Tasting with Three Cousins

I love wine. I love family even more. There is something so comforting and familiar about being with family. When you can combine wine and family in one tasting afternoon, you have the makings for a great day. When Dawn called and said her and Rene were coming up to visit, the plans started for some wine tasting. Even though we live here in Santa Maria, the central coast wine tasting experience is still our preference for a great weekend. There are so many different areas to explore but we have our favorite wineries and we end up going tasting to the same places. Dawn wanted to go tasting where we hadn't gone before.

I did a little searching around the Internet and based my search for tasting places on their websites. The first place that caught my eye was Sunstone. I also remembered this place as one my former boss, Buzz Eyler, recommended as the most beautiful winery in the Santa Ynez valley. The website was beautiful and it really was the reason I decided to map this winery as our first stop.

Sunstone was indeed more beautiful in person than on the Internet. It was designed to look like you were coming into someone's house, albeit a very, very nice house. As we walked in we were greeted by our tasting room personnel. She started us off with Viogner. It was delightful, fresh with a hint of butterscotch and maple syrup. Since I expected this weekend to be crowded with people, I was pleasantly surprised to be joined by one other group for tasting. I said, "Wow, where is everyone?" and she said, "Around the corner." We walked around the corner and there had to be 35 people milling around the tasting table tasting the rest of the list of wines. Here at Sunstone they are known for their Merlot and Syrah but I found that my favorite was the Muscat that was served last. It was smooth and sweet and put the finishing touches on a great first taste.

We toured four more wineries, Artiste, Buttonwood, Bridlewood and Fess Parker. We have been to Fess Parker before but Dawn hadn't so we made an exception and pulled in for our last stop. We arrived before the 5:00 PM closing but we were told by the tasting girl that they stopped doing tastings at 4:45 PM. We were disappointed but understood that you have to call it quits at some point. Up walked a couple next to us about 5 minutes later and the other tasting guy said, "We're supposed to stop doing tastings at 4:45 but since it isn't closing time yet I'll make an exception." So this isn't cool we're thinking. Between Dawn, Aimee and myself there isn't a chance that we aren't going to say something about this apparent unfair treatment. It didn't matter that this was a beautiful, young OC woman. We are a little peeved. So nicely we mention that we had been here earlier than they and had been refused tasting by the other pourer. He said he'd pour us whatever he had open. He saved a potentially disappointing visit. Fess' Marcella's vineyard Pinot was terrific, I think. That's the trouble with going tasting. By the end of the tour you can't taste the difference between Syrah, Merlot or Chardonnay.

We ended our fantastic day at the Radisson to hear Lisa Reese singing the blues at the Vintner's lounge. Her rendition of BB King's blues classic "You shook me" brought the crowd to it's feet, which after a day of tasting was no easy feat. Thanks to Dave our vintner's bar tender for always taking such good care of us. Sorry I cheesed out on the tip. I'll make it up to you next time. Have a great week and keep drinking wine--then tell us about it.

Even Postmasters love wine

Living in the middle of wine country you are never at a loss to talk about wine, vineyards, winemakers, favorite wineries, or the movie Sideways. The other day I was in our neighborhood post office and I had an entire tub of mail to retrieve. Paul, one of the postmasters at the Orcutt Branch, fetched my tub of mail and asked, "What is the Wine Cottage?" I told him that we are the newest addition to the wine country family of hospitality venues. A wine bar/bistro in Old Towne Orcutt, 285 S. Broadway. He was very excited that he would just have to walk around the corner for a gourmet lunch or a bottle of wine and gourmet to go dinner selections to take home to his family. I asked if he was a wine drinker. That, I am beginning to see, is a stupid question when you live in the middle of wine country. He said he was indeed. I asked him what his favorite wine was. He, stopped and scratched his chin and thought a long moment. The question he wanted to answer was "What is your favorite wine maker or winery or appelation. He unequivicouly said "Foxen or Longoria". Deciding on his favorite wine of the moment was more difficult. He finally settled on Chenin Blanc. But quickly added, Pinot, or Chardonnay since those two are what the SB county does best. I look forward to more conversations with people just like Paul, regular people who love wine as much as me. So tell me, "What is your favorite wine?"

There is a blogger among us

Dawn, a fellow wine lover, blogged here first. You know blogging is like...riding a bike...sometimes someone has to push you up and down the street until you can ride on your own. I do believe that there is no shutting Dawn up now. I don't mean shut up in the, tell your little sister to shut up and get in trouble, shut up. I mean we have not heard the end of Dawn. Welcome Dawn, keep on bloggin'.