I have been dragging out the posts about our most recent trip to Sonoma and Napa for weeks. It was an amazing trip to one of my most favorite places, and it is a lot more interesting for me to write about than most other topics! Hopefully there will be another trip in my future, but until then, enjoy!
Following our visit to Ferrari-Carano, we headed down to St. Helena to meet a new friend for brunch at Gillwoods Cafe. The drive was absolutely beautiful and made us want to stay forever. . .
We met Nicole, who works at V. Sattui and Castello di amorosa for a delicious brunch. Even though it was our first time meeting, she felt like an old friend, especially because she is from the Boston area!
I had incredible Huevos Rancheros topped with avocado, beans, sour cream, hot sauce, salsa, and cheese. Can I just say holy yum? 🙂 I also had a mimosa.
After we said our goodbyes, we headed down to Southern Sonoma Valley to check out a few more wineries before we had to head to San Francisco airport. We didn’t do a tasting, but we stopped by Imagery Estate Winery which was super crowded due to a barrel tasting event that was going on that weekend. We couldn’t get near the tasting bar! But I did get a good photo of this massive paella that was cooking up at Imagery. It was a lovely winery, and it is definitely on my list for our next trip.
We decided to head a little further out to visit Gundlach Bundschu, one of the first wineries we ever visited in Sonoma and a winery whose wine club we belong to.
We started with a cool, refreshing 2008 Tempranillo Rose which tasted of strawberries and a bit of citrus. I love this wine, and I hope there is a bottle in our next wine club box 😉
Gundlach Bundschu offers a variety of really great wines. I especially enjoy their Syrah and Tempranillo.
We tasted through all of the available wines and took our last taste outside to sit by the lake on Gundlach Bundschu’s property.
It was an overcast afternoon, but it was warm and still and perfect for kicking back by the lake with a sip or two of wine.
After leaving Gundlach Bundschu, we headed into the town of Sonoma to get some food. Somehow we missed a lot of the lunch/brunch times, so we opted for Maya, a Mexican restaurant on Sonoma plaza. The hot chips and salsa provided when we arrived were delicious.
But the chile relleno was a little TOO cheesy and oily for my taste.
The “really good nachos” were really good, and our server brought me some of their homemade habanero hot sauce which was fantastically spicy.
We spent some time wandering around Sonoma, wondering what it might be like to live there, and taking notes on restaurants and wine tasting rooms we wanted to try on our next visit.
We concluded our time in Sonoma as we have on all of our trips, on the patio at Gloria Ferrer with a glass of Va de vi, a spectacular sparkling wine with a yeasty nose and a flavor of apples and figs overlooking the vineyards below.
On the way back to San Francisco, we made a quick stop in Sausalito to walk along the water. I had never been to Sausalito, and I loved it. Next time I would definitely consider spending a night or two there. It is beautiful and quiet and check out those views across the bay!
We said our final goodbyes to a place we really love, and hopped on Virgin America for a short snooze on an overnight flight back to Boston.
See you again soon California!
In other news, Boston is positively BUZZING with Boston Marathon fever! The finish line is being constructed as are the stands, and Copley Square is a flurry of activity as Boston prepares for 25,000 runners and who knows how many spectators. I am still accepting donations for my marathon charity, The ALLY Foundation. If you would like to donate (and anything counts, even $1!) you can do so at http://firstgiving.com/meghanmalloyteamally.
AND don’t forget to enter my Equal Exchange gift card giveaway!
