Sonoma Wine Tour

Recently my man Dan and I traveled to California for many reasons.  The #1 reason was to visit our daughter and son-in-law in Napa.  Another reason we made this plan is; a few months back while dining with some great friends in Texas we were exchanging vacation ideas and talked about a trip to northern California. Our friends suggested we all meet in Sonoma, rent a VRBO and do a little couples “wine tasting”.   We loved the idea and began to implement it as soon as we returned to N.C. Don’t worry we spent major amounts of time with the kids and included them in our couples tastings!

Fast forward to June 2015.  Airline reservations were set, wine tours were appointed, dinner plans made, a gorgeous home booked and an appreciable amount of fun expected.  We met up with our Texas friends at our daughter’s home the day after we arrived in Napa. After exchanging hugs and kisses, and saying, “bye bye” to the kids, the four of us jumped in our rental car and headed for the hills, of Sonoma.  If you recall earlier this year I visited Napa twice and shared my stories and wine tasting experiences with you from that trip, but the one missing factor is that I’d never visited the Sonoma wineries.  This my friends, was about to change!

We made our first stop on the way to our rental at Scribe Winery.  A 100 year old Mission Revival style Hacienda standing on the property is in the midst of restoration and will house a tasting room and event hall when completed.  At Scribe one is invited to “come fill your cup”.  The day was unseasonably warm and we were in need of some cool water and a sip of wine to begin our vacation adventure.

We were seated on a lovely, shady patio and sipped on 2013 Estate Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, and water. At this time, California is experiencing such a dreadful drought that one must request water or it isn’t brought to your table.  We quickly got in the habit of ordering and drinking our water.  The folks at Scribe refer to themselves as scribes of the land.  The land where the winery now sits was started back in the mid nineteenth century by Emil Dresel, the son of a famous champagne producer in Germany.  Soon after he purchased the land 2 miles east of Sonoma Square, he planted vine cuttings he had smuggled on his voyage from Germany to the U.S.  He and his brother known as wine industry leaders, laid out the plan that would, so many years later, continue to be carried out for us to enjoy still today.  I suspect the management has progressed from those early days in the mid 1800’s, with organic management practice in place and bio-dynamic farming used in growing the grapes that make the wines at Scribe.

I took no notes of the wines we tasted at our first stop but recall them begin delightful to taste.  I will need to return to this quaint vineyard with a gorgeous view of the Sonoma valley and beyond so that I can share some tasting notes in the future.

Tomorrow I’m headed to NYC for a great blogger conference.  I’m looking forward to being back at my desk next week when I can share more wine tasting stories with you.  Until then, Cheers!