As I may have mentioned, I have been out in California for the better part of two weeks visiting my in-laws with my boys who have been on Spring Break. Actually, that is not entirely accurate as the first week, I headed up to Sonoma shortly after dropping my son off at his grandparents’ house in the East Bay. I spent the better part of a week up there, coming back in time to help celebrate my son’s 13th birthday.
After Easter, I headed right back up, this time spending more time on the Napa side of things with several more visits and seeing a few good friends. I plan on writing much more on these experiences, but I thought for now I would publish a few pictures of my time out here.
My first stop was in Dry Creek where I helped a good friend bottle his 2013, I mean 2014 Merlot. That is me operating the corker as my friend fills a bottle.
The next day started at Old World Wines, going through about a dozen wines just after lunch.
I then headed down to Matanzas Creek, where there were another dozen or so wines.
After a night at the lovely Vintner’s Inn, I was back up in Dry Creek for a tour and tasting at Ferrari-Carano.
An hour drive through a crazy rain storm took me up to Mendocino County and a fantastic tasting at Ferrari-Carano’s other winery, Lazy Creek.
The last time I was in Mendocino, I made the mistake of skipping Roederer. Not this time….
That night I ate at the incomparable Willi’s Wine Bar.
The following day I spent some quality time at the Santa Rosa Library…
…and an afternoon tasting at Jordan.
Wednesday was bookended by two marathon tastings. The first was a four-hour laugh fest at Ramey.
Then just about four and a half hours at Rodney Strong.
The following morning meant nearly five hours at MacPhail.
Back out to the “extreme” East Bay for some birthday cake and a Korean Easter.
Monday morning right back up with a three-hour tasting at Martin Ray.
I then raced over to Napa for a tour of the vineyards and a tasting at Cain Cellars with Chris Howell.
Tuesday morning started early with my buddy Bill Smart at Lambert Bridge.
After catching up with some old friends at Kokomo and Petersen, I somehow got roped into cooking for a dozen people at Cindy Cosco’s house.
My last day started with a memorable tasting at Ehlers Estate…
…and ended with a trip to one of my favorite online retailers, Last Bottle.
Other than that, not much has been going on….
the drunken cyclist 
What a treat to have you here, Jeff. You are now the “reason” we “had” to open our 2004 Toulouse. So thank you for that. Also, nice to meet you.
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Thanks so much Kerry! I will get an article up soon! And that Toulouse was incredible!
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Dang, “not much going on” lol. Right.
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Yeah. YAWN….
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I’m jealous! I really liked Kokomo when I visited Sonoma a couple of years ago. Did you visit Rachel at Rodney Strong?
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I did not meet Rachel, but I spent about four hours at Rodney Strong!
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I’m not as familiar with Sonoma as I am with Napa. I’m looking forward to reading your stories as I’m heading out to Sonoma at the end of the month. I’ve got a great trip planned so I’m excited.
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These days I really do prefer Sonoma….
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