Monday 20 December 2010

Water into wine

A winter storm that has been forecast for the past week finally arrived today, dumping inches of rain, hail, and snow up and down the West Coast.  The poor Californians, scared by this uncharacteristic lack of golden sunshine, cowered indoors.  Those of us from hardier Anglo-Saxon stock pulled on our waterproofs and went wine tasting.

This was Rachel's first time ever touring vineyards, which given her proximity to France and her family background is a bit of an indictment.  We made up for it, starting at Kendall-Jackson and zipping around the Santa Rosa area.  The highlight of the day was Mazzocco - one of Dan's favourites after a tip-off from a work colleague.  The fact that tasting was free and very generous might have had something to do with our enjoyment.  "I'm extremely happy," Hannah stated, shortly before I chauffeured her and her sister (both snoring) back through the rain to Walnut Creek.


The first bottle being poured at Kendall-Jackson (by a lady from Cheshire who moved here 40 years ago.  "I don't care for the politics, but everything else is great," she told us.  Amen!)


Dan, after a few.


Well irrigated vines.


The only place to shelter was another tasting room.


We'll just wait here until the weather clears...