Thank You, Thank You

Back in the Desert and it's only 100 degrees today! It's good to be home, all though I have picked up the awful cold that plagued my husband and so am feeling yuk-ky. Otherwise I got a very warm reception from all of our four legged children .

To wrap up an incredible week, here is a list of the places visited on our trip for those of you who asked. I hope you will have the pleasure of visiting some of them one day=)

http://www.fountaingroveinn.com/ for all our lodging needs. Special thanks to Debi & Estela

http://www.sausalwinery.com/ for great zins and some of the oldest vines in CA

http://dcgstore.com/ Dry Creek General Store - great boxed lunch, thanks Luis

http://www.drycreekolivecompany.com/ amazing oils, fantastic hosts. Thanks Michelle

http://www.michelschlumberger.com/ incredible wines & gorgeous property. Our host Jerry was tremendous!

http://www.starkrestaurants.com/willis_winebar.html cannot say enough good things about Willi's Wine Bar in Santa Rosa. This was my favorite meal on a trip filled with exceptional meals. Special thanks to Ulrike who went above and beyond for us. A +++++

http://www.cowgirlcreamery.com/ awesome cheeses, very informative - thanks Vivien!

http://www.jacuzziwines.com/ a must do , thanks Theresa & Linda

http://www.sageprovisions.com/ a delicious, incredible lunch! Thanks much to Jesse

http://www.schugwinery.com/schugwinery/index.jsp check out the awesome wine caves! Thanks to Kate

http://www.eldoradosonoma.com/el_dorado_kitchen.html a superb meal - if you can put a group of 20 together book the bridge table!! Many thanks to Gail

http://www.benoviawinery.com/ exceptional wines - but not open to the public! We can order them for you. . .

http://www.foppoliwines.com/ a truly amazing experience - indescribable . . a million thanks Dominic, Whitney, Terri & Richard

http://www.martinelliwinery.com/ great! Thanks so much to Regina

http://www.aristawinery.com/arista/index.jsp beautiful gardens!! Thanks Johanna

http://www.charliepalmer.com/Properties/DryCreekKitchen/ specatuclar!! Thanks so much Lyndsey & DCK team

Also big time thanks to Katie Finn for all of your dedication & of course your fabulous "connections". You are awesome!! Ray - you are the ultimate Captain and I enjoyed being your co-pilot!! Mom - thanks for making it all happen, you did a fantastic job. Big huge thanks to my husband for being my partner in crime for 10 days straight. And to everyone who joined us - what a good time we had, can't wait to see you all in the future.

And that's ALL I have have to say about Sonoma, I promise=)

Friday - On the Road Again

Goodbye Sonoma, hello California Coastline. Heading back down the 101 to the 1, we were greeted at the Golden Gate Bridge by socked-in fog that lasted the whole day. It was gloomy, dreary and beautiful! We stopped just North of Half Moon Bay at a little hidden beach and enjoyed the big surf.

All over the Half Moon Area were the famous pumpkins, getting ready for Halloween.

We stopped in Santa Cruz where Mike & I lived for a year during college. This was Mike's old house, right next door to Natural Bridges beach.

We remembered it being bigger . .

And my really "old" house, a 150 year old victorian right on the corner of Mission and the 1. I swear, it was haunted, and that's all I'm going to say=)

Our home for the night, Carmel-by the-Sea. We walked around for hours, which was delightful, and wound up at Clint Eastwoods Hogs Breath Inn. We had to try the artichoke soup to compare it with the one in La Quinta. Maybe because the artichokes come from nearby Castroville - there was something special about it.

What a fun place.

And with that - we got a good nights rest since we both got sick in the last few days of the trip. The next day was really nothing to write home about - just a quick cut through to the 5 and a boring , non-scenic ride home.

Today is a day of R&R for us in Los Angeles. It has been a lot of fun chronicling our adventures and I hope you enjoyed coming with us, albeit virtually. Our first Cooking with Class trip was a success and we look forward to many more to come, hopefully you will join us=)))))

Thursday

Our first stop on Thursday was the Benovia Winery - a brand new state of the art property built on a former apple orchard. We were super excited about coming here because many of us had tasted the exquisite Benovia Pinot at the school before when we carried it several months ago.



Pinot on the Vine - ready to be picked that day or the next.




We learned that the wire netting is a very expensive bird deterrent.





I had to include a picture of Van #2, chauffeured all week by yours truly.

Our host explaining how varietal grapes are grafted to native American root stock to avoid disease.

As there is no public access to this winery, our tasting room was the barreling room!

Perhaps my favorite wine of the whole week was our last at Benovia - the sweetly complex Zinfandel that was a total surprise to me.

Outside we find the owner himself sorting through grapes by hand before they go into the crusher.

Our next stop was probably the highlight of the trip for many. The truly lovely Foppoli family opened up their family home and welcomed us in like old friends. Our stop began with a tasting of the spectacular chardonnay right in the vineyard under an old oak tree. Dominique Foppoli and his intern Whitney shared the incredible story of their family's journey into making some of the most sought after white wines in California. We were all mesmerized!

Then we ventured up a hill through the cow pasture to an outlook over the spectacular Russian River Valley, while sipping the next wine, Russian River Chardonnay. It was very special and one of the best unoaked chards I've tasted.

