Gilroy Wine Tasting

One Friday evening, Anne called me to ask if I was up for wine tasting in Gilroy the next day and I agreed.

It was a hot day and after an hour's drive reached our first winery 'Satori.' It was very brightly colored and well decorated. It had live music playing and was buzzing with people. I especially loved the colorful umbrellas. They offer Sangrias on Saturday and we were so thankful for the chilled drink on the hot afternoon. The Sangria tasted delicious with pieces of mangoes and raspberries. We hung out for a while and left when there were too many dogs surrounding our table.

Next, we hit Solis winery which was quite opposite to Satori. It was very quite and peaceful. Vishnu did a tasting. There was a perfect breeze blowing which instantly put us in a very relaxed state. We abandoned the idea of going to any other winery and hung out there chatting until we felt hungry.

We headed to Morgan Hills downtown and ate some tasty Mediterranean food and headed back home. This was a very fun impromptu outing.

Hot Air Balloon Ride in Sonoma

As mentioned in my post on our recent trip to Sonoma, we checked off one more item on our bucket list-Hot Air Balloon Ride. I was super excited about the ride and the thought of flying and floating in the air with views of the wine country made me jump with joy. 

When ever I can, I look for deals so I don't have to pay full price. Luckily, I found a good one for Sonoma Valley Balloon on Groupon. On the day of our flight, we were asked to meet at a Starbucks parking lot on Airport Boulevard at 6.30am. Yes, that early! The reason is that the hot air balloons can only fly when the winds are calm and cool which happens only during the mornings. Depending on the wind direction and other conditions for flight, the pilot will choose the launch site. From the parking lot, a shuttle took us to the launch site for the day. 

It was interesting to watch the crew attach the balloon to the basket (also known as the gondola) and inflate it. The baskets vary in size and can hold anywhere from 4-20 passengers. Our basket was one of the larger ones and could hold around 16 people. The crew lay the basket on its side, spread out the balloon and attached it. A fan was turned on that inflated the balloon. Once there was enough air inside the balloon, the crew blasted a burner flame inside it. This heated the air, building pressure until the balloon inflated completely and started to lift. The basket was attached to the ground vehicle, at the same time crew members held the basket down until the pilot was ready to fly. 

When it was time to fly, the pilot released a steady stream of hot flame which heated up the balloon and lifted it off the ground. It was beautiful to watch the entire process. 

Depending on the wind direction and current, the balloon floats in the air and moves while the ground crew follow the balloon in their vehicle to assist with the landing. The experience of flying was incredible. It wasn't a scary one at all. In fact, I did not feel the wind or any movement at all as we were moving at the speed of the currents. The lush green valley was a beautiful sight to look at. The only trouble was the hot sun. So make sure you have your hat and sunscreen to protect you. The flight lasted for an hour and then the pilot found a good place to land. 

Post the landing, we were taken to a restaurant for a champagne toast and socializing. The whole experience was a lot of fun. I must admit that since there was no adrenaline rush but a rather passive activity, I would not do this again. Nevertheless, I recommend everyone have this experience at least once in their life.

Castello Di Amorosa

It has been a while since I updated this blog and that was due to my two month long vacation in India. Now that I'm back, I plan to blog more often. Before our vacation, we went to Sonoma for a weekend visit. We had a very definite itinerary. Reach Sonoma, visit Castello Di Amorosa and the next day take the Hot Air Balloon ride (yes, we did it and I will write a whole separate post on it!).

Me with Castello Di Amorosa in the background

Castello Di Amorosa is a 13th century style Tuscan castle and winery built by wine maker Dario Sattui. He wanted to combine two of his greatest passions in life-wine and architecture which resulted in him building this magnificent castle that is a fully functioning winery. We took a guided tour of the castle which helped us get information about the castle and its history. The tour is an hour long after which there is a 45 min wine tasting. You can upgrade to a chocolate pairing with the wine as well.

