Day 3 in California was another memorable day. I write this on the morning of the 4th day (Thursday)- at 7am- and am wondering why I am up, but the birds and the warm sunshine may have something to do with it. Plus, my blackberry is dead and my charger isn't working so I never have any idea what time it is. So I keep saying that while we are in California we are on Wine Country time.
Here is the yesterday recap...
Yesterday included a stop at Kendall Jackson Winery (aka KJ) with a winemaker panel tasting, an intimate catered lunch with KJ winemakers, owners and Wolfgang puck's own lamb farmer and butcher, a ride to Napa to meet Napa winemakers, another mini napa wine tradeshow, a beautiful dinner at CakeBread Winery and a stay at the Napa Valley lodge. Yes, it was an action and wine packed day! Paxton and I are having a great time learning about California wine country and tasting many (did I say many?) C
alifornia wines and are truly enjoying the clear skies -both during the day and at night when you can see the stars- as well as the California Sun. I heard TO got a major snow storm yesterday so I am definitely not missing the Canadian Winter. Above is a picture of me and Pax outside of the KJ winery.
Napa is nothing really like what I expected, but then again I don't really know what I expected. It is very picturesque and instills a sense of relaxtion. Napa is literally surrounded by vineyards, and is a truly gorgeous place. The 2nd picture is a view of Napa. Napa is tucked into california north of LA and San Fran, and south east of Sonoma. Picture 3 is a map of Napa.
I must say I have been very proud of have come from Ontario, and I do brag about attending Brock University as well as working in Niagara Wine Country. Since being in California, I have met one winemaker (Elizabeth from KJ) who was a Brock C
COVI graduate (and from St.Catharines to boot), and I also know that David Tate from Barnett (where we have yet to visit, but is on the list) is also a Brock Grad. As a Canadian, and being from Niagara, I am very proud to see us representing out here in California. GO BROCK GO!!
We have all tried quite a few Napa wines already, even after only being here for one day. I have tried what feels like a 100 Cab Sauv's (as it seems to be there niche here in Napa) and some chardonnay as well as some sauv blanc. If you know me, you know that althought I do drink red wine, and have a soft spot for Pinots, I don't drink much that is full bodied unless it is with food. So drinking the many red wines at
all of the tastings has been a true challenge for me. With each day our group trying over 30 wines I have found myself trying to drink the same ratio of wine to water, to keep the balance in my body. I have also been spitting out a lot of wine, not because I don't like it, but because, that is just what you do, when you taste as many wines as what we are on this trip. Two days in a row my teeth stained purple, which doesn't quite match my outfit! :)
One wine that really reminded me home was a late harvest dessert wine we had with our dessert during lunch at KJ. We were also able to try some Riesling at the KJ, which was a delight and change from all the Chardonnay's, Pinots and Cab's we have been drinking so far. Last nights dinner at Cakebread was out of this world, with 3 courses with the first course paired with2 wines and the second and third course paired with 4 wines. Yes, that means we had 10 wines wth dinner, plus one for the reception! We ended with a plate of local cheeses, which was a breath of fresh air from all the lemon tarts we have had this week (supposidly lemons are in season!). Taylor, Pax and I got VIP seating sitting beside Dennis Cakebread for the dinner!
To end the evening the whole group grabbed some drinks at a cute local resto/bar (as per Jamie Drummond's request) and while the ladies enjoyed a glass of sparkling wine, the boys all enjoyed a great glass of beer as their night cap.The pic below is of all the ladies on the trip, as you can see there are only 3 of us out of our total 9 people on the trip.
We have also tried wines today from:
DuckHorn Winery - wines with dinner
Domain Chandon - the glass of sparkling wine at the bar after the day was over
Dyer Vineyards - panel tasting with winemaker/owner
Frank Family Vineyards - tasted at mini tradeshow
Hendry Winery - tasted at mini tradeshow
Jessup Cellars - I didn't try any of their wines, but I did see the winery
Laird Family Estate - we had these wines with dinner at Cakebread
Martin Estate - we had these wines at dinner (i love these labels)
Meteor Vineyard - we had theses wines at the Winemaker panel tasting
Paradigm Winery - tasted at the mini tradeshow
Robery Craig Winery - tasted at mini tradeshow
Rubicon Winery - tasted at mini tradeshow
Shafer Vineyards - tasted at winemaker/owner panel tasting
Signorello - tasted at mini tradeshow
Silverado - tasted at mini tradeshow
Spelletech Winery - tasted at Cakebread dinner
Viader Vineyards and Winery - tasted at winemaker/owner Panel tasting
Cliff Lede Vineyards and Poetry - tasted at winery mini tradeshow
There may be more, but those are the ones I can remember as of right now. To the right is a group picture of everyone on the Sommelier/media trip to California. I have met some really great people and am looking forward to the next 3 days, where we still have to visit Trinchero, Mondavi and ZAP. We are expecting great weather, so today, i may just wear a cute summer dress!
