[Travel Saturdays] West Coast Wine Tasting in Winter

Last week, I took a short day trip up the Northern California coastline to visit the Russian River wine region. Most people save their wine tasting trips for the summer, when the days are long and tastings stretch on for hours and lead to picnic lunches and hangovers that start somewhere around 9PM. In the winter, you have to be much more strategic about where you go because you have fewer hours of daylight. 

My friends and I chose three wineries to visit because of price, hours, and the breadth of their selections. That way, everyone got a little of everything they wanted. 

1. Korbel: Free tasting, free tour of the champagne cellars, and a wonderful cafe to eat lunch. 

Photo of the brandy tower from Sunset

I got a bottle of the sec, which is perfect for super-sweet mojitos because it is dry and not syrupy sweet like the Brut. I also picked up some of their cream sherry, which the tour guide said is good for curing coughs. I'll probably just drink it because it tastes so damn good. You can't get this stuff anywhere but at the winery or online. Their wine sucks though, so don't bother with that. 

2. Martinelli: This is a much cozier establishment with super-friendly staff. You do have to pay $5 for the tasting, but they also gave us about 10 coupons for free tastings at other wineries in the Napa and Sonoma areas. My only complaint was that they definitely focus too much on Syrah (that's a personal preference thing though) and there were fruit flies buzzing around who were trying to get into my wine glass. 

Foggy day at the vineyards

3. Kendall-Jackson: I know it's not exactly the most original, but it is quite fancy. And the staff tailored our tasting to each one of our preferences. They had a really tasty, sweet Riesling that I loved (and bought with my 10% discount that Martinelli threw my way) and a nice Moscato. The ambience was also worth the visit. Got me thinking about my wedding to ______ (who will it be!?).

Inside the wine tasting room

I definitely recommend the wine country in winter. It's much quieter and more intimate and, really, there's no excuse not to enjoy wine in every season on every day of the year.