Great Hall with marvelous paintings

Wine fermentation process

The castle has 107 rooms and a total of 8 levels above and below the ground. The chapel, a torture chamber, hall, dining area, courtyard and the wine cellar were some of the rooms we visited. The rooms were decorated with frescos, paintings, furniture that transports one to the 13th century. The torture chamber even has an authentic 300-year old iron maiden brought from Italy. After the walk through the castle, the tasting session was a welcome break.

Our tour guide Rachel

Wine barrels

Wine tasting

I loved this place and especially liked their delicious wines. I highly recommend visiting this winery for a taste of ancient architecture as well as wine.

What: Castello Di Amorosa
Where: 4045 Saint Helena Highway, Calistoga CA 9415
When: 9:30 am-5:00 pm (Nov-Feb) and 9:30 am-6:00 pm (Mar-Oct)
Fee: Varies depending on options

Visit to the Wine Country

It had been a while since we took any long trips after Las Vegas. So we wanted to go some place during the Independence day long weekend. It was also a way to celebrate our second wedding anniversary, albeit a week in advance. Since we have both been very busy and stressed out at work, we decided to keep it all very simple. No flights to catch, no waking up early for the guided tours and no getting tired at the end of it all. Just a long relaxing break and exploring places at our own pace. The best place that fit the bill was the wine country.

  

I had heard that Napa is way too commercial and crowded so we skipped it and headed straight to Sonoma-less touristy but beautiful. Since this vacation was going to be different from all our previous ones, I decided to forgo the hotel and look for a cottage instead. Thanks to this amazing website (Airbnb.com), I found a small cottage in the countryside within a reasonable budget.

 

 

The cottage is located in a bamboo nursery in Cotati- a small, sleepy town in Sonoma County. We drove up to Cotati on Thursday morning and reached there in an hour and half.

One of the important lessons that I learnt during my previous travels was that I usually waste a lot of time looking for food mainly due to two reasons-I'm a vegetarian and a picky eater. To avoid this problem, I picked up a lot of ready-to-eat instant food and that took care of the 'where to eat' issue.

 

The plan for four days was simple-spend two days in the cottage and two days site-seeing. This gave us enough time to rest and relax without feeling like we hadn't explored the new place. Per plan, we stayed indoor on day one spending time reading, playing games and doing nothing. 

 

Day two we decided to visit a winery. We zeroed in on Foppiano Winery in Healdsburg since they didn't require an appointment for the vineyard tour. We were handed a brochure for the free self guided estate tour which gave us general information about the business.

 

 

 

 

 

 

After walking around the vineyard, we took the Highway 116 to Sonoma. It is a scenic route with breathtakingly beautiful wineries along the way. The drive was just perfect-windy roads, fantastic scenery, no traffic and great weather! 

 

We headed straight to Sonoma downtown for some wine tasting. For only $5, we got to taste 7 different wines. Since I'm not a wine drinker, I wasn't too fascinated by this but tried it for the experience anyway. Afterall what is a trip to the wine country without any wine tasting?

The next day we just stepped out for a quick lunch at the Cotati downtown and spent the rest of the day at home. On the last day, after checking out of the cottage, we drove to Bodega Bay. Again, the drive was very pleasant. We stopped at the famous 'The Birds' Cafe which was very disappointing. Long wait time and bad food. 

 

 

 

We continued driving along the Sonoma Coast State beach. It was overcast yet extremely picturesque. We halted at the Schoolhouse beach. Unlike all the other beaches that I have been to, this one has no sand at all; it's all small pebbles which prick your feet and the water is freezing. But it is a nice quiet place for a picnic-not too crowded.

Our drive continued and took us to the Russian river in Monte Rio. It was pretty crowded with people kayaking, swimming and sunbathing. we spent time walking across the small stream and then headed to Sebastapol downtown for a quick bite. We walked around the downtown and ate some hummus and pita at a small Mediterranean place. After that, we drove straight home-tired but content after a relaxing and refreshing vacation.