Napa Experience Tour with Ferry Cruise

Today a friend of mine and I decided to go on this wine tour!!!  It was a very enjoyable day with a few interesting turn of events!!

We left early Sunday morning around 5:50am as we needed to be at the Ferry Building in San Francisco by 8:15am.  We even left before we had had any coffee thinking that we would makeit down there with plenty of time to get a cup before the tour began!!

This is where the unexpected and unplanned for happened!!  We are driving leisurely down 101 when we are passed by not one. . . . not two. . . . but three CHP's hauling ASS!!!  When the first passed us we were only concerned that we were not speeding, the second a few minutes later brought to mind that he was headed as back-up for the other and we would come upon them stopped at the side of the road.  After the third we were pretty certain that something big had happened.  Shortly after traffic came to a complete stop and we could see smoke about a half mile further up the road and the 'Calstar' helicopter circling overhead -- the divider stopped us from seeing anything else.  After about 20 minutes we started to worry about whether we would make it to our destination on time.  We even called and left a message that we were held up by an accident on the freeway!!  We, finally made it through after about a half an hour of waiting.  We were now in jeopardy of missing the departure time for our tour. They were pretty adament that the bus left promptly and would not wait for stagglers!! 

Found this in the news after getting home!!

FIERY ROLL OVER CRASH

A LAYTONVILLE WOMAN SUFFERED MAJOR INJURIES WHEN SHE WAS EJECTED DURING A FIERY ROLL OVER CRASH ON HIGHWAY 101 JUST SOUTH OF THE MENDOCINO COUNTY LINE EARLY SUNDAY MORNING.

ACCORDING TO THE CHP, ROBERT WALBURN OF LAYTONVILLE WAS DRIVING SOUTHBOUND IN HIS PICK UP TRUCK WHEN HE ALLOWED THE VEHICLE TO LEAVE THE ROADWAY AND TRAVEL UP AN UNIMPROVED SHOULDER AT AROUND 6 AM. THE TRUCK ROLLED SEVERAL TIMES AND CAUGHT FIRE. 20 YEAR OLD HEATHER WALBURN WAS EJECTED FROM THE PICK UP. SHE WAS AIRLIFTED TO SANTA ROSA MEMORIAL HOSPITAL WHERE SHE WAS LISTED IN STABLE CONDITION AS OF LAST NIGHT. ROBERT WALBURN AND A 5 YEAR OLD CHILD WERE TREATED AND RELEASED AT THE SCENE.

I must say that Kim did some hauling ass of her own to get us to San Francisco, the traffic helped quite a bit too!!  Good thing it was a holiday sunday morning!!

We had to park three blocks away and do some quick walking arriving about 8:20am not the 8:15am they needed.  Luck must have been on our side as the last bus had not left yet and they allowed us tocheck in and climb aboard!!! 

A big 'THANKS' to Michael our driver and guide for being so patient. 

By the way we did call again and talked to a live person as we were flying through Larkspur!!  They just told us to try to get there ASAP and we might catch the last bus, but that they wouldn't hold it for us!!  We were sure that we were going to have to do some fast talking and try to get it rescheduled!!

The rest of the day went pretty smoothly!!  Although we did get a kick out of the fact that for a lot of the drive back to Napa we were driving on the same road that Kim and I had just driven!!

The first winery that we visited . . . which we got to before they opened . . . was

'Domaine-Chandon'

Very nice winery, kind of expensive, but beautiful grounds with some interesting sculpture!!

We did what they call the:

Reserve Tasting

Our Chandon wine guide

Explore the diversity of our sparkling wines with this delicious tasting of our toastiest, creamiest, and most complex styles. This palate adventure includes samples of our voluptuous and creamy Chandon Reserve Chardonnay Brut, complex and robust Chandon Reserve Pinot Noir Brut(my second favorite), and elegantly rich étoile Rosé. 

They also, included a tasting of their Extra-Dry Riche (this one was my favorite - almost bought a bottle of it too!!)

But then again how can you go wrong with sparkling wines!!

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We then traveled a little further into Napa Wine Country to a nice family owned winery and deli.

V. Sattui Winery



One of the hardest decisions was whether to eat from the deli or to head outdoors to the BBQ!!

We decided  to hit the deli this time around, then headed inside to do some tasting!!  Tasted 5 wines: A Reisling, The Sattui Family Red, The Gamay rouge, their Muscat and the 12 Year Old Port!!  All I can say is Yum!! to them all.  Tasting fees were reasonable and the price of their wines are reasonable. 

Now to decide if I really want to join their wine club!! 

Meet Yves & Estelle from France

 

We decided on buying a bottle of the Gamay Rouge to have with our deli picnic lunch and headed outside to find a place to eat!!  Sat with a father daughter couple that were visitng from France.  So truely nice to meet nice people and interact with them!!  They were heading eventually towards the mendocino coast!!

We had heard that they had a Pastry Deli their too, but alas was us -- like I really needed the pastries anyway -- we couldn't find it and time was running out!!  We had also hoped to check out their underground cellars, but again time ran out!!

Definately a place I wouldn't mind coming back to and just spending the afternoon checking things out. . . . and well tasting a bit too!!

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Next on our list was:

Rutherford Ridge Winery



Calla Lily



Beautiful small winery, unfortunately, the best that I can say about the wines was the dark chocolate that they served with the last one!!  Ouch!!  and I am NOT a wine snob.  From lisening to the coments of the people near us. . . . we were not the only ones  just a wee bit disappointed in the wine!!

But as I said the grounds were beautiful!!

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The last of the day of wine tasting was done at:

 Rutherford Grove Winery



It was a quick stop cause we were running a bit late by this time and didn't want to miss the ferry back into SF.  -- I bellied up to the wine bar and started my tasting, then followed the rest of the group outside to the picnic tables. 

Found out that I was offered an additional wine to taste (the best of their bunch, I might add) that the rest of the group didn't get offered.  Oh well!!

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We ended the day with a Ferry Bay cruise back to the Ferry Building in San Francisco -- well we thought that they were taking us back to the Ferry building when they really took us back to Pier 39.  We ended up having to walk about 30 minutes to get back to where we were parked 3 blocks from the Ferry building!! 

That was the only disappointing thing about the tour.  If I had known I was going to have to hike in SF I would have worn different shoes and brought my reusable wine tote with me!!  Clogs are not made to hike/run in and the paper bag that the winery provided for the wine I bought was very uncomfortable to carry for any length of time--my hand kept cramping!!  Oh well!!   Guess I can't complain to much we had an enjoyable day -- napped a bit on the ride to the ferry and pretty much missed the whole ferry ride due to extending the nap!!

Stopped for a quick refresh brake and a quick bite to eat in Santa Rosa at the In-n-Out burger joint. 

Have never eaten  at an In-n-Out Burger before, not bad burgers.  Tasted like a burger you would make at home!!  That means its a good burger, and the fries are fresh not frozen.  Could even wach as they cut the fresh potatoes into strips!!

Might even have to try their Sonoma Wine tour one of these days!