Sonoma with Mary Beth

My father-in-law surprised my mother-in-law and I for our birthdays this year with a 5 day trip to the wine country! Since I had already been to Napa, we decided Sonoma would be the location of choice this trip. Mary Beth had never been to the California wine country before, so we were both in for a treat. The last week in April my parents took care of Justin while we were fancy free in the organic state.

We flew into San Francisco, rented a car, and drove straight to my all-time favorite store - H&M. Shopping with Bary Beth was like shopping with the mother I never had. Since my mom does not like to shop, this was a new twist having Mary Beth follow me around the store, hold all my many items, get me new sizes when I needed them, and encouraged me when the outfit was cute. But don't feel too sorry for her - she came out on top with 3 new purses. I got my few spring basics and we headed on our way.


The H&M was right by the end of the trolley stop, so we hoped on and rode it all the way to the wharf. The weather had taken a chilly turn, so we decided to sit inside since it was 57 degrees and windy.


We perused the Fisherman's Wharf for a bit


and immediately stopped for dinner at the nearest eatery. And you can't go wrong with the Boudin Bakery. I love all the creatures they make out of sourdough bread.


We had had a 2 hour delay at the airport and then sat on the runway for 1.5 hours before taking off from DFW. So with that and the 2 hour time difference, we were starving. We were no longer crabby once we filled out bellies. Sorry, couldn't resist.


We then braved the crazy streets that have a serious decline/incline on our way to Sonoma.


Aw, Golden Gate - if only the Suspension Bridge in Waco looked even half majestic as you.


We stayed at the Lodge at Sonoma which was just a mile from the town square. Maybe it was a blessing that the weather never got above 69 while we were there. Though the pools were heated, I never braved it out during the day in my bathing suit. Well, once, but I'm getting to that.


We stayed in a cute little cottage that was surrounded by the most gorgeous roses.


I kid you not - largest roses I have ever seen. They were bigger than our hands!


There were so many different colors. It was a florist's dream come true.


Puts any arrangement of roses I have ever gotten to shame.


The first day in Sonoma we literally rolled out of bed and went to get massages at the spa on the property. I have never gotten an 80 minute massage - so worth the extra 20 minutes. This photo is post massage - hence the already dirty hair with an extra layer of grease.


Then we went to the heated pools at the spa - each pool and hot tub had their own varying temperatures, so I got to test each one as I weaned myself to the coolest temp. I promise I have a suit on thought I suspiciously appear to not in this photo.


60 degrees, rain approaching, and I am in a hot tub in California. Life is good.


I have a new appreciations for straight hair after watching the effort my mother-in-law went through to straighten her hair. Wow - some serious work. I would just watch her hard work.


I love the play on words here.


Then it was off to the wineries. First stop - Gunlach Bunschu (pronounced gunlock bunshoe) or Gun Bun as everyone seemed to call it. Oldest family-owned winery in the country. Fantastic wine and one of the best in customer service we had on the trip.


You just have to love the scenery at each vineyard.


Believe it or not I didn't edit any of these photos. So I could have emphasized just how blue the sky really was out there. It was such a brilliant color. Please take note of my necklace - a $8 purchase from H&M. I ended up comically wearing this necklace everyday - it just happened to coordinate with everything I had brought. The all-wearing necklace, as we laughed about when I put it on each day.


Next stop, Gloria Ferrer and the sparkling wines. I grew quite accustomed to deciding that I like a stark,crisp, and dry sparkling wine. You didn't get to do tastings at this place but instead bought a 5 oz. drink of choice. That was plenty for me.


Like I said, blue skies, and no editing. Can you imagine how much prettier Texas would be if we could walk out and see this?


It was too chilly to sit out on the balcony to drink our sparkling wine, but we had to take some photos afterwards. The wind was biting that afternoon.


Then we went to casual and laidback Cline Cellars. I had to go look at the very spot where Alyson Lynd Haas got married several years ago. We were unable financially to attend the wedding, being fresh out of baseball, but it was fun to see where my high school buddy tied the knot. And we walked away with a tasty inexpensive bottle of wine to ship back home as well.


Thursday morning we woke up and started towards Napa Valley and all that it entailed. First stop was a tour that Derek and I didn't plan enough in advance for when we were in Napa a few years ago. A tour of Schramsberg and its sparkling wine.


I now understand why champagne is so expensive - the amount of tedious work for just one bottle to reach perfection is amazing. it's hard to see in this photo, but there is a chalk mark at the bottom center of each bottle. The wine turner (aka master) turns each bottle 1/16 of an inch in each direction each day to get the sediment at the bottom of the bottle before freeze drying it out of there before stopping the bottle up for purchase. He knows if someone has touched even one bottle.


The tour was inside the caves where they store all the bottles. This opening was a part of the newer man made caves that they used to add on to the property. We got a unique showing of the bottles being placed in the cave ready for storage.


