Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan Did you eat at Viansa? << LOL! Sort of. We chowed down on all the free samples of the olive oils, spreads, sauces and stuff they sell. AMAZING stuff. >>Did you buy any wine at any of these places?<< We bought a bottle of Merlot at Jacuzzi. Really nice place, they have a whole area devoted to various types of olives, too. Bought a bottle of Chardonnay at Schug (I haven't tried it, my wife liked it, though) and a bottle of zin at Ravenswood. The people at every winery were so nice, just clearly enjoy what they do. The woman at Ravenswood was a walking encyclopedia of wine knowledge, really great. I bought a bottle of this stuff last year at the winery along the Russian River. Cool packaging, huh? <a href="http://www.armida.com/wines/tech_sheets/zin_poizin_res_01.html" target="_blank">http://www.armida.com/wines/te ch_sheets/zin_poizin_res_01.html</a>
Originally Posted By cheesybaby Take Seasons of the Vine to any Napa or Sonoma winery and you have a first-class pre-show to a tour. If DCA's vineyard area was built with some kind of mini-Living with the Land-style walkthrough of their little vineyard and then winemaking with Seasons as the pre-show, and the original Mondavi wine store and small cafe at the main attraction's exit, it would have been fantastic. They built the pre-show and the store/restaurant but forgot the meat, the attraction.
Originally Posted By Dabob2 That would have been fine, but SOV was also fine as it was, as one of those little "extras" to your day, along the lines of the main street cinema.
Originally Posted By jonvn Glass? Definitely not wine in a box. You can't get lai...you won't be popular...with wine in a box. What sort of thing do you like? Red, white, dessert? Cakebread makes some pretty good stuff. The problem is that there are 500+ wineries in the Napa/Sonoma area alone. They produce about 3% of the entire wine in the state. The state itself produces about 95% of the wine made in this country....so.... what kinds of stuff do you like?
Originally Posted By whistler Lol.... pinot, cab franc, any really tasty red. I was exploring burgundies for a while, but they are too damn expensive, it's just ridiculous. I should support California wines anyway, being born and raised there. Domain Serene pinot, I liked a lot.
Originally Posted By jonvn "Wow, great label. Did you drink it? How was it?" Cakebread? It's very good. Well, you know I can only tell you the ones I like. Everyone is different. So you have to go and taste it. What I suggest you do, if you really like wine, is to subscribe yourself to Wine Spectator Magazine. It's actually a really good source for information. If you like the burgundies, you might like the Saintsbury Carneros pinot noir. If you want a white, try the Hess Collection Chardonnay. Also check out Valley of the Moon, Gundlach Bundschu and Artessa. Ravenswood has some great zinfandels. If you want more bordeux, I think Goosecross Cellars is good. They all have websites. If you want sparkling, try Domaine Carneros, or Gloria Ferrer. Both are excellent, reasonably priced, too. Best places to buy? Target, Walmart, your grocery store, online, whereever it is cheapest. Cost Plus has a great selection, it is inexpensive enough to just buy a few bottles of this and that, taste them and see if you like it. You might like to buy the book "The Wine Bible" by Karen MacNeil. Andrea Immer (who is so cute she is to die for) has a wine buying guide, too. Let me know if there is anything else you might like to know.
Originally Posted By PetesDraggin Cakebread is one of my wife's favorite wineries. She introduced me to wine, and that was one of the first I ever had. Very good. I'm a big fan of Bogle. The zinfandel and the petite syrah are very good and very reasonably priced.
Originally Posted By PetesDraggin Hey Jon, have you ever been up to any of the Amador County wineries near Sacramento? They have some hidden gems there.
Originally Posted By jonvn No, I pretty much stick to the Napa and Sonoma valleys. There is enough there to keep me busy for life. I've made some nice friends up there.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan >>Well, you know I can only tell you the ones I like. Everyone is different. So you have to go and taste it. << Many years ago, someone had us try a bottle of gewurztraminer. It tasted like lawn clippings or something -- really bitter stuff. So, it scared us off gewurztraminer forever. Then last summer, at one of the wineries, the person told us to give it another try. Being the rube I am, I said "I don't like gewurztraminer." He poured some and said, just try it. We did, and it was great. So yeah, everyone's tastes react pretty differently to various wines.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan Also, I had this image in my mind that wineries were very snobby places. I was totally intimidated. But every one I've visited has been anything but snobby. The people usually are eager to answer questions, very friendly. The best ones have big ol' dogs running around the place to greet you.
Originally Posted By jonvn Yep. They know people in this country don't know that much about wine, and so they are there to help. They are also there to sell you their wine. If they treat you like you're an idiot, they don't make a sale. Recent study out: If they put the same wine in two bottles, and tell people that the wine in bottle A cost $100, and the wine in bottle B cost $10, people generally say the wine in bottle A is better. The wine in most all of these places is uniformly excellent to outstanding. Go with what you like, and don't be a schmoe and pay too much. If you like two buck chuck, then drink that. The only thing that matters is that you personally enjoy it.
Originally Posted By Dabob2 <Ravenswood has some great zinfandels.> I think that's what they served at the Napa Rose when I got my four course with wine pairings thing. It was really good.
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo >>>I'm heading to EPCOT in a couple weeks for the first time. I'm looking forward to it!<<< I have a feeling you are going to fall in love with Epcot! It's my fav park after DL. It is awesome. What I loved about Soarin', Golden Dreams, Seasons, and the Factory Tours along with the Winery and Cove Bar, DCA offered an Epcot like ambience. When on vacation, I want this stuff. I suppose the 2fer crowds who are about the rides aren't into this stuff. A shame.
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo >>>One of my favorite things is the taiko drummers in Japan. Amazing to listen to. Ok, I guess I like epcot, too.<< I love the Taiko drummers, and Mo Rockin in Morocco are a fantastic fusion band. I have a number of their CDs, they are awesome. Also love the Chinese Acrobats, the Italian players, the Shakespeare Company, British Invasion, and Off Kilter. I could spend my whole vacation at Epcot (something tells me if I had of spent my whole vacation at Epcot and DAK last time, I would have been a happier camper).
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo Mmmmmm, we love wineries. Sadly, the US ones seem to not like children there. My kids loved checking out the Champagne wineries in Riems last summer. One of the things we loved at staying at the GCH the other week was a great by the glass wine list. I know they marked it up, but when the majority of Californian wine readily available in the UK is Sutter and Gallo, well we took advantage.
