For the Love of Wine

   

All for the Love of wine..... 

  MURPHYS       A cold weekend in December, 2016

We were introduced to the wine from Murphys in an unusual way. A past band member of Danny, like over 30 years, joined us for dinner, wine and just an overall great evening. He brought us 2 bottles of wine from Murphys. One from Vina Moda & the other Villa Vellicito. He said that from our posts on Facebook & Instagram he thought we'd like this wine. How cool is that?! He was right. Both were so outstanding that we put Murphys on our list of places to visit. Yes.... We have a list ;)

Ironstone Vineyards gorgeous landscape

A building dedicated to some very rare artifacts.

      We did our research of Murphys and planned to visit the locally famous Ironstone Vineyards. Just a short drive down the road from downtown Murphys, where the majority of tasting rooms are. What a beautiful tasting room and amphitheater where they have a great summer concert series. The grounds follow the flow of the land with artifacts, sculptures and gorgeous landscape. Their wines didn't appeal to us until we got to their reserves. Ironstone is a large format winery, very consistent with the wines, but we gravitate towards the small lot and boutique wineries.

The photogenic Lora & Manuel

Dan & I on the hearth at Ironstone

talk about yard-art

     We found Vina Moda's tasting room easily on this visit, but Villa Vellicito was difficult to locate. But, no loss, we enjoyed the trip so much and we visited and membered-up with Villa Vellcito on another trip. Hey, we needed an excuse to go back :)

 We tasted many other great wines in Murphys, too:

Tanner: loved their Reserve Sirah and Lavendar Ridge where you get hit with the scent of drying lavendar from their ceiling and meats & cheeses similar to an Artisan Cheese market. This is a tasting room to satisfy many of your needs. We were treated to excellent service in their busy, busy tasting room.

The large selection of meats & cheese at Lavender Ridge with advice on pairing with your favorites wines.

 The scent of Lavender drying from  the ceiling...also a good wine-pairing.

  Black Sheep tasting room looked enticing and by the looks of the crowd inside we had high expectations....but, NOT! oh, well, they can't all be winners. We managed to make our short visit worth it by leaving with a flavored sparkling and some candies....possible stocking suffers. 

     

 

Trouble in the Candy Shop

  I recommend putting Marisolio Tasting Bar and the Spice Tin on the list of must-stops. Especially if you're a foodie. They have oils, vinegars, balsamics, recipe ideas, cutting boards and mega accessories. And, of course, the candy shop was a good stop for more stocking stuffers and some truffles for later.

Still looking for my prince? :)

Murphy's truly does not have a shortage of great restaurants either, but we found a favorite very quickly at Grounds. The food is great, the atmosphere is light & fun, and they have a top-notch menu. We really drooled over their appetizers like the 'crispy caramelized brussel sprouts, with bacon and Gorgonzola dressing". Grounds welcomed our local wines at no cork fee, so we definitely took advantage of that perk :) Whether, you eat in the dining room or out on the back patio, I recommend this place.

Shelves and shelves of hats at the La Folia tasting room 

     Night caps at the Murphys Saloon in the Murphys Historical Hotel was a great way to end our evening. An obvious favorite hangout for tourists and locals. 

    On this visit we stayed at the Murphys Inn Motel. It's away from the noise of the town, but if you want to be amidst the action I suggest Murphys Historical Hotel where they have option of Historical or new-wing rooms.

Group Selfie (cheese)

Lodi Zinfest, May 2017

   First stop on the way to Lodi is the Hilmar Cheese Factory for some lunch and a few cheeses for the weekend.

   Considering how hot it was that day, we fared pretty well.... Lots of Zins to taste. Great entertainment, food, and plenty of free water surrounding Lodi Lake Park. Due to the temperature, high 90's we did not stay the entire time, but easily cut out early to get back to our room in time to freshen up for a dinner out at Lodi Beer Co.

We matched for the day :)

Group Selfie at the Lodi Zin Fest

DAY 2:
 On Sunday we ventured downtown for a delicious brunch at The Dancing Fox.  Nice crowd and an obvious favorite, I would recommend this place for the service and food.  Over brunch we made a plan to visit a few wineries before leaving Lodi. 

