Wine Country
If you know me, you probably know that I love wine. Not like, in a student of the grape, sommelier way. But in an 'I-drink-a-lot-of-wine' way.
(Although I do like to pretend I know what I'm talking about when I'm about half way through a bottle as evidenced by my occasional wine reviews).
It was to my to my heart's joy then, when my 'best friend at work' (Mars Inc reference, but...seriously.) chose Sonoma for her bachelorette party. A dozen girls, 5 wineries, 2 party buses, and 1 beautiful county - if that isn't a recipe for success, I don't know what is.
Thursday Arrival
Before we headed to Sonoma after we landed at SFO, we took a pit stop by Pier 39 in San Francisco.
At the end of Pier 39 is approximately one million seals (ok closer to 1,000). I found this 1990 Good Morning America segment that documents their arrival.
After seeing Sea Lions and eating an obligatory meal at In n Out, we headed to Sonoma and got ready for dinner. I'd say it was a proper way to kick off the weekend, each of us getting one (or two) wine flights.
Friday
Friday was our first day out in the vineyards and our first, Chateau St. Jean did not disappoint. We all agreed it was out favorite view of the weekend with picturesque surroundings.
After a serious wine and cheese (and flower) pairings and some time enjoying another glass of wine in the courtyard, we headed to Bezinger.
One thing I noticed is that the wineries all seemed to be very dog friendly. At Bezinger we met this particularly cutie little pup.
Saturday
I'm not naturally a morning person, thus I rarely get to capture sunrises, but my natural body clock on the west coast had me wide awake before 7am. As I got up to get a cup of coffee Saturday morning, I noticed the deep fog being highlighted by the glowing sunrise and immediately headed out with my camera to explore.
Saturday had three wineries on the agenda. First, was Imagery, a sister vineyard of Bezinger. With a reservation somewhat early in the day, we sat outside on the patio all to ourselves. One of the girls with us was already a member there, but by the end of the tasting, five more of us joined! We agreed it was our favorite wines on the trip.
The aspect of Imagery that I was particularly impressed with was their beyond organic practices. Everything from the way the wine is grown to the plant life they grow (to attract good insects and repel bad ones) creates a small ecosystem for all natural wine. As if that isn't cool enough, their labels are created by local artists. I am seriously so excited to get my first shipment this fall!
Onto the last winery of the trip - Kendall-Jackson. We got a beautiful gazebo spot on the patio to enjoy our last round of wine. As we sat there enjoying the view, I spotted a barn in the distance with stacked wine barrels. Of course I needed to take a walk to check it out. Laurie, Ridhi, and Kim all offered to join and we took a little walk.
Saturday evening closed out with a little mini golf courtesy of our Airbnb backyard, opening presents and all us girls in our sweatpants having a dance party in the living room (round 2. don't think we didn't dance Friday night).
It was an incredibly amazing weekend. I may be biased as an avid wine drinker, but it was the perfect combination of getting dressed up, relaxing on patios drinking wine, and seeing beautiful sights.
I cannot think of a more appropriate way to celebrate the amazing chic that is my dear friend and the weekend surpassed all my expectations. In addition to celebrating Laure's upcoming wedding, I'm now the proud member of a the Imagery wine club, and I can't wait to start planning my trip back to wine country!
And with that, ladies and gentleman, I will leave you with a couple photos of the neighbor lama who let me photograph her next to our Airbnb.
