Travelogue – Thursday, 31 July 2008

Previously …

Woke up to the sounds of cable cars, too, which isn’t altogether a bad thing. A good eight hours sleep, and we were ready … well, to do a lot of packing, juggling around suitcase contents, then heading out the door and to the car.

Getting out of the city was a small challenge, as Sheila had problems getting a lock on enough satellites to figure out where she (and thus we) were, and the signs to the 101 actually were all driving us toward 101 South, which might have been the Way to San Jose … but we were trying to go North, Miss Tessmacher.

Eventually we got ourselves onto Van Buren, then Lombard, and the 101, thence to the Golden Gate Bridge. Much snapping of pictures (by Margie).

We made use of Sheila (who had finally gotten her morning coffee and uplink) to find a Trader Joe’s along the way to find some snackies for the car (a must while wine tasting), and the fixings for some picnic lunches the next few days.

We stopped in Healdsburg on the way up. This burg has turned into a proto-Napa, but it’s still small enough to find some friendly places and be able to walk around without getting run over by BMWs. We ended up having lunch at the Bear Republic Brewpub, which had a dozen home-brewed beers I wanted to try (though I decided on a glass of the very tasty Monga Zin, instead), a lot of tasty sandwiches/burgers, a good lunch trade, and mediocre service. (Well Recommended.) 

We headed up to Geyserville (pronounced by Sarah, Sheila’s British cousin, with a “Jee” initial syllable), where our B&B is. Alas, check-in is 3:30 p.m., and it was only about Noon …

… so we headed off to taste wine. Huzzah!

First stop (and ironic for being in a Zinfandel area) was Silver Oak‘s Alexander Valley tasting room . Been many years since we’d been there, and Silver Oak Cab remains sort of our “gold standard” wine (check for it on wine lists, note the price, buy something cheaper except for a very special occasion).  

Tastings were $10 — but you keep the very nice glass — for two wines. Both were tasty, need a few more years in the cellar, and are good for another 15-20. We didn’t buy any (you can buy it pretty much anywhere), but it was a nice first stop. Service was cordial. Recommended if you like that sort of thing.

Ridge in Lytton Springs was also highly recommended to us. They do mostly Zins, but with a few others, and in general they tasted very well (we bought a few bottles, some of which we’ll be using to pay back folks who have been helping us this trip). Tastings are free for two wines, $5 for another five or six, and worth it. Service was friendly, if brisk. Well recommended.

Trentadue was recommended largely for its ports. The regular tasting of 4-5 wines is free; tastings of the ports are $5, and tastings of their signature wines are $5. Service was friendly and helpful and generous.  Trentadue’s regular wines are inexpensive, and not bad for quaffing, but not worth going out of the way. They had a fabulous Viognier white port, a tasty Petit Syrah port, and a gimmicky Cocoa-infused port. Someone’s getting at least one bottle of the Viognier.

Pedroncelli was a place we went to (very close to what was our B&B then) when Margie and I vacationed up here some (cough) 14 years ago. It remains sort of a simple, old school winery, specializing in Zins, along with a very nice port made from actual Portuguese-stock grapes. Hard to go too wrong there. The tasting was complementary, and the service at the end of the day was engagingly friendly.

We returned to our B&B at about 5. Hope-Merrill House is a lovely old house along the main (only) drag in Geyserville, green and quiet and quite pretty. Service so far has been cordial and helpful. We’re in a very nice, and pretty large, room (the Bradbury), lacking only a dresser to make it complete. They have free Wi-Fi, and a nice swimming pool in back, and plenty of areas to sit in or wander around. There’s a bit of road noise from the 101 a ways away, but overall quite nice. It feels very comfortable, and I think we’re going to enjoy staying here.

We relaxed for an hour or two before heading down to Healdsburg for dinner at Manzanita. Sort of a Mediterranean Modern restaurant, the wine list was good (the cocktail list, which we didn’t indulge in, was wonderfully retro), the menu had many yummy suggestions, and the actual food was quite tasty. Margie had a sole dish, something she doesn’t order very often, and cleaned off the plate. I had a wild boar ragout, which was actually a boar t-bone with a wonderful gravy with truffles and mushrooms and tomatoes in it. Mmmm. Service was helpful and friendly, if not quite outstanding. We skipped dessert because we were stuffed. Well recommended.

Then back to the B&B, and, eventually, to sleep …