Sanfrancisco vacation day 3

Wine tour

Day 3 was our day to take the wine tour. It was going to be great. They would pick us up in front of the hotel and drive us around all day and if we had too much wine, well it just didn’t matter. I picked out a company that only took out small numbers of people. Our group was only about a baker’s dozen and we all fit just fine in the touring van. The tour guide was friendly and chatted all the way to the Napa and Sonoma valleys, pointing out sights and attractions that we would have easily missed if we had gone up there ourselves. The other couples that were with us were a pretty diversified bunch. We had people from London, South Africa, Canada, Georgia, Mexico, and of course us from Alabama.

It is only a short drive from downtown to wine country. Very rural with grapes growing on every hillside. It was also quiet and the weather was warmer than in the city. We pulled up to the first winery and they immediately started pouring wine down us. There were 5 different ones to try at this place and I bellied right up to the bar to get my share. The hostess told us that the type of wine we would be having had a real “smokey” taste to it. When I tried it I changed “smokey” to “aged in a rubber tire”. Yuck. It was Sangeovese wine and I had never had it. I hated it and told the hostess that it tasted weird. I wanted to say it tasted like it had been made in an old inner tube but just barely managed to keep my mouth shut. She didn’t like my comment and pretty much gave me the cold shoulder after that. As I get older, I have learned to keep my mouth shut. The problem is that I don’t yet have the ability. Oh well, at least I told her the truth. I didn’t care for this winery and decided that they were just trying to sell us a bunch of overpriced tire fodder. The area was very nice and it was easy to get caught up in the wine making business, seeing that it was such nice scenery and looked to be a very laid back, quiet way to make a living. We pushed on to the second winery and everything was a little different. We were all seated at a large table together instead of a bar. The hostess poured everyone’s wine then described to us what we would be tasting. She said the first one tasted like grapefruit. It did. Very good stuff. The next one was supposed to taste like cherries and it did. Loved it. The others were pretty much a spot on to what she described we would be tasting. The name of the winery was Jacuzzi, just like the Jacuzzi bath tubs. The winery was owned by the same people who invented the Jacuzzi, thus the name. Neat. I’ve seen Jacuzzi wine in the store and said to myself that I would never buy something just for it’s silly name. I went looking for it the other day and couldn’t find any. I’ll turn some up one of these days.

The last winery was one that was more of a large production outfit. Our tour group was combined with two others from the same company and we all went on a complete tour of the facility. The guide was well versed in his job and described the process in great detail. At the end of the tour we had our wine tasting. The wine that they made was sparkling wine, which is like champaign but can’t be called that because it does not come from the Champaign region of France. I didn’t care, it was very good. He told us what we would taste, and like the other winery, his description was right on the money. After the tasting, people were allowed to ask questions. One question in particular caught my attention. There was a couple who were trying to decide what alloy of stainless steel the wine vats were made out of. He asked the guide if it was 304 or 316. The guide said that the answer to that question was beyond his scope of knowledge but since he was a former machinist, he knew what they were talking about. I thought it was a really dumb question and figured that the people who had asked it probably owned a machine shop in Michigan and that was their only point of reference. Oh well, some people. Also kind of made me wonder what a machinist was doing at a winery conducting tours. I figured he got laid off during the downturn in the economy.

We had lunch in a very small café that was in a tiny town in the Napa valley. The name of the town was Sonoma, not to be confused with the Sonoma valley which was pointed out to us. The food was very upscale and we enjoyed it. After lunch we were allowed to walk around town for about 45 minutes and we had fun looking in all the small shops. It was a pretty touristy place, like just about everywhere we had been while in the city but we enjoyed poking around and exploring none the less. The town didn’t look to be more than a few square blocks in size. I really love those tiny cafes, some of them had seating outdoors and it was really nice to just enjoy the lovely weather with a meal.

We were the last ones to be dropped off at the end of the day. I didn’t care for the reminders to tip the host but I gave her a pretty good amount anyway.