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I'm listening to Oingo Boingo while I begin this journal. I'm randomly selecting songs from my MP3 collection and they came up. I'm writing to compose a diary of the planning, preparing, and completion of a vacation my wife and I are taking early next year. I started planning it about a week ago and decided to make a page about it.
I've been yearning to take a long drive up the west coast for as long and I came remember and I've finally been able to have the money and the time to do it. Over the last couple of years I've become interested in wine (drinking it). Moreover, since my very short vacation with my in-laws in Sonoma, I have grown an insatiable appetite for learning everything I can about wine. We have gone to UNLVino several times as well as frequently try different wines from around the world. We usually get two to five bottles a week.
I've decided to combine our ocean drive with a wine tour. I'm using my magazine subscription to Wine Spectator as a reference. 10 days is all we have to visit as many vineyards, wineries, and tasting bars as we can. First, I had to narrow the regions we are going to visit then, secondly, I had to decide which vineyards to visit. We could just stay two weeks in Napa and have a great time but, we wouldn't be able to drive the coastline. So, a little bit of each region is the goal.
A serious blow was given to my illustrious wine journey. My wife told me I'm crazy to want to spend so much time and money on a wine trip. She has arbitrarily slashed my vacation budget by 2/3(!). This is a major set back. Fortunately, I am a naturally optimistic person and I'll be able to convince her to change her mind by the time spring rolls around.
I've collected information on 62 vineyards and wineries in 10 different regions.
I'm sure some regions will need to be combined and others will need to be eliminated altogether; although, as I've learned from my days in college, it is better to start with too much information and edit out than the other way around.
I convinced my wife to make it a 9-day trip instead of her ruling for 7 days.
However, I had to make a few concessions. We have to go to Sea
World (yeah whatever!) and visit her relatives in San Deigo and her buddy
in L. A. She doesn't realize all that time wasted can be harnessed to discover
a hidden treasure up in them 'dar wine hills.
I plotted a rudimentary
course
to encompass a 9-day round trip. We'll head straight to Temecula and sample
a few wineries. I'm not expecting to find anything really good; yet, I might
find a little gem. Then we're off to San Diego. After a night there, we'll take
the scenic drive up the coast and stop in Solvang, CA. Solvang is centrally
located in the Santa Barbara wine country. Day three starts up the coast through
San Luis Obispo, Paso Robles, and call it a day in Monterey. We'll take in a
light lunch in a boutique cafe in San Francisco, sight see a little, and finish
up north of sonoma valley in Windsor CA. Sonoma and Napa are so important to
our wine tour that we're going to stay two full days and nights there. After
that, it's a long drive up the coast and a cut back into wine country in willamette
valley south of Portland. After Portland, we'll drive into Washington and find
ourselves near Walla Walla. We'll drive to Reno and see how it compares to Las
Vegas. Then, it's back home through central Nevada taking Hwy 375 - The Extraterrestrial
Hwy. The round trip will take about 3000 miles.
I added 10 wineries to the list. There's mostly in the Paso Robles area. I'll
probably hit 100 vineyards before I'm done. Then, the grim task of whittling
down the list to fit our budget and timeline.
The list is up to 80 vineyards and wineries. It's mostly in the Santa Cruz region. I already know I need to cut out a big chuck. My wife has dropped the gavel once again and said the vineyards are inconsequential and I need to forget about the "wine" in wine trip. I need to do something or my wife will threaten to cancel the whole thing.
I got back e-mails replies to a few well-know vineyards regarding tasting and tours. A resounding "No" was what I got. Too bad, I would have really liked to be able to see what all the hoopla is about. I add a few more wineries to the list. It's up to 90. I've been thinking about the mileage involved for the trip. I fear I might have to cut something out even without my wife's incessant "wine tour" bashing. I planned for 10 days for the trip. I may be able to add one day. Even with that, I won't be able to appreciate the wines and regions. I need to think hard and long about what needs to be done.
I've been busy working on other projects lately. I keep getting "no visitors" replies for wineries. I'll just keep trying. I was looking forward to going to the Lee's Wine Experience; alas, a friend decided to get married. Wouldn't you know it, it was on the same night. I really wanted to go, too.
This page was looking a little bland so I added a simple wine-theme style and I added a back link to the main page. I found a wine cellar in town that offers tastings on the weekend. I'm going to get the Mrs. to go with me this weekend. If we have a good experience I'll name the place in a future journal entry. I've added a few more vineyards to the list. I also added a few—six—restaurants that are known to focus on wine pairing. I'd like to try them.
Wine Spectator came out with their top
100
wines for 2005. The list looks pretty good. Unfortunately, a lot of the wines on the list were never
available to the public (only to mailing-list members), sold out, or not distributed in Las Vegas. I did
find a few that seem promising so I added them to the list.
Regarding the wine cellar we visited, it was nice and quaint and they had a good selection of high end
wines but, the prices they charge is extreme. It was like ordering a bottle at
Aureole.
I also added an Italian restaurant in Malibu, CA, called
Allegria
that has great calamari and a nice wine selection.
It's been a while since I added anything. I've been busy with clients, family, and the holidays.
It looks like the whole trip is going to get abbreviated greatly. The trip is going to be confined to
Southern California and only for a week. That's O.K. We can have a great time in one week.
The local PBS television station,
KLVX, is having a wine
tasting event called,
Splendor in the Glass,
on the 20th of January at the
Las Vegas Hilton.
I can't say that I'll go since they won't say which wineries are being represented. I don't want to go
and spend money if they're just highlighting the best of Nevada wines.