Stay tuned for more postings!
Here is the yesterday recap...
Yesterday included a stop at Kendall Jackson Winery (aka KJ) with a winemaker panel tasting, an intimate catered lunch with KJ winemakers, owners and Wolfgang puck's own lamb farmer and butcher, a ride to Napa to meet Napa winemakers, another mini napa wine tradeshow, a beautiful dinner at CakeBread Winery and a stay at the Napa Valley lodge. Yes, it was an action and wine packed day! Paxton and I are having a great time learning about California wine country and tasting many (did I say many?) C
alifornia wines and are truly enjoying the clear skies -both during the day and at night when you can see the stars- as well as the California Sun. I heard TO got a major snow storm yesterday so I am definitely not missing the Canadian Winter. Above is a picture of me and Pax outside of the KJ winery.Napa is nothing really like what I expected, but then again I don't really know what I expected. It is very picturesque and instills a sense of relaxtion. Napa is literally surrounded by vineyards, and is a truly gorgeous place. The 2nd picture is a view of Napa. Napa is tucked into california north of LA and San Fran, and south east of Sonoma. Picture 3 is a map of Napa.
I must say I have been very proud of have come from Ontario, and I do brag about attending Brock University as well as working in Niagara Wine Country. Since being in California, I have met one winemaker (Elizabeth from KJ) who was a Brock C
COVI graduate (and from St.Catharines to boot), and I also know that David Tate from Barnett (where we have yet to visit, but is on the list) is also a Brock Grad. As a Canadian, and being from Niagara, I am very proud to see us representing out here in California. GO BROCK GO!!We have all tried quite a few Napa wines already, even after only being here for one day. I have tried what feels like a 100 Cab Sauv's (as it seems to be there niche here in Napa) and some chardonnay as well as some sauv blanc. If you know me, you know that althought I do drink red wine, and have a soft spot for Pinots, I don't drink much that is full bodied unless it is with food. So drinking the many red wines at
all of the tastings has been a true challenge for me. With each day our group trying over 30 wines I have found myself trying to drink the same ratio of wine to water, to keep the balance in my body. I have also been spitting out a lot of wine, not because I don't like it, but because, that is just what you do, when you taste as many wines as what we are on this trip. Two days in a row my teeth stained purple, which doesn't quite match my outfit! :)One wine that really reminded me home was a late harvest dessert wine we had with our dessert during lunch at KJ. We were also able to try some Riesling at the KJ, which was a delight and change from all the Chardonnay's, Pinots and Cab's we have been drinking so far. Last nights dinner at Cakebread was out of this world, with 3 courses with the first course paired with2 wines and the second and third course paired with 4 wines. Yes, that means we had 10 wines wth dinner, plus one for the reception! We ended with a plate of local cheeses, which was a breath of fresh air from all the lemon tarts we have had this week (supposidly lemons are in season!). Taylor, Pax and I got VIP seating sitting beside Dennis Cakebread for the dinner!
To end the evening the whole group grabbed some drinks at a cute local resto/bar (as per Jamie Drummond's request) and while the ladies enjoyed a glass of sparkling wine, the boys all enjoyed a great glass of beer as their night cap.The pic below is of all the ladies on the trip, as you can see there are only 3 of us out of our total 9 people on the trip.We have also tried wines today from:
DuckHorn Winery - wines with dinner
Domain Chandon - the glass of sparkling wine at the bar after the day was over
Dyer Vineyards - panel tasting with winemaker/owner
Frank Family Vineyards - tasted at mini tradeshow
Hendry Winery - tasted at mini tradeshow
Jessup Cellars - I didn't try any of their wines, but I did see the winery
Laird Family Estate - we had these wines with dinner at Cakebread
Martin Estate - we had these wines at dinner (i love these labels)
Meteor Vineyard - we had theses wines at the Winemaker panel tasting
Paradigm Winery - tasted at the mini tradeshow
Robery Craig Winery - tasted at mini tradeshow
Rubicon Winery - tasted at mini tradeshow
Shafer Vineyards - tasted at winemaker/owner panel tasting
Signorello - tasted at mini tradeshow
Silverado - tasted at mini tradeshow
Spelletech Winery - tasted at Cakebread dinner
Viader Vineyards and Winery - tasted at winemaker/owner Panel tasting
Cliff Lede Vineyards and Poetry - tasted at winery mini tradeshow
There may be more, but those are the ones I can remember as of right now. To the right is a group picture of everyone on the Sommelier/media trip to California. I have met some really great people and am looking forward to the next 3 days, where we still have to visit Trinchero, Mondavi and ZAP. We are expecting great weather, so today, i may just wear a cute summer dress!
Stay tuned for more postings!
