Go Wine Tasting In The Stellenbosch Winelands

When a social network profile asks me to lists my hobbies, I always type wine tasting as one of them.  It is a legitimate hobby right?

Pinky in the air, sniffing the wine,  gently swirling the glass to inspect the legs, and describing to the wine sommelier the aromas and flavors I smell and taste in the biggest words I know.  Yep, that's me in a wine tasting nutshell. *cough* wine snob *cough*

I have officially gone wine tasting in five continents, and wine tasting in Stellenbosch has been my faaaaave.  I don't normally like to buy many souvenirs when I'm on the road, but I do like to save my wine corks when I travel.  I have an apothecary jar filled with corks that I have collected during my travels.  The corks are small and light, and bring back fond memories of my journeys. 

I knew I was going to love South Africa when my Bed & Breakfast welcomed me with some yummy South African wine.   The key to my heart!

Because I was traveling solo through Cape Town I decided to take a day tour for the 45 minute drive to Stellenbosch.  On another note I made it onto the tours video, specifically near the beginning when you see three people walking through the wine cellar.  Just more proof that I'm one famous chick loser!

Julius, my guide, picked me up at my bed and breakfast, and then we picked up a sweet gay couple from New York City.  The four of us headed to Stellenbosch and first stopped at J.C. Le Roux Winery.

J.C. Le Roux Winery specializes in sparkling wine, and I love me some bubbly.  I was able to easily find a bottle of J.C. Le Roux in many grocery stores throughout Africa, and even bought a bottle to enjoy during the evenings.

 Champagne in tin camping cups.  That's how I roll.

My favorite champagne at the tasting was La Vallee.

We then headed to Spier Winery to pet some cheetahs.  Just any average day of wine tasting.

Our next stop was Asara Winery.  I chose the white flight along with the rest of the group.  Not only did we love bubbly, but we also loved our whites.  The Asara Winery was stunning.  The grounds were open and beautiful, and it's no surprise that it's a constant spot for weddings.  The Winery also has a hotel, conference rooms and restaurants.

Do you notice something in the photos above?  NO PEOPLE! This is one of many reasons why I loved wine tasting in Stellenbosch.  I'm used to the pushing and shoving just to get an arm in for them to pour my next wine.  Every tasting I was allowed to sit at a table, and the sommeliers came to me to pour my next wine.  The absence of people made me feel like I got a special invite to a private winery, and it made for such a peaceful and relaxing experience.

We made another stop before lunch at Rust En Vrede.  This was a smaller winery with predominately red wines.  Great weather and a table outdoors created a perfect setting.  The restaurant at Rust En Vrede is supposedly amazing, but I didn't stick around to try it.

For lunch we headed to Dornier Winery.  The restaurant at Dornier opened up to stunning views of the Stellenbosch mountains making for a lovely ambiance.  Fittingly, we each accompanied our meals with a glass of wine.  By then we had enough alcohol in our systems that we were borderline lushes, however we acted as we were all old friends that had known each other for years.  It's amazing what a bit a lot of wine can do to a person!

Like the saying goes, all great things must come to an end, and the finale to our day was Waterford Estate.  It certainly did not disappoint, in fact, Waterford was my favorite winery of the day.  Our tasting was paired with bars of chocolate that complimented each wine.  Yes, I said CHOCOLATE!  The other key to my heart, I was officially in pure bliss!  After our tasting we were given a great tour of the cellar and production area.  The grounds were lovely, and reminded me of a Tuscan Vineyard.

As an added bonus, a few days after my Stellenbosch trip I visited Org de Rac, an organic vineyard located in the Western Cape.  This was my first time visiting an organic winery, and I even received an extensive tour of the vineyard.  It wasn't the best tasting wine, but we were all given a full bottle of complimentary wine for the road. 

Stellenbosch exceeded all my expectations.  If you have some time to spare in Cape Town, and you love wine and unbelievable vistas, then a trip out to the Stellenbosch Winelands needs to be on your to-do list.

Date Accomplished:  September 5th, 2010

Destination Uncovered: Temecula Wine Valley // Temecula, California

October 8th, 2012

I feel like a bona fide travel blogger now.  This is my second blog posting while traveling through Pennsylvania (Pittsburgh and Philadelphia to be exact). 

Just two days before leaving for Pennsylvania I spent a weekend in Los Angeles to attend a bonfire, before heading back down to the Temecula Wine Valley.  I love Temecula. No, no, no...I HEART Temecula.

Here are five reasons why I just HEART Temecula:

1.  The Wine Tasting is generally a lot cheaper in Temecula than in Napa and Sonoma.  The biggest plus is that most places pour generously.

Does my face, which is still bandaged up from my cancer surgery, show how excited I am to go wine tasting?  I believe so.

At this winery, I nearly jumped for joy when they poured my glass halfway!  I know it's a TASTING, but the wine was so delicious here so I didn't mind.  Because most wineries in Temecula pour so generously, you can easily share one tasting among two people (that means you save MORE money!). 

2.  The Wineries are within close proximity of each other, so in approximately a span of a mile you can hit several wineries. 

Have you seen gas prices lately?  I don't think you want to drive too much, and too far to just get some wine.

3.  It's a great weekend getaway for Southern Californians.  It is completely drive-able from San Diego (one hour) and Los Angeles (1-2 hours). 