That's a lot of wine


There were numerous tunnels just like this one with stacks and stacks of wine for storage. Years and years of storage before they are available for purchase. Such an art - I have a newfound respect for good wine.


The natural flora of the caves help the wine to preserve. Some of these photos are blurry because I was taking photos without a flash in very dark rooms.


We had our wine tasting inside the cave by candlelight. Very cool. I felt like I was in a scene for New Moon or something. Just not as cheesy.


Once again I found my favorite taste of sparkling wine - unfortunately it was $100 a bottle and not sold in the state of Texas. Guess I need to leave my palette in California. Blanc de Noirs - til next trip.


Cool background info - this wine is served at every presidential function since Nixon. That's when this vineyard was featured on Barbara Walters show and has never looked back since. I felt like royalty as I sipped my sought after sparkling wine.


Pop that topper


Not sure of the frog's purpose, but the house in the background was the original house built on the property in the early 1900s. The house did not have a single metal nail in it until that year when they were redoing some structures under the porch. Fascinating. Then we were off to one of our (Derek and I) favorite restaurants from the last time we were in St. Helena - Cindy's Backstreet Kitchen.


Notice the necklace again? Or is it too hard to notice between the Audrey Hepburn/Middle Eastern look I have going on?


That's because we were traveling around in this fun convertible my father-in-law rented for us.


We stopped in at Cakebread for a tour. I have to admit, everyone kept raving about the 2007 wines that were made - one of the best years around. 2008 Cakebread Chardonnay was not a fave of mine, thus no purchases made. But don't worry - I found me some new loves in the Chardonnay category.


I love the organic garden that Cakebread has on the vicinity. They have cooking classes from produce right outside the classroom. This is a photo of some of the vines.


Every late afternoon after wine tastings we would come back to the town square in Sonoma and do some shopping. Then we would eat at one of the eateries. Something I miss from Sonoma and all the surrounding areas - the organic, fresh, natural foods that we ate. You could just taste the wholesomeness of all the food. You knew they had gotten their ingredients from not too far away with very little ingredients. It's one of the great things about liberal California - they take care of their food.


Friday we went north to the Russian River Valley to visit Arista. Jenn McWilliams wasn't able to be in town when we went to visit, so instead her father-in-law and brother-in-law took good care of us. Mary Beth and I found some yummy Pinot Noirs to bring home to our red-lovin' husbands. And some Gewurztraminer for us. Between Arista and Gun Bun we are set on that wine. Normally that white wine is way too sweet for me - not unless you have one of these offerings. Nice and dry.


We didn't intend to match with our greens, but we both had picked out this top and decided to just run with it. Notice the necklace - that things never left my neck all trip!


The one thing I remember well are the lush Japanese-style gardens on the Arista site.


I cannot imagine having this view everyday at work. Jenn's brother-in-law was showing us some improvements they had done to various areas on the property. 2 weeks later we were leaving they were having a concert for Jackopierce on their new lawn. I was insanely jealous - being in the wine country, drinking Arista wine, listening to ole Jacko. Awesome combo!


The rocky terrain was all natural when they bought the property. I know I keep going on and on, but a lot of what makes the winery so cool is what is pleasing to the eye. Such beauty.


Another cool feature was a table outside where private wine pairings were held. I wanted to steal me some breadsticks, but I refrained. Lunch was still 2 hours away.


We got some great recommendations on where to go for good Chardonnay. Russian River is known for their Chardonnay and their Pinot Noirs, so we were off to Donatiello and their organic wine. I found my new favorite Chardonnay there. Of course it was a 2007 vineyard. I was getting a bit snobby towards the 2008 by the end of the trip - just didn't taste the same.


I show this photo to point out the orange flowers. They are actually a weed that grows in California. Even their weeds are pretty! Mary Beth and I couldn't get over how pretty even the roadside weeds were. Wish the weeds in my yard looked like that!


For lunch we went into Healdsburg and ate at the Healdsburg Bar & Grill. Everything on the menu was, you guessed it, organic, and I was drinking fresh grapefruit juice while sitting in the shade. Man I miss all that yummy food.


We traveled to the northern-most point on the trail to Bella, where they had wine tastings in a cave.


How cool is that to just walk up to this and go inside?


Last stop of the day as well of the trip was J winery. I fell in love with a sparkling wine here for less than $40. For those that love Jordan wines, this is Jordan's daughter Judy Jordan who opened up her own winery. I am glad this was the last stop - all the exotic foods, wine tastings, driving with the top down in the car, etc. had given me a nice fat headache. Water and mild food for the rest of the day for ole Shani.


We like J's around here, so this one was for my little guy.


Such a wonderful trip with perfect timing for me to catch my breath. I hadn't read a book in months and came home caught up with 6 months of Real Simple magazines and 3 whole books read, one of which was Francine Rivers new 500 page novel. I didn't have to cook for almost a week, didn't have to entertain a three year old, and had a wonderful time spending quality time with the woman who raised my husband. Until the next trip, Mary Beth....