Vineman 70.3 - The Wine Report

And I continue....this is the last part of my Sonoma post, I promise!  Did I mention we had an awesome time in Sonoma - hence my three-part post - if you haven't read the lsat two here they are...

Vineman 70.3 Race Report

Vineman 70.3 - The Beer Report

and now the Wine Report...
 As reported from the "Beer Report" we hung out with all the cool kids at Russian River.  The next day we opted to do some wine tasting and were able to meet up with Beth and James at couple wineries in the Dry Creek Valley area in Healdsburg.

Sidebar:  I am completely obsessed with Giada....She had a show called Giada's Weekend Getaways where she went to different locations, similar to Rachel Ray, and gave a synopsis of restaurants and things to do.  One of the episodes that I happen to bookmark on the food network site was on Sonoma (I knew I would eventually get there) and honestly I had it burned in my brain when she did the cave tours at Bella Wine Caves and had dinner at Zin....so that was on my list.

We drove out to Bella Wine Caves first.  We missed the 11am tour of the caves but went in the tasting rooms to find Brandy, another awesome triathlete, wine tasting with her family, before leaving telling us that she always gets a bottle of their dessert wine.  We did the tasting for about $10 and sure enough, we walked out with two bottles of the dessert wine...it was awesome - 2009 Late Picked Zinfandel.  The vineyard is beautiful, it was a definite must-see and I would recommend doing the cave tours.

From there we went to Ferrari Carano which I had heard was beautiful and it was!

However, the wine was ehhhhh....little too commercial for our tastes but the four of us took some great pictures by the grounds

Mike and his photography

Team Walsh

Vineyards were the perfect backdrop

Mike and I finally getting a picture together during the trip

Next we headed over to Truett-Hurst - our hotel recommended this and said they were a relatively new winery (2007) and had an incredible zin.  This was by far the best tasting and the people that worked there were awesome.  I think the part that sold me was that they told us we could buy a bottle of rose, salami and cheese and sit by the creek....this reminded me of wine tasting in Italy.

That night, Mike and I ate at Zin which was great!  I had the short ribs that were cooked in a zinfandel (Giada had this I might add).  Menu was great, good prices and good wine.  AND we loved that town of Healdsburg.

The next day was our last day before we ventured back to San Francisco.  We initially planned on going to Lagunitas brewery but they were closed.  So, we planned on doing the Korbel tour, go to the Redwood Forest then head to Russian River to pick up a shirt and eat at Third Street Aleworks....UNTIL, we decided that we had 10 bottles and we needed 2 more to make it worth it to ship....hence more wine tasting.

Which leads us to Korbel  ...
 

 The delicatessen there had some great sandwiches and salads.  We also found out this was the original home of Russian River Brewery before they sold it because the hops got in the way of the champagne grapes, interesting...Anyway, the tour there is great and really gives you a good history lesson of the county and the Korbel family.

 

From the tour, you then proceed to try out 4 champagnes.  We didn't find anything we were in love with so that's when we decided to ditch the redwoods and head for the hills (I am singing a little Iron Maiden as I type), the wine hills that is...

We then went to Thomas George where we bought a really nice Pinot Noir.  The woman there told us that there was a really nice rose at Rochioli.  We then headed there which was next to the Hop Kiln (again kicking myself that we didn't stop).  We also passed by this really cool barn where Mike took some photos.

At Rochioli, there are only 2 wines to taste and they were sold out of the Rose....booo...but the other couple tasting said they had an incredible Chardonnay, so we tried and fell in love....and bought our last of the two bottles we needed to ship the case!!

We were then recommended to go through Fitch Mountain Packaging in Healdsburg to ship the wine.  It is a small company but ended up being a little less than shipping through UPS.  I recommend as they can hold your wine to wait for a refrigerated truck...so we are waiting for the wine, should come soon!!!!
And that's all I have to report - I miss it already, but this just gives me more reason to come back to Sonoma for racing and vacation!!

Vineman 70.3 - The Beer Report

The race was only part of the great experience I had a week and a half ago.  I decided to dedicate an entire post on the beer and wine in Sonoma County.  However, I don't want to bore you so I am doing this in a two parts - BEER report and then the WINE report.

Many call Sonoma county wine country, however, in my opinion, it is safe to say it is also beer country.  Don't get me wrong I don't want to take anything away from the phenomenal Zins and Pinots I tasted in the area.  I love my wine too, but my husband and I have a love for "fine craft beer."

Below is a picture of the Sonoma wine regions and I have placed locators to some of the craft beer distributors in the area as well:  Bear Republic, Russian River, Third Street Aleworks and Lagunitas.

 

 I learned a few things as I was trying to figure out WHY there were so many pale ales in this area.  Through some wikipedia research and googling, I found that Sonoma County was a major producer of hops in the US.  There are still hop kilns (buildings they used to dry the hops) standing in Sonoma County.  Check out Hop Kiln Winery to look at one.  We passed by it a few times, and now we both wished we stopped.  Anyway, in my non-expert opinion, I believe that this is why there are so many pale ales in Sonoma County.

Russian River Brewery

One of the first nights, we were there we decided to check out Russian River which would later be our post-race party location.  Mike is a big fan but you can only get it in PA and not NJ and it isn't that common to have the Pliny on tap.  Russian River Brewery has not only excellent beers but makes awesome pizzas.  If you go, check out the Mama Mia (pepperoni, pineapple and jalepenos) pie, it is great!  This also went great with my Pliny the Elder...

which I found was not overly hoppy, had some orange and peach notes, and if you go to beer advocate there is a reason they give this an A+.  Really a good IPA and perfect with the pizza.of which we later took home a growler...

Other beers on the menu...

One of the beers we were hoping to try became my new favorites Consecration and Supplication (later of which I developed a mantra using "Pliny, Consecration, Supplication and Pizza" to get me through the 70.3 race...).  Now both of these beers are sour, so if you don't like sour beers you may not like them.  Consecration is brewed in Cabernet barrels and Supplication is brewed in Pinot Noir.  What I found to be interesting is with both of the beers, you smelled the wine (oak, tannins, dark cherry fruit).  It combined my two loves beer and wine....Can you tell I was in love with this!!  I'll tell you what, if I can ever get this at home, I would love to make a nice flank steak and roasted rosemary potatoes with a consecreation....heaven, I think it would be...

Anyhow, moving along, we had an excellent post-race party with some new friends enjoying the post-race euphoria and our excitement for beer.  

They also do great music and have really cool t-shirts made from Organic cotton...

I went to Sonoma county and all I got was this awesome t-shirt

Bear Republic Brewery

Very cool brewery in the cute town of Headlsburg.  It is right off the main square, and there was someone cooking pesto garlic oysters on the BBQ at the brewery....Phenomenal....and went amazing with their Hop Rod Rye IPA.  Another very good IPA - I would say you could taste a little spice from the rye and just a little sweetness while a nice hoppy flavor...

Lagunitas Brewery
 This brewery we were hoping to go to but unfortunately is closed on Monday and Tuesday - BOOOO!  HISS!  However, we had some just because, even though we can get their IPA anywhere....I really don't have a whole lot to say here, except it is on my to-do list for next time...

Third Street Aleworks
Mike tried the Oatmeal Stout.  I think the beers were okay, especially given that it is right around the corner from RR, which is no comparison....Anyway, the food was very good - fish tacos and Mike had the burger.  Would definitely recommend for a nice night of eating outside and chill atmosphere.

That concludes my beer report....Cheers!!

 

Next up....Wine Report of Sonoma