Becky and I thought we would take it easy today. We are kind of wined out!!!! But, I wanted to go see Chateau Montelena where the movie Bottle Shock came from. On the way, we saw Andretti Winery which is owned by Mario. Thought it would be pretty so we turned in. Well, it was beautiful and our pourer, John, we a lot of fun. We told him we were red winers so he said he would pour us his favorite wines....and he did just that. I think we tasted 8 or 9 wines!! And it wasn't a tasting that was offered on the menu!! Well, the wines were wonderful so we each bought a bottle and John waived the tasting fee which was at least $40!!! Very nice place! You will see Becky standing beside a giant pine cone. When these cones start to fall, they have to call someone to come trim the trees because the cones could probably kill you if they hit you in the head!!! They are heavy and they have thorny things on them!!!!!
After leaving Andretti., we headed up the road to Chateau Montelena. The movie Bottle Shock is based on the true story of how the 1972 Chardonnay from there beat all the French wines in a blind taste test known as the Judgement of Paris. They have only 8 bottles of that left. They had 10 but about 2 years ago, they had a big charity gala and opened one and drank it and auctioned off the other one for over $100,000!!! It is a beautiful place and the grounds are gorgeous. The wine was quite good. Loved the $160 dollar bottle of Cab Sauv but showed restraint and bought a bottle of their Zin which was extremely good and very reasonable!!!
After two beautiful experiences, we headed back down the valley to Glen Ellen. Stopped at a SAFEWAY....yes, they are alive and well in California!!....got some food and dinner and made it home in time for Monday night football. Love being in CA where the late games start in the very early evening!!!!
We have a bunch of business and errands to tend to tomorrow. Need to get the car oil changed and a good check up before we start our slow trek home via the southern route. We have just turned a little over 5000 miles!!! Plan to finish our Sonoma/Napa journey with a glass of wine up at Beringer with one of our favorite educators, Adrian!! Great end to an unbelievable week!!!
We still have many adventures ahead and I can't wait to see where they take us!!!
Love following your blog! So much fun! Wish I could have joined you!
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