We went to the Farmers Market in the parking lot of Oxbow Market. It was a small Farmers Market, but the fruit and vegetable selection was amazing. We couldn't believe how cheap the produce was. We had pasteries, but unfortunately, I can't remeber who we bought them from or for that matter what we ate. We then headed out to Sonoma.
I love(d) Sonoma, when we go to California next year, we will visit Sonoma again. It was much more relaxed and less crowded than Napa. The tasting were outright free, or free if you bought a bottle or less than 10 bucks. The Napa tastings were between $15 and $20 and some wineries didn't even waive the fee if you purchased a bottle.
Sonoma Vineyards:
Field Stone Winery- really small tasting room (felt like an office), great Rosé, free tasting, tasting host was sweet and pointed us towards some of Sonoma's great small producer zin's, when you enter the tasting room you walk through the oak barrels that are being aged and it smelled great, large shaded area for picnics
Sausel Winery- old vine Zins, small and family owned vineyard, named some wines after the vineyard cats, very nice tasting host
Stryker Sonoma Vineyard- amazing drive up to the tasting house, trellis that has grape vines growing around it, very modern building, great tasting host, bike tour support guy was setting lunch up for people that were riding through Sonoma stopping at wineries along the way, huge shaded picnic area overlooking the valley.
We joined the Stryker Wine Club.
Bella Vineyards- Another amazing drive to the vineyard, very isolated, tasting room was located in one of their aging caves dug into the side of the hill. Reminded me of Hobbits, great wine, very knowledgeable tasting host, they sell boxes so that you can pack all your wine for the trip home, lovely picnic area
Ridge Vineyards- stopped here because we saw cars parked outside, very nice tasting host, we can find Ridge wines in NYC (have drank them before), beautiful vineyard, tables outside right next to the vineyard
We bought sandwiched from a deli before we got to the winery and had a picnic lunch next to the vineyard. We bought a half bottle of wine and drank it with our lunch.
Mazzocco- the best vineyard of the trip, awesome tasting host, great wine, very reasonable, great outdoor space for picnics
We also joined the Mazzocco Wine Club.
Cool pics from the vineyards:
Once we were done tasting, we checked into El Pueble Inn. It was a bit of a drive from where the vineyards, but it was close to downtown Sonoma. The Inn had a pool and a jacuzzi, which we took advantage of, the bed and pillows were extremely comfortable and it was beautifully landscaped. Once we were done swimming, we walked to dinner.
We went to dinner at Cafe La Haye. I had the steak, which Rob told me to order medium rare--I will admit that I was a little grossed out as I ate it. It was cooked beautifully, but it was just too bloody and cold for me. I think I'll stick to medium. Once dinner was over we headed back to the hotel.
As we were walking, we noticed that they were showing The Princess Bride in the town square. We walked over and joined the crowd. The people around us had picnic baskets, blankets, wine and they were just having a great time. Sitting there watching the movie and enjoying the atmosphere was a great way to end our evening.
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