Wine Country

Last month, I saw the Pacific Ocean for the first time! B & I went to California with Chicago friends to visit wine country. The trip was a blast and I learned my fair share about wine making (I was already a seasoned wine drinker!)

We flew into San Francisco and we spent the afternoon across the Golden Gate Bridge in Tiburon - the cutest little town just outside of San Fran. We ate at Sam's Anchor Cafe on the Bay and took the ferry past Alcatraz (eeek!) to Fisherman's Wharf. I fell in love with the sunbathing sealions there!

The next day we roadtripped to Napa and stopped at my first ever winery, Gloria Ferrer, for a bubbles tasting. If you are ever in the area, you have to stay at Hotel Yountville aka my new favorite hotel. Seriously, so beautiful. In between knocking back vino, we found time to lounge by the pool and ride bikes through the Napa Valley Vine Trail. We ended the night at Mustards restaurant with their famous porkchop.

On Friday we hopped back in the car and headed to Sonoma. We made pit stops at Alpha Omega, Hanna and Ridge wineries. Hellooooo, wine tastings! We stayed just outside of Sonoma at Hotel Healdsburg, in the middle of the small town square. 

Saturday was our "official" winery tour day and we had a guide and driver take us around to four of the best places. My all-time favorite winery was Medlock Ames. Not only was it a beautiful setting, they made my favorite Sav Blanc (that's the abbreviation that the wine pros use) and I finally found a red wine I like! We got a tour of their on-site gardens, sampled Chardonnay out of the barrel and had our tasting on a big back porch. 

We drove back to San Fran on Highway 1, which was gorgeous! I loved seeing the beaches and the surfers.

We had such a fun weekend! After a few days of touring and swirling and smelling and tasting, I definitely feel like a wine pro!

** My absolute favorite places are noted above in bold