Life is Too Short to Drink Bad Wine

Ahh...Northern California, I love you so! With your great weather, great wine, and the great outdoors I could stay there forever-or at least until I run out of money. We just got back from a mad dash weekend trip to Sonoma. We typically go to wine country once or twice a year, and always discover new wineries, and usually squeeze in time to hike in some Redwoods.

This trip was a little different than our usual ones and we learned a few things along the way. My BF owns a restaurant, and usually his fantastic reps set us up at wineries who then wine us and dine us, but this trip we were meeting friends out there and opted to forgo the rep itinerary. We learned a thing or two on this trip, and had a travel ideal really come into focus for us also.

The first thing we learned (or realized) is that we use Sonoma/Napa as the test run for whether we can travel with other people. After all, that is how the four of us started traveling together several years ago. With all of us staying in a house together, plus all the wine and the general having to cooperate so we can follow/agree on a plan it is a true test of patience, planning, and perseverance. If we can't work it out here, we certainly won't survive each other outside the country.

Lesson 1-You should actually stay with the people to get a good picture of if you will travel well together. It also makes it easier to find said people once you are there, and keeps everyone on the same schedule. Otherwise someone is coming while others are going. It may be worth noting that the more people in your group, the bigger the need to have a more defined plan. Ever ask a dozen people what they want for lunch, and then try to make them all show up at once? Its not easy, and then people get "hangry", you know, when your hungry, and the lack of food makes you angry? Not pretty.

The bocce score board

We visited several wineries, our aim was to visit small "mom and pop" type wineries, and just have a laid back weekend. At Sunce, a winery in front of the owners home, the guys had bocce ball smack down, while us ladies relaxed in the amazing weather. Sunce is super charming and owned by the regions reining bocce ball champ, who also happens to make an excellent Meritage.

Even though we were an hour and a half late, Jim of Pedroncelli Winery, gave us a lovely tour and told us about how four generations of their family have worked the winery and vineyards. Built around the original family home, Jim's office is his old bedroom when he was a child!
Imagery was another cool winery we visited, all of the artwork for their labels is commissioned by artists. The winery sits on a beautiful property, and on the weekends they grill on the patio for guests. Special thanks to our host Bull, who tipped us off to great burgers at the Wolf House, Jack London's Pub. Very laid back cool staff, a gorgeous patio, and awesome burgers and fries. They were so yummy I took a pic before they disappeared.

Beer on tap at the Wolf House Jack London's Pub, and the best fries ever!

Misty-soft and fuzzy, but watch out!

We also checked out Merry Edwards, run by one of California's first female winemakers. Merry Edwards has two winery cats-a nice one, and a not so nice one...and although she was very sweet to my travel companions, we were told that there was an incident that spurred the winery to make a warning sign! Another winery we checked out was the Larson Family Winery, who makes a wine called Three Lab Cab. Yes, we picked the winery based on the fact that they named one of their wines after their dogs. The winery has been family owned since the 1800'. 

Sunny, doin' what what he does best.

And on that note, Lesson 2-wineries with dogs are always more fun than ones without. I think we may have to plan a trip just based on which places have winery dogs. I have never been to a winery that had dogs and wasn't in general full of laid back, friendly, and genuinely nice good people (and their furry sidekicks).


So Lesson 3, is really something we already knew, but I think is the key to traveling-or at least why we enjoy traveling. It is the people you encounter along the way that make traveling worth it. Of course I want to see the ancient places, natures greatest, and all the other things the world has to offer, but it is those people that we come across along the way that make the best trips, whether it is for a few hours of wine tasting, or weeks trekking across a country. I feel very fortunate to have family and friends that I can travel with and am grateful for all of those that I have met all around the world.