Next we sat down in the family's back yard for an amazing lunch & tasting. As time went by we were also treated to meeting the menagerie of Foppoli animals. This is Mike making friends with Luigi - half great dane half italian mastif, if you can imagine the size of him.

We were taken care of by Dominique's lovely mom Terri and his charming father, Richard.

Intermittently, we all got lap visits from "Kitty", and even got in trouble for letting her walk on the table.

Dominique & Richard pose with their amazing wine.

Mom making friends with the Foppoli cows and horses.

This was their adorable mascot, Eeyore.

Di was finally able to make friends with him. I was petrified he was going to kick her!

Next we had an impromptu visit to Martinelli Winery, where Dominique called in a favor and the owner herself, Regina Martinelli met us and tasted us on their 92pt. plus scoring wines. She was super fun, we had a great experience there.

This was our only unplanned stop on the whole trip!

Last stop of the day - Arista Winery. We couldn't wait to check out their famed Japanese gardens. One of the most picturesque things we did all week.

Through the gardens to the knoll where we tasted.

Arista specializes in Pinot Noir.

We had a great time, and the handsome young owner even stopped by to say hello. Some of the ladies reeeaallly enjoyed that.

After a brief rest stop at the hotel, we headed to downtown Healdsberg for our last dinner of the week at the incomparable Charlie Palmer's Dry Creek Kitchen. Our group had a lovely private room in the grounds of the Hotel Healdsberg where we were wined and dined with a seven course chef's tasting menu.

We started with an amuse bouche - a ceviche of hamachi & salmon.

Next we tried the lemon flavored Madeleine topped with smoked Salmon mousse and caviar with ab it of lemony oil & chive.

At this point our chef stopped in to say hello and welcome us. We also enjoyed the sommelier and GM popping in intermittently to speak about each course of food and wine.

This was amazing - seared baby hamachi over a radish & baby greens salad dressed with kaffir lime and champagne vinaigrette with avocado mousse and teeny tiny melon balls.

I forgot to take a before photo of this as I was SO excited to taste it - toasted Farro "risotto" with pesto and pecorino cheese. One of the culinary highlights of the week for me.

Gorgeous local sweet corn and peeled baby tomatoes in a concasse topped with fresh seared Ahi. It was just perfectly executed.

The requisite filet, done expertly, with a rich mushroom puree and roasted artichoke hearts and demiglace. The portion sizes for everything were just right.

My FAVORITE dessert of the week!! Fresh local berries with mini lemon tartlets shaped like flowers over a toasted marshmallow meringue with tart strawberry sorbet. I wanted to go around and finish other peoples plates . . . .

And with that, our amazing week came to a close. We all said our goodbyes that evening as everyone was departing at different times Friday for destinations that varied. Some went on to more wining and dining while other headed home for good. Overall I think everyone had a wonderful, intimate experience in Wine Country.

Sonoma opened it's arms to us in every way and by the end of the week we all were considering a permanent move! I can't say enough good things about the places and people there and will try and post a list of all the places we went with the highest recommendation from myself and our whole group. If you have the chance to visit this beautiful and friendly place, do not hesitate to bypass Napa and head to what is surely one of the most amazing places I've ever had the pleasure to visit.

Wednesday

Wednesday was a packed day of food & wine. We started off at the famous Cowgirl Creamery for a private tour of their cheesemaking factory in Petaluma.




Before we even began we were treated to a tasting of their delicious cottage cheese, unlike any I'd had before.




Our guide was Vivien, whose family dairy farm makes the milk that goes into the cheeses.




We actually got to make our own cheese by adding rennet to fresh milk. Joan got to "cut the cheese"!





The Cheesemaker was fastidiously checking the curds for just the right moment to add the salt.





Here is their famous mt. tam cheese at different lavels of aging. We got to sample some with no aging, 1 week and two weeks of aging. What a difference in taste.

Next we were on to the beautiful Jacuzzi Family Vineyards - a gorgeous property modeled after the family's italian home.

Here is the motley crew in front of the fountain (no one fell in ).

Our private tasting room upstairs, where the ladies pour SIXTEEN wines for us. It was a marathon . . .

We brought in some of the cowgirl "redhawk" cheese for each table to have along with their wines.

The owner graciously shared with us some of his handmade balsamic vinegar that had been aging for over 12 years. We only got one oz between 23 people and it was plenty! SOOOO yummy.

Next we went to Schug Winery - where we toured the grounds and learned all about crush. Here is Katie examining the grounds up close and personal.

Sauv. Blanc grapes after being crushed.

Then we got to venture into the "bunker", an intricate system of wine caves under the ground.

Inside the belly of the beast.

After a few leisurely hours in lovely downtown Sonoma, we dined at the famous El Dorado Kitchen. This is the "Bridge Table", made from a solid piece of reclaimmed redwood right in the center of the restaurant. It was awesome.

First Course - an heirloom tomato & melon salad.

Second - gazpacho with shellfish and an avocado tartar.

Third - lobster rissoto.

Main Course - Filet with crispy miatake mushrroms and potatoes.

Dessert - chocolate shortbreadcovered with ganache, caramel ice cream and fresh caramel. SOO good!