We again started our day with a jog (you have to know that fresh air and physical exercise are two of my favorite things, so this has been so fun to jog as the platform to nearly every day on this trip). The fog hung over Sonoma County for about an hour longer than what the locals say is the usual and it didn't break until about 11am. That meant that we used those cloudy, cool hours in the early morning to chill out! We treated ourselves to breakfast on our little balcony and relaxing in the room. When the sun did shine it warmed things up quite quickly and we immediately got out of the room, ready to explore!
First we headed to the town square to check out the shops and stroll. It is such a great little town. We didn't buy anything, just window-shopped (again, a favorite of mine...the pleasure of shopping without actually spending any money!).
Around 12:30pm we hopped in the car and took off for a wine and food tasting reservation at Mayo Reserve. We pulled up to it though and it was just a building facing the highly traveled road (across from a garden center no less complete with massive dinosaur sculptures). Doug and I had pictured being at a vineyard overlooking the grape vines or the mountains or something more picturesque than a rusty T-Rex. We decided to bail on the reservation (although we did call them and let them know we wouldn't make it) and go rogue without a plan for once. At first it seemed like a big mistake. We stopped at one vineyard owned by the guy, Bruce Cohn, who managed the Doobie Brothers. They were having a little outdoor market and showing off some classic cars. The tasting though felt ostentatious again and I just wasn't in the mood to feel all intimidated at the bar, so we decided to see what else we could find. (There are tons and tons of vineyards one after the other, so thankfully these explorations did not take much driving in between).
Doug had heard about a nice vineyard, Benziger, so we decided to give that one a try. We drove in and it was beautifully lush.
We parked the car and walked up through a little wooded garden and towards the shaded buildings and a man greeted us and asked if we were there for the Tram Tour. Well, this was an interesting proposition! What's a tram tour? Turns out for only $5 more than the tasting you get to ride around on the back of a tractor (it's a good thing I wore a white dress) and learn about grape-growing and wine-making for 45 minutes. We signed up and jumped on of course. This picture is for Koen. He would've loved the ride (and I think he actually would've enjoyed the teaching too).
Here are some views from on top of the hill we drove up. Isn't it just beautiful?
After winding up the hill, we stopped and learned about vines, roots, grafting, pests and soil. Our guide was knowledgeable, friendly and succinct.
Here's the happy couple enjoying our wonderful find (we had both been chatting how it would be nice if these vineyards were more educational and we could learn something while we visited one - perfect!).
At the next stop we learned about biodynamics. This vineyard goes the extra mile and beyond being organic, they are a biodynamic farm. It is actually extremely interesting and makes so much sense. They use gardens (insectaries) to attract certain bugs to eat pest-type bugs. They use owls to keep down the rodent populations that can dig down through the roots, they use cows to produce manure and sheep to aerate and fertilize throughout the vineyard. Very interesting!
Another view of this beautiful, palatial vineyard!
Next stop on the tour was to see where they crush and ferment the wine.
Then we traveled underground to their man-made tunnel warehouse (which they need no AC for and they grow more grapes right on top of, pretty impressive!).
In the tunnel we learned about barrels and wood types. Some barrels cost $1400 and none less than $400! And they can only use them for 6 years. Doug and I were wondering when they were going to tell us the price of their wine, sounds expensive to me!
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