The Haas wine club, of which many here have both loyal members, ran a final, end-of-year trip today taking in a few vineyards in Sonoma.
Proceedings started early (well, 9.30am) with pastries at the business school and Mimosas - Bucks Fizzes for all the English readers out there. The drink continued to flow on our bus until we arrived at Kunde Estate Winery. It's a nicely Californian place, being eco-friendly and sustainable, and we were treated to various bottles before delving into their cave and enjoying some Primitivo (a predecessor of Zinfandel) straight from the barrel.
After lunch, where it became obvious that I'd been drinking when I started chatting to some complete strangers from Texas, it was on to Chateau St Jean. Here we enjoyed a private tasting on their sunny patio. We finished in celebratory style for all those graduating at Gloria Ferrer, makers of fine Champagne.
It was a great day, but this Californian wine...I'm not sure I'll ever get a real taste for it. Not that this stopped me drinking far to much, walking in the door, giving Hannah a kiss, then collapsing for two hours. Happy days.
Dan and me, on our way with the good stuff.
'Before' photo at Kunde.
The reason we're all here.
Guess who's first in line.
Every day's a school day.
The hill, and the door to the cave.
Roll out the barrel...
Deep tasting.
The only type of event I'll attend these days.
Finishing up at the multi-award winning Gloria Ferrer.
Cheers! Fiona celebrates her MBA, I commiserate that real life starts again soon.
No proven link between alcohol and aggressive behaviour.
