Minors go to Wine Country

Yesterday was a scholar birthday! Only a 20th, but that didn't stop us from having some awesome plans! Bonnie (birthday girl), Amanda (her roommate), Mark and I went to wine country! (Yes, for a 20th birthday. It was still a great time). We went to two wineries, both very different atmospheres but very enjoyable.

Our first stop was Benziger Winery in Sonoma Valley. It was one of the two wineries I was able to find that specifically said people of all ages would be welcome on their tours. I liked the use of "minor" on our ticket (you'll see why later).


This tour was unique in that we took these elongated golf cart things  out into the vineyards in addition to the general tour about actual winemaking. The winery is on rolling hills and the patterns of the grape vines are beautiful on the landscape. As is with everything else I've done in California, the pictures do it no justice to actually going there and experiencing this. Not only was the landscape at the winery beautiful, but it was surrounded my mountains/hills/whatever you want to call them, and it only added to how
 beautiful the whole experience was. 

Benziger practices biodynamic farming, so it's really eco friendly. We learned about things like water irrigation and animals that help with the farming in addition to general things about growing grapes. One of the neat things they had on display was an actual model of the different levels of soil and how root growth into the different layers is actually really important for the quality of the fruit and absorption of different flavors. Who knew!

The next stop on the tour was the area where they have all the machines to actually make the wine. None are in use right now because it's not picking season, but we learned all about how the grapes come off the stems, what the sorting processes are, and the differences between making reds and whites (which was actually really interesting to learn about, it's a difference in the way they're allowed to ferment).

After visiting all of the wine machinery, we went to the caves where the wine is allowed to age. The entrance was beautiful! Here, we learned all about barrel making and storage. Barrels are EXPENSIVE, and so much work has to go into them to make sure that the wine is perfect! The oak which faces the inside of the barrel can actually be "toasted" to different levels, and each level adds a different type of flavoring to the wine. The caves the barrels are held in also contribute to the "biodynamic"ness of the farm, as the land is being double used - since it's on a hill, they can have grape vines above, caves below!

A visit to the caves completed our winery tour, and next was the tasting room. Bonnie and I, being minors, could not participate, but we were allowed to eat little merlot chocolates that the winery paired with the dessert tasting wine! We were told by the over 21 in our group that the wines were pretty good. The winery did put out some of their best wines, bottled on site, for the tasting, probably because they are a smaller family owned place.

Before leaving, we toured a little walk through outdoor exhibit on biodynamics (the fountain pond in the photo below). They had lots of signs and information about the process which was really neat to learn about beyond what we learned on the tour.

Lunch plans were never decided beforehand, so we asked the people at the winery what they would recommend as a good lunch option. We ended up at Cafe Citti's, a little Italian place. It's super fancy in all aspects except ordering at the counter, and the food was mouthwateringly delicious. I still salivate when I think of that meal. I had a penne with mushrooms and a creamy garlic wine sauce. There is really something to be said about the little, local restaurants, especially little Italian ones out in wine country! It is definitely a place I will remember and would go back to in a heartbeat on future trips to the area. 

The next stop was Sterling Vineyards, about half an

 hour north of Benziger, not in Napa or Sonoma Valley proper. Minors were also allowed on this tour, BUT LOOK AT WHAT IT SAYS ON OUR TICKETS. Children. Pffftttt. 

 This vineyard visit was particularly special in that you took an AERIAL TRAM up to the winery, which is a huge Greek-castle style estate on the top of the hill/mountain. What makes it even more special is that you can see views of that whole area/valley from the tram and the top, which is of course so beautiful. Below are photos from the tram ride up. 

And finally we're at the top! We didn't have the proper views of the castle to take a photo of the whole thing at once, but even in these, it's pretty stunning! In the left photo below, you can see the whole valley peeking out from behind the wall.

This vineyard was a lot bigger and had a lot more of a detached atmosphere than Benziger did. But hey, I'm not complaining about the gorgeous tram ride, views, estate, and allowing of minors on the tour, even if they did call us children. This tour was self-guided through the wine-making and aging facilities, all contained within the estate. As seen by these huge and numerous fermentation tanks (and the GIANT aging barrels below), it's clear that this is a much higher capacity winery. They do also have a large area for small barrel aging, though it's not in a cave, just a very large, cold room. 

As mentioned from the tour at Benziger, the insides of oak barrels can be toasted to different levels to enhance the wines with different types of flavors. Sterling had a great little cheat board talking about the toasting and what the different levels contribute to the wines.

After walking through the estate, we came out to the terrace, which as expected, had an amazing panoramic view of the valley. Amanda and I got fixated on a castle and tower across the way, and I've also included several viewpoints from the terrace. It kind of reminded me of being in a spy movie, where everyone is out on a terrace overlooking a valley, sipping wine, all fancy-like, and there are lots of secret missions going on. I think I was the only one who thought that, though. 

Amanda, me, Mark, and Bonnie on the terrace
in front of the main area of the valley 

The wines here (I'm told) were okay, not as good as the ones from Benziger. Although Sterling did offer a good sampling, it was probably not as fancy as Benziger because they are a lot bigger and probably have a much wider array of wines, and weren't necessarily going to put out their best, grown and bottled on site, wines on the general tour. 

This was the driveway into the winery

And thus ended our day in wine country. I was very sad to leave, and still am thinking about how amazingly pretty this area of California is. It's one of the reasons I love it here so much - EVERYWHERE you go is stunning. But anyway. Visiting wine country was an unforgettable experience, even if I wasn't of age. I learned so much about the wine making process and got to visit two beautiful places (not including the drive there, which was amazing in itself!!!). I feel so fortunate to have been able to visit this magical place.