We intended to ride out last weekend at home working, as usual.  However, on Wednesday I noticed that the Sonoma County tourism guy posted a real bargain on Twitter.com.  Rooms at 50% off at the stunningly beautiful Victorian-era Madrona Manor in Dry Creek Valley.  Rooms there are normally $350 a night on average and not the investment we need right now.  However, for $350 for the weekend …

Katya took Friday off and we made a lazy trip north up Highway 101 from San Jose, through San Francisco, and on to Healdsburg.  We dropped by the new Winery Collective tasting room near Fisherman’s Wharf for a visit and a little tasting.  This is a winery tasting room, actually owned by wineries, but is like a tasting bar in that you can taste from dozens of wineries from all over California.  Great ambiance in an old historic building with huge timbers, a nautical theme hotel, and one of my favorite restaurants – Blue Mermaid.

Later that afternoon we arrived at the Madrona Manor and checked into our Victorian style room with a wood fireplace – which we used often.  We had a little view of the surrounding gardens which are just starting to bloom.  LOTS of oranges on the orange trees and Katya picked a few with permission.  The landscaping there is famous in the area.  Spring and summer would be better but still beautiful.

It was strange that they had rooms available as this was the Russian River Wine Road Barrel Tasting weekend #2, one of the biggest local events of the year.  We avoided the event and tasting rooms so we could relax and enjoy the room and gardens for the weekend.  For us to avoid tasting rooms is a real adjustment.

We dined at our favorites, Santi in Geyserville on Friday evening and Ralph’s on the Healdsburg Square Saturday.  While we avoided tasting rooms we did meet up with wine bloggers in Healdsburg on Saturday afternoon and helped deplete their large collection of wines.  Rowdy bunch!

On Sunday Katya wanted oysters for lunch so we we packed up and drove along the Russian River to the coast and then south on Highway 1 to Tomales Bay.  Oysters are everywhere along the bay, in cafes, restaurants, stores, and many oyster plants. While I’m not into oysters at all I love to drive through the dark redwood forest along the Russian River and the expansive views and rocky Sonoma and Marin coast.

We love to stop at the little cafes for apple pie, rock cod tacos, hearty clam chowder, and of course oysters.  We bought whole milk from a dairy store in a real glass bottle and a variety of local cheeses are available.  Munching your way down or up the coast is a great way to get to or from wine country!

- jim

We recently finished-off a bottle of Jessie’s Grove Winery Old Vine 05 Lodi Zinfandel.  We were reminded of two things:

1) Lodi Zins are often terrific and this one is no exception. We loved the strong rich flavors and nose.  All to often we drink wine that has a great nose but not much to taste.  This Zin doesn’t disappoint if you are looking for robust but still soft on the finish.

2) Jessie’s Grove Winery is a ranch with a wine tasting room.  There are a few farm animals around, a huge barn, and a desert tortoise that is sometimes lively.

Besides the wine and tortoise the real attraction here is the preserved ancient oak savanna from pre-European times.  Walk into the oaks for a little glimpse of the past at a little museum and wonderful picnic grounds.  Buy their wine and hangout for a while.

- jim

Katya and I don’t like to tell tasters what they will taste. That’s because we frequently don’t taste what others tell us we should.  However, I will mention wines that are interesting and unusual.

The Sol Rouge Winery in Santa Rosa makes one of the more interesting Cabs that I’ve ever tasted.  It tastes of green kalamata olives.  Bryan Kane, the vintner, told us that the Napa vineyard soils create this unusual condition.

We sipped from our prized bottle for four evenings and the wine held up very well.

This wine is fun and pairs well with dark chocolate.

It is available in the Winery Collective tasting room near Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco.  This tasting room is owned by a few vintners and hosts wines from all over California.

- jim

The first Wine Questers Live Blogup (then called Taste n Tell) was at seven SF urban wineries last January 10th.  Tiny A. P. Vin was one of those.  Andrew makes only Pinot and from various California regions.

This evening Katya and I are doing a little comparison tasting of his 2007 Alexander Valley and Santa Lucia Highlands (Salinas Valley) Pinots.

Both are soft with finely tuned Pinot nose and taste.  The differences are subtle and interesting.  We feel that the Santa Lucia is slightly more robust.  The fruit will taste a little different but you have to really pay attention.

As usual I’m not going to tell you what you will taste. Everyone’s taste varies in many ways and is affected by mood, environment, experience, and more.

I will suggest that if you are in SF you make an appointment with Andrew and try his Pinots from various regions.  This is an usual venue with a fine winemaker and an interesting selection of Pinots available for a broad comparison tasting.

- jim