   First stop is Klinker Brick where they are still putting out the OPEN sign as we get out of our cars.....ready for some tastings. Here is a little excerpt from the website: 

The Historical Brick of the 1920's

We are often asked why we named our winery, Klinker Brick. Klinker Bricks are highly prized bricks that grace many of the historical buildings in Lodi, including our home. Chosen by Craftsmen architects in the 1920’s for their distinctive qualities, including unique shapes and dark, rich color, they are denser and heavier in weight than regular bricks. “Klinker” refers to the unusual sound that they make when banged together, because of their density. Rich, deep color, enormous density, unique and distinctive features are the same qualities found in our Old Vine Zinfandel and Farrah Syrah. And, we hope it is a name that you are not likely to forget!

  

   Just down the street is Harney Lane with it's beautiful wood entrance and gorgeous custom wood bar. 5th-generation family owned with excellent customer service. We were just in time to taste their Moudvedre' vertical.  Then we couldn't help but relax on their patio and walk around the lush green paths.

Orbs made from wine barrels in the ivy at Harney Lane

As if we could hear the music from the car.....we were led to d'Art for our 3rd stop. dA'rt, like the name implies, is heavy influenced by the Arts and it's obvious in the tasting room decor.  The wine wasn't 'speaking' to us. But, we got a bottle and gathered enough goodies from the car to make a delicious spread on their picnic table and enjoy a band in the grassy lawn.

Wimsy art at d'Art

 One more stop at Michael David Winery on the way out of Lodi. Friendly tasting room and large landscaped area in the back serving hot dogs. We lounged around the beautiful pond before heading home with views of their newly constructed larger tasting room. We may have to come back and check that out ;)

d'Art tasting room

Another successful & fun wine weekend. 

  

San Luis Obispo, July 2017

 

This is a very large cat.....Autry Cellars

      San Luis Obispo, or SLO as the locals call it, is just a short 45 minutes south of Paso Robles, yet it has many differences. For one, the climate is cooler encouraging Pinot's and Whites to shine brightly. The mood is also different from Paso. We actually had 2 servers, both owners of the winery contradict each other. One owner/server used his    air-pump after every pour to keep it from affecting the wine, and at   another winery the server said the air doesn't affect the wine. She didn't even let the wine breath before pouring. And her wines were superb. They also valued different sizes of grapes as being the prized size for the best wine. Gotta love all the differences....and it goes to show there's no many opinions & different tastes. 

The Winemaker, Steve Autry, at Autry Cellars has an interesting background in music and Science Engineering, and had alot of information to share with us.

The weekend roles often become Lora as the designated driver and I attempt to navigate. Add some alcohol and guys that love to laugh to the mix and we get our share of turn arounds, laughs and one-liners for the trip. 
Now to find Piedra Creek. 

This trip's one-liner "Quiet and no cussing, I'm calling Margaret!"

Margaret of Piedra Creek was awesome. She served us on your back patio of her lovely home, surrounded by their vineyards.....All estate grown! I think we all noticed that Margaret was an experienced wine-opener and she poured right from 'just-opened' wine bottles. No breathing?! what!? but, they were fabulous and she said, "oh, breathing is a myth." We recall tasting the Piedra Creek wine at the Fermentations in Cambria years ago, and really loving it. Yes! we found it again...

......Time to eat. Sextant to be a great place to enjoy lunch. Soft guitar playing as we enter the rustic-nautical tasting room, warm greetings from the servers and a deli to the right.
  We've previously tasted their wines at their Paso tasting room, so on this day, we ordered a bottle of their Cab and chowed on gourmet steak tacos & panini while relaxing for a bit in their rustic tasting room amongst the nautical decor.

The rustic, nautical tasting room at Sextant Winery

The final stop for the day is at Biddle Ranch. The grounds are gorgeous, with drought tolerant plants, olive bushes and gravel walkways. 

Tranquil water trough at Biddle Ranch

        

Such a beautiful view looking east from Biddle's tasting room.

Unique wood table and "where can I buy one?"

The drive home was longer than usual.....we didn't consider all the traffic from weekend travelers

Sun setting in a smokey sky

CHEERS----Until next time

 coming from the beach. However, the company and the smoke-filled sky kept us 'entertained'. 

