Day 45 – May 18

It was wine country day and we had a relaxing start after enjoying the warm morning sun at Skyline Wilderness Park in Napa. Jane and Ike wanted to get an oil change so they headed out with a plan that we would all meet up at the Flying Goat Coffee Restaurant in Headlsburg , in the Sonoma Valley at 1:30. They were advertised as having wifi so we thought this would be a good spot where we could get in touch if our schedules didn’t mesh. Diane and I were being chauffeured by Sean and Carla so we had the luxury of sitting in the back of the MRT and watching the plethora of vineyards and wineries roll past us.

It was interesting to see so many of the familiar names of wines we enjoy at home and the estates where they are produced. We stopped into the Napa visitors centre to get info on the wineries of Napa even though our plan was to visit Sonoma that day and then Napa the following day. At the visitors centre they have extensive I formation on all of the local wineries and in some cases had discount or 2 for 1 coupons for some of the tastings and tours.

Not long into the drive we realized how far Healdsburg was, at least an hour drive. Guessing that Jane and Ike would be some time getting an oil change and as it was already approaching 12:30 we thought that we would stop at a winery, just to get our wine tasting feet wet, so to speak. We saw what looked like a nice wine estate, Kunde winery, where we tasted several wines and Diane and I bought a 2010 Merlot and Sean and Carla bought a Zinfandel.

We arrived in Headlsburg at around 2:00 to find that Jane and Ike had made great time and were waiting for us in the town square. Flying Goat Coffee it appeared shuts down their wifi on weekends but the town square had free wifi so they could tell us where they were. We had agreed that we wanted to see the Ravenswood winery back towards our campsite so we headed out towards that. It was only after we had departed separately that we realized that this winery closed early during ‘winter’ hours and that we were not going to make it there on time so we stopped at two other wineries, VJB Cellars and Imagery Estates.

Both of these were what I would call boutique wineries, that is they did not distribute wine, they only sold wine from their site. These boutique wineries offer free membership to a club that has benefits of reduced prices on their wines. The catch is that you have to commit to buying a number of cases of wine each year. At VJB we sampled and bought a very nice Prosecco which they import from Italy. Imagery Estates had more expensive but less interesting offerings so we did not make any purchases there.

We returned to our campsite and were soon joined by Jane and Ike who, unaware of the early closing time at Ravenswood had continued on to our planned rendezvous to find that it had already closed. The lack of cell phones and the limited range of the walkie talkies makes communications a real challenge when the group gets spread out.

All in all it was possibly the most poorly organized and executed of our joint ventures. We vowed to do a better collective job the following day.

We had planned to go into Napa for supper so we headed out to a market that had been recommended at the visitors centre. Seating was limited in the stone fired pizza joint but we managed to negotiate a deal where we could sit in an adjacent area and do ‘take out’ but still get utensils and beverage service. Some assembly required for a meal but the pizzas were great and we all needed a good end to the day.

Day 46 – May 19

With full intentions to have a better organized day than the previous one we had a brief planning session in the morning and then after a requisite visit to the dump station – I love starting my day to the snap of latex gloves – we headed out to visit a couple of wineries that had been recommended by Jane and Ike’s friend Jud and Debbie – the Jud’s Hill winery (Jud claims there is no relation or financial gain in his eponymous recommendation) and the Stag’s Leap winery.

Jud’s Hill was a very small winery that typically only has tastings by reservation. In fact it is so small that the parking lot only held two cars. The BRT pretty much filled it up but with a bit of manoeuvring we managed to get all the vehicles parked. Our tasting guide was very entertaining and well informed. As the men folk were all driving, only the women were tasting and they were impressed with several of the offerings, in particular the petite sirah and the Zinfandel, which strangely enough was sampled with a pairing of barbecue sauce.

A local winner of barbecue competitions had asked that a wine be blended to compliment his sauce. The pairing is so successful that the winery sells the wine and the sauce in a package deal. As we bought a couple bottles of wine as a group the tasting fees were waived and we also got a 15% discount on our purchases.

The next winery, Stag’s Leap was somewhat larger and the parking lot was almost full. We sat outside in a lovely patio but our very personable tasting host seemed eager to move the sampling along and poured eight wines in such rapid succession that we had to put pieces of paper under the glasses to keep track of the varieties. The most expensive of the wines was almost $200 a bottle, so we appreciated the offerings but did not buy any.

Our host did recommend a good spot to eat, Rutherford Grill, where he said that the French Dip a shaved beef and horseradish sandwich was to die for. Personally I didn’t want to pay that much for a sandwich but was sure I could negotiate a better price. The restaurant was very nicely appointed and obviously very popular as we ended up having to park on the street. The French Dip was delicious as was the grilled tuna and the salad that Jane and Diane had ordered.

Now fortified with food we headed out for our last winery visit, the Sterling Winery. This winery had been recommended by Diane’s brother, Brian, who enjoyed the unique experience of the gondola ride up to the winery and the view of the valley from the several patios on the premises. We had been given discount coupons for the admission price which was all inclusive of the ride, a self directed tour and a tasting of 5 wines.

The small gondolas were cosy with 4 passengers but provided unimpeded views of the surrounding valley on the 900 foot elevation change ride to the winery. This was the first winery that offered access to its inner workings. Continuous loop narration and video on screens at each key point in the tour explained the various stages of wine production. At key points along the tour tasting stations were set up so tour participants could sample the various offerings while taking the tour.

Several attractive patios on the route provided opportunities to sit under shade umbrellas, taste the wine samples and enjoy the view. We had arrived at 4:00 and the gondolas stopped taking new guests at 5:00 but the hour provided us ample time to relax and enjoy the unique facility.

The Napa State Park campground was conveniently located less than 2 miles away so after our ride back to the parking lot we set out for the short ride where we found a couple of suitable sites close together and near to the washrooms at this dry camping park. We were all still very full from our late lunch at Rutherfords Grill so there was no need for supper preparations. There was some wood at our campsite and Ike found some other pieces at another adjacent vacant site so we had a short campfire before retiring for the night.