A couple of weekends ago, Gary and I joined our friends for a weekend in the wine country - Dry Creek Valley, to be exact. ShannonandMike managed to score a couple of extra passports for the region's Passport weekend and hooked us up!
Passport weekend in the Dry Creek Valley consists of about 45 wineries, closed to the general public and open only to passport carriers, and hundreds of hungry and thirsty visitors! Each winery has food available for the public - mostly paired specifically to their wines - and wine tastings galore. And there is no shortage of either food or drink!
Some of the highlights:
A. Rafanelli winery - http://www.arafanelliwinery.com/
This place was amazing... the line for the tasting was down the driveway - about 100 yards. We wondered what was so great about this place - until we saw the owner of the winery walking down the hill, pouring wine into everyone's glasses! When we finally made it up to the winery and tasting, we found what everyone raved about - the wine was great, they were free-pouring AND the food was freaking fantastic! They had pork loin, lamb, beef, tortellini, salad, grilled asparagus, melon wrapped in prosciutto, an assortment of cheese and olives, mushroom risotto and some other savory dishes. Then they had an assortment of desserts - dulce de leche cheesecake, chocolates, truffles, truffle pots topped with raspberries, fresh monster strawberries dipped in chocolate, and many, many other desserts! Oh, and did I mention the wine being good.... it was awesome! The zin went so well with the savory dishes -- and the cab was paired perfectly with the chocolates. And yes, we bought quite a bit of wine from this winery. It is hard to find anywhere else.
Bella Vineyards & wine caves - http://www.bellawinery.com/
This place was fun. The theme was summer camp - and they had burgers and smore-ish dessert. The wine tastings were held in the wine cave - a very large underground cave where the wine is stored and aged. The cool air there was a relief after being outside in the hot, hot sun. This is the winery where Gary discovered that he actually liked zins. They also poured a rose that was very pleasant on such a hot day. We got out of there with only a couple of bottles under our arms. We should have purchased more --- it is difficult to find their wines as well.
Fritz Winery - http://www.fritzwinery.com/fritz/index.jsp
This place is very small and tucked away. And full of personality and good wines! The food that was paired with the cab and the zin was perfect. Steak and blue cheese for the cab and pork for the zin. I fell in love with their last harvest zin and the brownies that were made with it!! I never knew that late harvest was so different.... I'm learning little by little! I told my friend, D*, who lives in Sonoma County about this winery. Come to find out, it is her and her hubby's favorite winery too! And we both agree on the brownies.... to die for!
Armida Wineries - www.armida.com
this was the most picturesque winery, IMHO, in the entire valley. We landed here as our final stop of the weekend --- and it was the perfect place. They were serving oysters on the half shell, tri tip, potato salad, oyster shooters and salad. I am sure they also had sweets, but I was too full to worry about it by now. The cool thing about this winery besides the view was their attitude! The logo is a skull and crossbones for their Poizon Zin - the wine to die for! Their tasting was set up into two separate areas - the first area was all white, served by an angel with blue eyes and blond hair.... serving a chardonnay from the barrel. The second tasting was set up as the opposite - black with black lights, a coffin, and barrel tastings from their Poizon zin. Heaven and hell - what a great idea!
Those were the highlights. We visited many more and tasted so many wines.... And we can't wait to go back!
Tags: passportweekend, drycreekvalley, wine, tastings |
Passport weekend in the Dry Creek Valley consists of about 45 wineries, closed to the general public and open only to passport carriers, and hundreds of hungry and thirsty visitors! Each winery has food available for the public - mostly paired specifically to their wines - and wine tastings galore. And there is no shortage of either food or drink!
Some of the highlights:
A. Rafanelli winery - http://www.arafanelliwinery.com/
This place was amazing... the line for the tasting was down the driveway - about 100 yards. We wondered what was so great about this place - until we saw the owner of the winery walking down the hill, pouring wine into everyone's glasses! When we finally made it up to the winery and tasting, we found what everyone raved about - the wine was great, they were free-pouring AND the food was freaking fantastic! They had pork loin, lamb, beef, tortellini, salad, grilled asparagus, melon wrapped in prosciutto, an assortment of cheese and olives, mushroom risotto and some other savory dishes. Then they had an assortment of desserts - dulce de leche cheesecake, chocolates, truffles, truffle pots topped with raspberries, fresh monster strawberries dipped in chocolate, and many, many other desserts! Oh, and did I mention the wine being good.... it was awesome! The zin went so well with the savory dishes -- and the cab was paired perfectly with the chocolates. And yes, we bought quite a bit of wine from this winery. It is hard to find anywhere else.
Bella Vineyards & wine caves - http://www.bellawinery.com/
This place was fun. The theme was summer camp - and they had burgers and smore-ish dessert. The wine tastings were held in the wine cave - a very large underground cave where the wine is stored and aged. The cool air there was a relief after being outside in the hot, hot sun. This is the winery where Gary discovered that he actually liked zins. They also poured a rose that was very pleasant on such a hot day. We got out of there with only a couple of bottles under our arms. We should have purchased more --- it is difficult to find their wines as well.
Fritz Winery - http://www.fritzwinery.com/fritz/index.jsp
This place is very small and tucked away. And full of personality and good wines! The food that was paired with the cab and the zin was perfect. Steak and blue cheese for the cab and pork for the zin. I fell in love with their last harvest zin and the brownies that were made with it!! I never knew that late harvest was so different.... I'm learning little by little! I told my friend, D*, who lives in Sonoma County about this winery. Come to find out, it is her and her hubby's favorite winery too! And we both agree on the brownies.... to die for!
Armida Wineries - www.armida.com
this was the most picturesque winery, IMHO, in the entire valley. We landed here as our final stop of the weekend --- and it was the perfect place. They were serving oysters on the half shell, tri tip, potato salad, oyster shooters and salad. I am sure they also had sweets, but I was too full to worry about it by now. The cool thing about this winery besides the view was their attitude! The logo is a skull and crossbones for their Poizon Zin - the wine to die for! Their tasting was set up into two separate areas - the first area was all white, served by an angel with blue eyes and blond hair.... serving a chardonnay from the barrel. The second tasting was set up as the opposite - black with black lights, a coffin, and barrel tastings from their Poizon zin. Heaven and hell - what a great idea!
Those were the highlights. We visited many more and tasted so many wines.... And we can't wait to go back!
Tags: passportweekend, drycreekvalley, wine, tastings |
