As if the past few months haven’t been crazy enough (more on that soon!), I snuck in an end-of-summer trip! It’s actually been planned for several months, but it was my first solo trip since having the baby. I will admit that it was strange to not have a baby and hauling extra stuff around.
So where did I go? San Francisco, Sonoma and Napa!
One of my really good friends lives in SF so I try to get out there once a year to visit. We’ve explored the actual city my last two trips, so I asked if we could do wine country this time. Um, yes!
We spent part of Friday, all of Saturday and part of Sunday in wine country taking a more relaxed pace. We only made one reservation each day so we were able to make decisions based on our mood. It was really nice to just go with the flow and not rush from winery to winery.
Friday
We started the trip at Gloria Ferrer for some bubbles. The winery was so pretty and had a great view of the vines. However, the flies that day were terrible! It was actually quite bothersome. I did the Glorious Tasting Flight which included the Sonoma Brut, Blanc de Noirs, 2014 Estate Chardonnay and 2013 Estate Pinor Noir. I don’t know much about sparkling wines, but I did really enjoy the Blanc de Noirs.
Next we headed to Scribe, where we had a reservation. (I do believe they’re required here.) Apparently it’s the “hip” winery right now. It’s so cute! Rustic and in an old estate home with great views of their vines. Scribe’s website doesn’t say much about their tasting experience, but we knew there was going to be wine and food. The wine changes fairly frequently and the food menu can change weekly. It was all so delicious! We started with a glass of their German style Estate Riesling (so it wasn’t really sweet), followed by a glass of their Estate Chardonnay, Skin Fermented Chardonnay and Caneros Pinot Noir. For food we were give a small board of charred peppers, almonds and olives. Then served meatballs, a garden salad, roasted vegetable medley, toasted bread and a slice of garden melon. This was a favorite of the wineries we visited.
Saturday
We headed to Frog’s Leap around noon after a couple girl’s from the city drove up to meet Nicole and myself for the day. We had such a good Saturday! We all loved the atmosphere at Frog’s Leap. It was so charming and casual. The staff was also extremely welcoming and never pushed a membership. We opted for the Garden/Cellar Tasting which allowed us to get our tastings from an outdoor bar and casually stroll the grounds. The tasting included their Chardonnay, Merlot, Cabernet and Zinfandel. We were also able to ask for a sample of their Rosé and Sauvignon Blanc, which happened to be my favorite two from FL. (And I’m a red wine drinker!) I’m kicking myself for not picking up a bottle of those.
Next we headed to Mumm for some bubbles! We grabbed a glass while we waited for our turn to sit for a tasting. I opted for a glass of the Bland de Noirs. All four of us girls got the Toast Today tasting option. It came with a tasting glass of Brute Prestige, Brute Rosé and Cuvée M. Not sure if it’s because sparkling isn’t my favorite type of wine or what but I would say my experience there was “fine”. We did all pitch in for a bottle to take back to the hotel and enjoy before going to dinner at Basalt.
Sunday
Nicole and I ended our wine country weekend on the Sonoma side as we headed back to the city. We ate brunch at The Girl & the Fig before heading to Cline for a walk-in tasting. It’s also super casual and you stand around one of their several bars and pick which five wines you’d like to taste. The gentlemen working that day let us try several extra, and I left with a bottle of their Rosé in hand. This is probably one of the cheapest tastings in the area–$10!
Our last stop was at Ram’s Gate. We had been told and read that you go there more for the view vs the wine, but we were pleasantly surprised by the wine as well! The tasting we chose to do included two Chardonnays and two Pinot Noirs. We both purchased a bottle of Chardonnay at the end of our tasting. The winery itself is gorgeous and decorated in Restoration Hardware. The views were great as well. The one thing I didn’t love about Ram’s Gate is that the Sonoma Speedway is super close so you can hear the races happening. However, I was totally okay with it the day we were there because we also got a surprise show by the local Blue Angels.
I’m ready to book another trip with a whole group of girls! Who wants to join me?!
–m.