California Trip Day One
So its 1 AM Eastern Time and we just finished our first day here. I’m not going to write this as a wine geek, more like a travel log and a future planning thought progression…..
Flight from BWI to Vegas was great, Vegas to San Francisco was a mess. We got in 2 hours late1 got the rental and headed out over the Golden Gate Bridge. Took a little over an hour to reach GLORIA FERRAR.
Had a wonderful tasting session with Jennifer, along with a delicious Box “Lunch”. These California sparklers were surprisingly delicious. Got me thinking about featuring them as MILLS feature California bubbly this Fall. They do a special Carneros Cuvee at $50 that is as good as many of the $100 plus French Champagnes. Big, full bodied and yeasty, but the regular cuvees will all be significantly below $20.
You all know my penchant for cool colorfull shirts. Shelley got carried away and bought me a $98 Gloria Ferrar shirt that is totally cool.
Drove from Carneros to St Helena where we are staying at Benessere Vineyards. This place exceeds my expectations one thousand fold. This is one of the nicest places I have ever visited. More later when we taste the wines.
Went in to Calistoga and had dinner at Brennans. Food was excellent, had a bottle of Bennett Lane Maximus and it is every bit as good as we have been saying for the last two years!
Tomorrow: Peju, Orin Swift and Burgess
Peter