A Trip to Wine Country

This week our nephew Tres ( father of our pretend children) Skyped us.  He invited us to join Casey and him for a VIP wine tasting on Saturday and then dinner in Napa  Would we like to join them?  Hell yes.  We love wine tasting.  We love road trips, no matter how small.  We love to spend time with Tres and Casey.

We went to Cline Cellars.  This is a beautiful winery.  It looks like an old farm, which it is, only better. The gardens are wonderful.  Old fashioned flowers are planted everywhere.  They have a small museum, ponds, grassy places to picnic, and lots of little animals to look at. 

Tres and me in front of the main building.  The porch wraps three sides of the farm house.  Our private wine tasting was on the right side of the porch.  It was a very pleasant day in Wine Country, with a gentle breeze.

Our guide took us on a tour of the property.  While we walked we sipped a lovely sparkling wine. They built a traditional building from the bricks of a building that was torn down in Sonoma.  They use this building for events.

This is Ruth our guide and the miniature donkeys.  We all fed them apples.  Very cute little animals.  The donkeys were originally used as pack animals at the wineries.

The museum is the history of the missions of California.  The missions were built a day's horse ride apart.  Just as Kentucky's county seats were set up.  We are looking at models of the missions.  They were built for the Pageant of the Pacific in 1939.  The models were going to be destroyed and the owners of Cline saved them.  These models are so detailed, they are perfect miniatures of the real buildings.

                                                     Another mission.      

On the tour.  Note Marty holding our empty flutes.  He is in front of the tanks the grapes go into after being crushed.

Tres and Casey in the Barrel Room.  This is a working warehouse and is also used for events. 

We are in a room that holds the stainless steel tanks that hold wine as it ages.  After being here, the wine either goes into small barrels or into bottles depending on how long it is aged.

Ruth is checking what wine is aging in these stainless steel tanks.  She was looking for a particular Chardonnay and a Syrah.

Never ever have we been on a tour and the guide has given us samples from a tank that is for ageing.  She wanted us to taste the wine when it was very young to compare with the aged product we would taste later.

This is a barrel head that was behind the table where we did the wine tasting. 

Casey and Tres sitting at our private table for tasting.  Ruth has gone for some of the bottles for us to taste. 

Marty and me waiting for the next pour.  We had some lovely wines.  And we bought some for a special meal at home.

Tres having some cheese to cleanse his palate.  You see Casey's arm.  She was making notes on everything we tasted.  Then she bought some bottles from her notes.

Marty finishing tasting one of the Zinfandel's.  They were really nice.

Ruth is pouring one of the wonderful wines.  Poor Tres loved the tasting, but he was the designated driver.  So he took very small tastes and passed his glasses to Casey and to me.  We thanked him and enjoyed our extra tastes.

When we arrived Forrest on the right, was on the front porch.  Casey wanted a picture with him.  When we were ready to leave, Forrest was inside the building.  Oh, Forrest is a mannequin.

We had a great day.  Lots of laughing, tasting, and we finished with a lovely meal in downtown Napa.  Thank you Casey and Tres.