has a infinity pool built into their patio overlooking their amazing vineyard. They are particularly picky about who gets to head out to see this view, but since Liz signed up for the wine club and Lisa spent a chunk of change they were obligated to let us near the water.
Turns out though, no one swims in this pool except for the owner. He likes to come out and take a few laps while everyone else looks on in disgust. It would be awful to work here and look at the beautiful pool all day and never get to even put in one toe. We did ask if anyone had every accidentally fell in and one lady said that her wedding ring just slipped off her finger into the pool and she had to dive in to get it.


After Signorello, to end the day we headed to Domaine Carneroswhere Lisa and Kyle got engaged. This is a champagne place, where we watched the sun set and the girls had a bit of bubbly. At this point they were getting a bit tipsy, so it was very entertaining for me to watch as we wound down. At this point I was quite a bit hungry too, so luckily, with champagne we ordered lots of cheese and I ate lots of cheese. Mmmmm, cheese. It was delicious.
Domaine Carneros is built in an incredible building, dramatically large and imposing, but beautiful at the same time. Ending the first day of our tasting and driving for a quiet and meandering ride to Sonoma Valley, stopping for dinner at Taylor's Refresher, ending in Healdsburg, where we booked a hotel to get some rest before another day of wine tasting.
Day two was all about more wine tasting, but this time in the more laid-back Sonoma. I loved Sonoma much more than Napa because of the back-woods nature of the area. We drove along many winding roads, through farms, next to little covered bridges and didn't feel as though we were in the midst of an area inundated by wine tasters, so apparent in Napa Valley. We visited a handful of wineries starting with Gary Ferrell, then traveling on to a little hole-in-the wall organic farm, followed by another wine tasting in caves along the same stretch. I spent most visits smelling and enjoying outside more than the wine, Liz, Lisa, Stephanie and Karen drank their weight in wine. For lunch we wandered over to a place where Liz was a wine club member, which meant that all those in favor of drinking, drank for free. The winery, Everett Ridge, was situated high above a field of pinor noir grapes, with rolling hills and shades of green going on forever. Since we had already been to 3 vineyards before lunch, I was getting sleepy, and after packing away a fantastic lunch from Oakville Market in Healdsburg, it was like Thanksgiving-- I was ready to nap, nap, nap. So, being in the carefree environment we were in, I did just that. However, my friends, being the lovely ladies they are, saw my sleeping at the table as an opportunity to seize, so while I dreamed away, they positioned me with the spit bucket, an empty wine glasses and a few Cheesy Poofs for flair and took a series of wonderful pictures (Dear baby, I did not consume any wine, these photos were entirely staged, and you in no way were a victim of alcoholism :).




Day three brought us to the end of our trip in Napa and Sonoma. We spent our morning and early afternoon poking around Healdsburg (where I picked up a tiny little hat for the newest addition) and enjoying our last few moments of delicious lunches, yummy treats and lots of great wine. We found some candy cigarettes at Powell's old time candy store and practiced smoking like only a 5 year old would, packed up our stuff and headed on our way. We started our journey back to San Francisco, made our way across the Golden Gate Bridge, traveled down Lombard Street in our little rental car that BARELY made it to the top and finally ended the evening with coffee (hot chocolate for me) and a stroll through the Mission near Liz's place.



On our final day together in San Francisco we caught the Trolley down to Fisherman's wharf and headed to Alcatraz. At this point my camera promptly died, so there are only a few photos of Alcatraz, but it was quite the experience. Before we knew it the trip was over, and I was headed back on the red-eye to Minnesota. I loved this long weekend because its not all that often get to see these girls, girls I've known since high school, some since kindergarten and before, and it always seems to be that no matter how much time has gone by we pick up right where we left off and fit perfectly into each others' lives. Next year we're hoping to spend our time at Outer Banks, North Carolina. But truth be told it doesn't matter where we are, as long as we get to spend our time together, catch up, smoke a few candy cigarettes, and enjoy a good bottle of wine (which hopefully, next year I'll be able to indulge in!).