#WRBT Second Saturday 2012
BT many years back at Pedroncelli Winery, one of the original Founding 9 along Wine Road.
I head out along Wine Road with Ray Johnson, the Director of the Wine Business Institute at Sonoma State University, wine lover, writer, world traveler and general all around bon vivant. He is my Guest Star today and it is wonderful to see how many of our members know and love him from his classes, wine judging and Sonoma County presence.
Ray at Trione Winery.
So off we head along Wine Road for our 34th Annual BT:
The “staged” photo from which the BT poster will be born….
BT Poster 2012 by Richard Sheppard.
Wine Road Event Flag…144 winery participants in 2012: The largest Wine Event in California (even bigger than the Catalina Wine Mixer.)
Ray and I take Dry Creek Road north and, at just about exactly one mile out, we arrive at West Wines, one of our new members, under the large oak tree, right in the vines.
West Wines.
Ray at the West Wines TR Bar, tasting the finished cab sauv.
Ray with Katarina Bonde, Proprietor.
Traveling north, we arrive at Rued Winery, snuggled in the vineyards:
Welcome to Rued! Cute Winery Dog!!
Ray is welcomed at Rued, starting with some finished whites….
Let the thieving begin! Eponymous Richard Rued himself provides the barrel sample to Ray….
Meeting of the wine minds….
Back on the Wine Road heading north to Kachina Vineyards, dramatic entrance along their private drive past estate vineyards, just past the iron gates we arrive at this dreamy version of Tuscany: (like in deMaurier’s REBECCA as envisioned by Hitchcock…but I digress….)
Nancy Chambers, co-proprietor and winemaker for whites, barrel sampling her chardonnay.
Greg Chambers, co-proprietor and winemaker for reds, converses with Ray.
Heading yet even further north, Ray and I arrive at another new Wine Road member: Chateau Diana, nestled into her garden-covered hillside:
Chateau Diana TR.
Chateau Diana’s cool Quonset- BT site supreme….
I am quite an admirer of Quonsets….
Ray and winery family member, Emily Manning.
Ray samples from the barrels at Chateau Diana….
Heading over Canyon Road east, we arrive in Geyserville for lunch at famous and very popular Catelli’s: (Lady Gaga was here just the other day- in our neck of the woods, Ray has similar fame, but not the wardrobe or dance moves.)
Excellent Italian fare- nicely complemented by 2010 Mauritson DCV Sauvignon Blanc.
Heading just down the road to Geyserville Mud: Delicious espresso!
Ray and I dodged the Paparazzi- though we met a nice chap who stopped me on the street (I now wear a Wine Road Tracy Logan badge when out- well, when out working….) to tell us that he had come all the way from Scotland to enjoy this wonderful time with friends.
Domenica Catelli and Lady Gaga- apparently not as elusive as Tracy and Ray….
Heading south on Geyserville Avenue, we arrive in Alexander-Valle- housed Trione Winery, spectacular in its stone-worked-vintage-historical-vineyard-encircled setting:
Friendly staffer, Andrew, mans the bar and tells the story of Trione.
We are asked upstairs to sample some food and wine pairings….
The view:
Upstairs on the deck at Trione…unbelievable….
Our guide to the Trione Wines is winemaker Scot Covington, gracious, kind, funny and knowledgeable. I am amazed at the incredible wealth of wine knowledge embodied in Ray and Scot and honored, and a little cowed, to be included in this heady wine conversation. (Scot is very elusive, it would seem, and the Paparazzi were not successful in snapping him.)
Oh what a time we had….
Here’s looking at you, kids.
TR
Does Jack London appreciate this?
Excellent Italian fare- nicely complimented (complemented is the correct word) 2010 Mauritson DCV Sauvignon Blanc.
under Catelli’s
Joanne- you are absolutely correct- and I have fixed the word….Thanks! Even WineTimeTR sometimes grows weary of compliment/complement, principle/principal, stationary/stationery….TR