San Francisco–Day 3: Napa and Sonoma Valley Wine

Day 3 Highlights from Cali. This day was made for me! Started out with our ‘bux b-fast: blueberry scone, ‘naner, and iced latte.

Madonna Estate

Then we boarded a bus headed for Napa Valley! Our first stop: Madonna Estate.

This small family-owned winery has been around for over 80 years, and sells wine crafted from 100% organically grown grapes. I totally love their business/wine philosophy. No pesticides in my wine is a great thing.

Mike gave us a nice tour of the property. Note their “certified organic” sign! Love it!

I tried a pinot grigio that tasted like pure BUTTAH to start, followed by a Pinot Noir, a Cabernet Sauvignon, and then I paid a little extra to also try a larger pour of the Cabernet Reserve. All these wines were just fabulous, dah-lings. Truly.

Me after tasting #1:

Napa Valley; it was significantly warmer out here than in the city! Really a perfect day:

Sutter Home

Next up: Familiar to many, the mainstream winery Sutter Home:

Sutter Home is most well-known for creating the White Zinfandel wine, accidentally. I tried around 5 wines – which were, well you know, your standard table wines, and they were okay and fine – and a few nibbles of salsas, mustards, and spreads. We did get to try a couple of wines featured exclusively at the winery and not in stores, including a sparkling Moscato wine which was bubbly and sweet!

Lovely gardens at Sutter Home:

Lunch in Yountville

Next stop was lunch at Pacific Blues in Yountville, California. It only seemed natural to celebrate with a glass (or two!) of Domaine Chandon sparking white wine. Bubblay! I was feeling no pain by this point in the day.

Went all out for lunch. Nachos:

Grilled Pesto Veggie Sandwich on Focaccia for me:

Reuben for the huz:

Sebastiani Vineyards and Winery

Our last winery stop was the Sebastiani Vineyards and Winery in Sonoma Valley:

Bob gave us a nice welcome and hosted our generous tasting session where we tried SEVEN wines! These were definitely quality wines for the most part. I wish I could say there were a specific one that stuck out, but I’d tasted so many at that point that there isn’t one ringing a bell. I would say that I can see myself seeking out their wine next time I go wine shopping at home, as it is priced affordably and tastes good!

Feeling pretty darn good, we headed home across the Golden Gate bridge. So nice to take a tour and not have to worry about having a designated driver!

Our winery day was SO much fun!!! I had such a wonderful day.

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..Dinner was less than wonderful and barely deserves any space in the blog, but we had Mediterranean cuisine at Santorini in Union Square. Meh. I do not recommend this place at all.