A group of us squeezed into our cars to make the trek down to Temecula.  There are several hotels and bed and breakfast joints in the area.  Just north of Temecula is the mother of all spas, Glen Ivy!  It also makes a perfect couple getaway.

4.  The Wineries are BEAUTIFUL! 

I can spend hours  just touring the winery grounds, or frolicking in the vineyards.

Most wineries offer great views, and great restaurants too.

5.  The biggest reason to go to Temecula, is that the wine makes MOST people silly, happy, or all of the above.  We all need a little bit of happiness in our lives, right?

The day before our Temecula trip my friend got majorly shit on by a bird.  It was ALL OVER HIS FACE. 

After a few wine tastings, we decided to make even more fun of the situation by practicing our new pose, "Do The Bird Shit."

Getting pooped on isn't fun, but drinking wine and pretending you are getting pooped on is fun.  Don't believe me?  I don't know how a group of people could look so happy to be pooped on, even if it's just pretend.

Wine tasting is best done with people you like, and because I like my readers, I am disclosing one of my favorite areas in Southern California.

Because I love you more than you could imagine, here are some of my favorite wineries....

• Mount Palomar- I love the whites and the cream sherry here.  They just opened a new restaurant as well!
• Callaway- Tastings are $15, but the pours are some of the most generous I have ever seen.  The whites here are so yummy!  They even have sparkling wine to try!  
• Miramonte- The Sangria here is amazing!
• Ponte- It gets a little busy, but I love the grounds, and I have had some yummy food at the restaurant.
• Leonesse-  This place has probably my favorite view of all of Temecula Wine Valley.
• Robert Renzoni Vineyards-  I haven't visited in years, but when I went Robert himself poured our wine.  The wine was delicious.

P.S.  A lot of the wineries also include a free wine glass with your tasting.  

Old Town Sacramento & Wine Tasting

May 15th,  2011

Two weeks ago I got the chance to finally visit Yosemite (post to follow in the next few days).  Along with a fabulous trip to Yosemite I was also able to squeeze in a trip to do some wine tasting, and a quick stop to Old Town Sacramento before heading to the airport.

My friend lives by a small wine country that we always visit when I am in town.  The wineries definitely aren't as big and fancy like the ones in Napa and Sonoma. The best part of the "hole in the wall" wine country is the crowd factor....often times we are the only ones tasting at the winery!  We can act like the silly lushes that we are without the company of others to scrutinize our actions.

St Jorge Winery..we were the only ones in the tasting room.  Delicious wines...but just a bit pricey.

 A successful Photobomber!

 Random phone booth (minus the phone) in the middle of the winery....felt like I was in London!

 I skipped the tasting, and had a bellini instead

What did I say...we are silly lushes!

Walking around the winery with the bestie

On the way to the airport we had a few hours to kill so we stopped by Old Town Sacramento.  No doubt, it was a bit of a tourist trap, but it was a cute tourist trap at that!  It had cute little shops, restaurants, a view of the riverfront, an old railroad cutting through town, all mixed with an Old Western feel. 

 Amy and Lily walking around Old Town Sacramento

 Me with Lily

 "I've been working on the railroad..."

 Silly photo shoot in an alley

One of the only photos of Amy where she didn't pose for a mug shot

Happy Hour....We got all of that, plus another basket of wings for less than $30.  SO GOOD!

This will probably be my last time flying into Sacramento since my friend will be moving to New Orleans next month...so I guess I will be shifting my annual visits to New Orleans!  Hey...I really can't complain!

Go Wine Tasting In Sonoma

I love wine tasting, and that's an understatement.   I have had the pleasure of wine tasting all over the world, so it may seem hard to believe for most people that I had never gone to Sonoma (I had been to its famous neighbor Napa twice).

 

I flew in to Sacramento on a Friday, and hung out at a local winery by my friends house as merely a warm-up.  That night we mapped out our wine agenda for the following day.  Excited, and equipped with sober bellies we headed to Sonoma driving on one lane roads (which proved to be very frustrating especially as a passenger to a speed demon, and slow drivers taking over the roads).  We checked into our awesome priceline hotel (a resort style Hyatt for $48 a night...yay for going during the low season).  

We ate at two places we found on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives.  Great food, especially breakfast at Hank's Creekside Restaurant.  Do most people in the South eat this type of stuff every morning?  It was good, but it was a total heart attack on a platter.  Give Sonoma a point for having decently yummy food that doesn't have to break the bank.

Now onto the wineries.  We got a Wine Road Pass for $25 to get free tastings at 50 different wineries in Sonoma County.  The kicker is that the pass is only good for that day, so unless you can teleport yourself through 50 wineries in one day, and you have a body that has no effect on alcohol, then forget about making it to 50 wineries!  We got to our first winery at roughly 1PM, and finished our 7th winery by 5PM.  By the last two wineries we were literally speeding through tight, windy roads to get our "money's worth."  It truly was like the Amazing Race: Sonoma Wine Trail edition, and we would be the nurse and doctor team.  :)

Sonoma County is A LOT more spread out than Napa, so we were amazed that we made it to 7 wineries in a 4 hour time span!  My favorite winery was  Francis Ford Copolla's Winery.  That was the only winery where I did not dump any of my wine tastings.  The best part?  They sell their wine in stores I frequent (like Costco!), and oddly enough the wine is actually cheaper at Costco than at the actual winery.  Go figure.

Date Accomplished: February 20th, 2010