Drink wine and be merry...

As written in a previous blog post, Vino, Vino, Vino, the Livermore Valley Wine Country Barrel Tasting Weekend is now over. The event started at noon and ended at 430pm both days. Today, April 1st, would have been a better day to go out and enjoy wine with friends since the sun decided to out and play. But, nevertheless, a group of us went yesterday, March 31st and enjoyed wine, some camaraderie and of course, rain. 

 As a group, we went to four different wineries, listed in order here:

1. Wood Family Vineyard
2. El Sol Winery
3. Big White House Winery
4. Ruby Hill Winery

There was a HUGE group of us that went, that we rented out a bus to enjoy the whole day without having to worry about driving and who's going to be the DD

Before pictures. The hubby does not look too happy to have his picture taken.

Breakfast of champions! Krispy Kreme anyone?

Lee's Sandwiches.

The hubby and Sarah

Happy birthday!!!

1st stop: Wood Family Vineyards. 

This was by far, the smallest tiniest tasting room, I've been too. Talk about cozy. But, despite the size, it helped a lot, with getting and being warm and taking shelter from the rain. They had four different wines out to taste as well as a future. They had a 2009 Cabernet Franc, 2008 Syrah Madden Ranch, a Merlot and a Cabernet Sauvignon. The best thing from this stop, was their future blend, the Muy Bueno, a blend of Zinfandel and Petite Syrah. The blend is amazing together since having tasted each component before trying the blend, the mixture is just perfect. The Zinfandel provides the sugar while the Petite Syrah provides the fruit forward component. Just as Sarah Brunskill stated, "This is peanut butter and this is jelly. And, together- amazing!!!" It was so great, Tom and I decided to buy a 6 pack of this future blend, which won't be ready until Late July/Early August. Only, a few more months until this blend is going to be bottled and we can enjoy it again. But, for now, we'll settle with two bottles of their 2009 Cabernet Franc. For more information, check out their website: Wood Family Vineyards

Fancy wine glasses!

Pour me some red!

AMAZING wine!!! 

Tom tasting the Muy Bueno blend.

2nd stop: El Sol Winery. 

El Sol Winery was our next stop. At this place, you can taste an 08 Tempranillo, 06 Zinfandel Contra Costa, and a Syrah from the barrel. They also had a tasting room where you can taste some more reds and whites. The best thing about this stop, is that you can bottle your own wine- 06 Syrah! We left this winery with two bottles of an 07 Syrah and our very own bottled 06 Syrah. Check out: El Sol

A glass of Muy Bueno to send us off to the next winery. Notice, the fancy name tags on each of our wine glasses...

Tasting some of their wines from the barrel

One of the winemakers, telling us about their wine.

Tasting Room- where you can try a 07 Syrah and some others

Bottle your own Syrah! I did it, too!

3rd stop: Big White House Winery and John Evan Cellars. 

One important thing to take away from this place- PEACH CHAMPAGNE!!! It is amazing. Even before, we went it to sample, our dear friend Sarah stated that we have to try the Peach Champagne. It is to die for. Enough said. We made sure, before we left this place, to get some bottles of this bubbly. For more info on the winery, check out: Big White House

Peach Champagne...

Toast!

I think it's the alcohol talking.. :D

Quite happy... on our way to our last stop, Ruby Hill Winery.

4th stop: Ruby Hill Winery.


Ruby Hill Winery was our last stop for the day. It probably is the biggest tasting room that we went to. Aside, from the wine, they also had Honey Tasting. It was an interesting mix of wine and honey, but it works. 

To say the least, it was a great way to celebrate the end of March and the end of the first quarter. It was the perfect way to celebrate a new beginning, especially with spring being on us especially with friends- new and old. See you for the next wine event- the SF Vintner's Market Spring Time in the City.