For our 13th Anniversary:
Day #1(Oct. 28)
Flew into LAX and drove to La Purisima Mission.
Stopped at Foley and tasted:
2004 Chard, Barrel Select
2004 Chard, Clone 76
2004 Chard, Clone 96
2001 Pinot, Barrel Select
2004 Syrah, Rancho Santa Rosa
2005 Foley & Phillips Rose
Hotel-Ballard Inn @ Ballard CA
Dinner@ Ballard Inn restaurant
Wine @ Dinner-2003 Foxen-Julia's Pinot
Day #2(Oct. 29)
Tour and Tasting @ Melville-set up w/ Stephen Janes
Tasted:
2004 Chard-Verna's
2004 Chard-Estate
2005 Chard-Clone 76-Inox
2004 Pinot-Verna's
2004 Pinot-Estate
2004 Syrah-Donna's
2005 Viognier-Estate
Tasting @ Stolpman:
2004 Poetry in White
2004 Rosato
2004 Poetry in Red
2004 Nebbiolo
2004 Syrah-Estate
2004 Syrah-Hilltops
Tasting @ Ballard Inn w/ Barry Rossum (very knowledgeable & interesting)
2004 Lane Tanner Pinot
2004 Kenneth-Crawford Pinot
2004 Ken Brown Pinot
2003 Kris Curran Syrah
2003 Kenneth-Crawford Syrah
2003 Ken Brown Syrah
Hotel-Ballard Inn
Dinner @ Brothers Restaurant @ Mattei's Tavern in Los Olivos
Wine @ Dinner-2004 Tantara-Brousseau
Day #3(Oct. 30)
Tour and Tasting @ Fess Parker w/Larry Schaffer
Tasted:
2004 Chard-Ashley's
2005 Viognier
2004 Pinot-Santa Barbara
2003 Syrah-Santa Barbara
2003 Syrah-American Tradition Reserve
2003 Syrah-Rodney's
NV Frontier Red Lot #51
Then Larry took us to do a barrel tasting of his 2005's.
Tasting @ CORE
Next we did a Barrel tasting w/ David Corey @ Central Coast Wine Services in
Santa Maria. We tasted alot of barrels including Mourvedre, Cabernet, Syrah,
Grenache, Cab Franc and Merlot. The latter 2 were for a wine he is making for
some relatives.
Hotel-Villa Toscana @ Paso Robles (Sensational Bed and Breakfast @ Martin &
Weyrich Winery)
Dinner @Bistro Laurent
Wine @ Dinner-2004 Saxum-Broken Stones Syrah
Day #4(Oct.31)
Tasting @ L'Aventure with Emily
Tasted:
2005 Roussanne-Estate
2004 Optimas
2003 Syrah-Estate
2001 Estate Cuvee
Tasting @ Linne Calodo w/ Roseanne Rianda
Tasted:
2005 Contrarian-Roussanne/Viognier
2004 Outsider-Zin/Syrah/Mourvedre
2004 Nemesis-Syrah/Mourvedre/Grenache
2004 Rising Tides-Syrah/Grenache/Mourvedre
2004 Sticks & Stones-Grenache/Syrah/Mourvedre
Tasting @ Zin Alley w/ Frank Nerelli
Tasted:
2005 Zinfandel
2004 Zinfandel Port
2004 Nerelli After Hours Dessert Wine
Tasting @ Villa Toscana-Martin & Weyrich Wines
Tasted:
2005 Pinot Grigio
2004 Chard-Edna Valley
2002 Sangiovese Il Palio
2002 Nebbiolo
2004 Zinfandel La Primitiva
Hotel-Villa Toscana
Dinner @ Villa Creek w/Cris Cherry
We asked Cris to pick 1 of his wines to pair with our dinner and he sent us a
flight of each of his wines:
2005 Pink-Rose
2004 Avenger-James Berry and Denner
2004 Grenache-Denner
2004 High Road-James Berry
2004 Mas de Maha -Ohana & Denner
2004 Willow Creek Cuvee-Berry & Denner
We bought a 2004 Avenger for dinner.
Day #5(Nov.1)
Tour and Tasting @ Tablas Creek with Sara
Tasted:
2005 Cotes de Tablas Blanc
2003 Roussanne
2004 Esprit de Beaucastel Blanc
2005 Rose
2004 Mourvedre
2003 Esprit de Beaucastel
2004 Esprit de Beaucastel
Tour @ Villa Creek w/ Joann Cherry
Joann showed us around the Cherry's brand new winery(still partially under
construction). The Cherry's are a wonderful family owned winery.
Tasting @ Four Vines:
2005 Chard-Naked
2004 Zin-the Sophisticate
2004 Zin-The Maverick
2004 Zin-The Biker
2004 Zin-Dusi
2004 Anarchy Rhone Blend
2002 Zin Syrah Port
Tasting @ Garretson Wine w/ Mat Garretson
This lasted about 2 hours. We had a blast talking with the Georgia bulldog's
best fan (Mat). We also met Justin Smith of Saxum who dropped by to borrow
something from Mat.
Tasted:
2005 Roussanne-The Limoid Cior
2005 Viognier
2004 Syrah-The Aisling
2004 Syrah-The Luacsain
2004 Syrah-The Bulladoir
2003 White-The Reliquary
2003 Red-The Reliquary
2005 G White
2005 Rose-The Celeidh
2004 G Red
2004 Mourvedre-The Graosta
2004 Syrah-The Craic
Hotel-Villa Toscana
Dinner @ Gaetano w/ Gaetano Marsano
Wine with dinner-2004 Domain Alfred-Califa Pinot
Day # 6(Nov.2)
Drove to San Simeon and did a Hearst Castle Tour-nice little 70000 SF summer
home for the Hearsts.
Drove to Carmel Valley.
Hotel-Bernardus Inn
Dinner @ Marinus @ the Bernardus Inn
Wine w/dinner-Billecart Salmon Brut Champagne & 1999 Forman Cab
Also had a 2003 Bernardus Sauvignon Blanc-Griva when we arrived at the Inn.
Day #7(Nov.3)
Shopped in Carmel by the Sea and then drove to San Francisco.
Hotel-White Swan Inn
Dinner @ the Dining Room @ The Ritz Carlton
Wine with dinner-Gosset Rose Champagne and 2004 Merry Edwards-Olivet Lane Pinot
Day #8(Nov. 4)
Unfortunately we had to fly back to Memphis.
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