Santa Yanez County Wine Tasting

      Oct 9-11 was our annual Fall Harvest wine trip with friends. Santa Barbara county held their annual Celebration of Harvest Event in Solvang this year. We've been tasting Paso wines for years, and have been wanting to venture down the 101.  We spent 2 nights at the  Royal Copenahgen Inn and tasted in the surrounding areas.
    Leaving our hometown Friday around 9:30 proved to be enough time to hit a few wineries prior to our destination. First stop was at Robert Hall in Paso.  We picked up some Zinfandel at a door buster price.
    We are pretty comfortable in Paso, but it's time to head down hwy 101 stopping for lunch near Santa Maria prior to the Foxen Canyon Trail to do some tastings. This trail is easier to experience coming from the south, so we did have some turnarounds....but, that's pretty normal for this group :)

Volk wines

     Our first stop was at Kenneth Volk winery, where Danny & I are members. Volk Winery use to have a 2nd tasting room in Paso, but recently closed. Ken Volk makes some awesome Pinots and full-bodied reds with great spices. If you like an Old Vine, he has been offering a case special each year that you shouldn't pass up.  We asked for other winery recommendations according to our tastes and we were not disappointed.
      Our next stop: Foxen winery has some outstanding whites and reds. We all had similar reviews of this winery:  Big full-bodied Rhone reds. The 'Shack', as they call it, is located outside for the Bordeaux lovers was closed due to the warm temps, but we tasted those inside and were equally impressed. The bottle price is abit above our limit, but ever-so-worth-it.

     Our 'wild-card' stop was Tres Hermanas (Three Sisters). Rustic tasting room with cute novelty gift shop, and the owner/server was a great story teller. Shared a story about an elderly couple that has been known to 'taste and dash'.... they call them Bonnie & Clyde of tasting. We did not have a big love affair with her wines, but her price was reasonable so we took home a few bottles....they can't all be winners, then we'd never share :)

   For dinner we ate at a fabulous farm-to-table restaurant in Santa Ynez called SY Kitchen. Danny & I had the Salmon, Lora had the chicken and Manuel had a spicy Pizza. We brought in the Robert Hall $18 bargain Zin from the car, and sat and laughed enjoying a fabulous dinner. Highly recommend this place and finishing with ALMOND CHOCOLATE CAKE Yogurt mousse (gluten free) or their not-so-classic Tiramisu and 4 spoons.

   
DAY 2:
        Solvang has many great restaurants, so bloody maires & breakfast was easy to find and right down the street and if you've never had a Danish breakfast pancake, Abelskiever, You must try! 
       The day was unusually warm, so we did some shopping for hats to help protect against the sun. Plus it's kind of our thing...:)

Celebration of the Harvest under the tents: were we got to enjoy many
 great wines and eat very tasty treats all afternoon. 

The Festival Grand Tasting  took place on the lawn at the mission under many tents serving from over 120 Santa Barbara County wineries and over 50 food vendors. We made notes of alot of great wines for another visit and bought some snacks. 

      As if this wasn't enough wine, on our walk back to the room we stopped.....or more like a gravitational pull at the Royal Oaks Winery. Our server kindly seated us in the back room.....hmm, wonder why? she poured us generous and explained each wine, then brought out some breads, oils and vinegars. (much needed) Very nice place....and conveniently right across from our hotel.

Lora strategically placed under the "Queen" sign :)

        Downtown Solvang brings many choices for dinner. We wander into Fitzpatrick's Tavern where the beer and wine are flowing, the food is deliciously organic and the games are on all the TV screens.

Scarecrow Competitor in Solvang

 Day 3:

           At breakfast we decide our final day will be a trip to Los Olivos for more tastings. (with Danny as our DD)

       Los Olivos has 50 wine tasting rooms in their tiny 4 block radius and it is also the home of Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch. No, we didn't visit.

      We randomly start at Coquelicot winery and enjoy a vast variety of wines and plan to come back later for their BBQ. We ask our server for recommendations: he gives us business cards for his dad's place Qupe' winery,  and Fess Parker's granddaughter, Tessa Marie.

Now for our daily "wild card'  Zinke. Excellent wines, but our server was a bit distracted by her weekend plans :( We bought a couple bottles, including the Gypsy, a GSM. Both great wines.

       Next stop is Qupe where we met Burt Reynolds.... Just kidding, it was a dog :) Again, not disappointed in their estate grown wines and came home with their Syrah. They also sell a few 1/2 bottles, which are cute for gift baskets.
      Final tasting spot is Tessa Marie where we briefly meet the busy, young female winemaker/owner. She makes an excellent wine with great balance and good prices for a boutique winery. We came home with her Sangiovese and the Coquette, her Sangiovese/Syrah blend. I think her label  is pretty, too.

    Time to head back for the BBQ lunch on  the back patio at Coquelicot winery and thank them for the great recommendations. This was a very successful wine trip and I think that it is worth more visits. The area is situated so the tasting rooms are in the small towns, unlike Paso Robles where they are primarily at the vineyards and down the windy roads. We like both, for different reasons.
   

thank you Solvang & Los Olivos, Ca.
 great little towns ........ we'll be back!