Cheers!- our trip to wine country

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On Tuesday and Wednesday we explored wine country with our friend Eleanor- thanks to whom we found some very interesting wineries. Suisun Valley(pronounced Susan) had some interesting wineries with very friendly and informative staff- a few we visited were Wooden Valley Winery, Ledgewood Winery and GV Cellars noted for their Zinfandels, Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs. Wednesday was our splurge day as we had booked on the Napa Valley Wine Train dressed up as it was in the former days of luxury train travel. The trip included travel through the Napa Valley passing by some of the larger well-known wineries such as Robert Mondavi, Stag's Leap and Beringer as well as a wonderful gourmet lunch. The service on board was impeccable and the views really lovely in the afternoon autumn sunlight.

We continued on to three more wineries in the afternoon- all very interesting and quite unusual. The first- Quixote Winery was very much off the beaten track and housed in a building designed by the Viennese artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser. This artist was not fond of straight lines and this building wonderfully reflects that feeling with curved walls and rounded roof lines. The walls of all the rooms including the fermentation room were covered with art. The lady who gave us a quick tour recommended as a study in contrast with Quixote the new Darioush Winery describing it as over the top. We took a quick trip over to that winery and beheld a vision that might have provided a backdrop for Alexander the Great. We have included some pictures of both wineries. The third winery Robert Sinskey was a very organic structure of wood and stone which boasted a reflecting pool with some very hungry large carp. Wines of interest there were Cabernet Franc, Pinot Noir and a blend of gewurtztraminer, dry Riesling, pinot gris, and pinot blanc making for a very interesting white wine.

Travel Tip: Most wineries charge for tastings but deduct this if you purchase wine. The wineries in the Suisun Valley generally had low tasting fees but Napa Valley wineries could go as high as $60 per person or more.

We found the wines we sampled sophisticated and with very fresh flavours and the staff extremely knowledgeable and proud of their wine heritage. Needless to say we're glad we made this trip to California wine country.

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