Wine country in Northern California is beautiful in in July. Green is everywhere, especially on the vine and on the plate. I just returned from a week in Napa and Sonoma tasting for our Direct-To-You program as well as our Block series wines and Jackie label. As expected, we tasted plenty of wines but were careful in our selection. This was the first tasting/buying trip I have made to California, but I hope to make it an annual event.

We began our tasting at Clos Pegase, tasting with Oakville East Exposure Owner Elliot Stern. From there we rushed for a tasting and dinner with Rob and Kat McDonald, who bring us The Girls in the Vineyard, Rugged Hills and Circadia wines. Dinner was free range chicken and a trio of simply awesome salads. After dinner and a few more wines, including old magnums of Yarra Yering and Cullen Estate (Aussie, I know, but Rob is an Aussie and had imported these and other top Aussie wines earlier in his career) we drove out to the Cline ‘Pool House’ in the Sonoma Coast AVA to spend the first few nights. What a lovely stay!

Shayne and Elliot Stern at Clos Pegase

The next morning, we began with a stand-up breakfast at Joel Gott’s diner in St. Helena, Taylor Refresher. If you are ever in St. Helena or even close, make this place a must stop! On to Whitehall Lane, where we found a lot of available wines for our labels, including Vintners Mark 3 and the wine designed by our Facebook fans, Infinite Vine, as well as a few Block wines. The Leonardinis’ have it working on all four cylinders and are wonderful hosts! From there we drove to Raymond, for a tour, lunch and tasting with John Charles Boisset and his wine making staff. Another impressive winery, and more ‘finds’ for ABC! After this relaxing visit, we drove to Black Stallion, the jewel in the Delicato crown. Our boardroom style tasting uncovered another treasure trove of available wines, which we happily bought! Then dinner outside, where the salad selection was stunning--fresh beet and beet green salad, heirloom tomatoes… so much green I don’t remember ever eating so healthy!

Chef preparing dinner at Black Stallion, Napa

The next morning we began at Cline, our hosts for the week, where we found a lovely Zinfandel for our Block label as well as a few other bottles which will make their way to us soon. The Directors took us up to their working farm on the Sonoma Coast, where they invite people from the trade to spend three months working the farm, harvesting, getting dirty, and learning a different side of the business! Then on to Kunde, who will be supplying us with a few new Pinot Noir and Chardonnay selections. We tasted the upcoming vintage for our Jackie line of wines, and I can assure you these will be the best yet! They prepared a lunch for us up at the top of their vineyards, where you could view the entire Sonoma Valley appellation—simply gorgeous! We hated to leave, but Clay Shannon up in Lake County was preparing dinner, so we hit the road. After a few hours of driving straight uphill, we finally ended up on the pristine banks of Clear Lake and Vigilance winery. Here they produce Vigilance, Dalliance and a few other wines we love. Clay also has a few sheep on the ranch, hundreds in fact, that help in pruning and ground maintenance. They also taste very good! We snacked on lamb ribs during the tasting and ended the day
with inch and a half thick med-rare lamb burgers stuffed with goat cheese. Do I need to say more?

They don't call Sonoma "Valley of the Moon" for nothing!

All in all, for my first trip back to California in quite a few years, it was spectacular! The people, the wines, and of course, the foods! I think I need to make this trip twice a year…let’s see if I can get that in my contract!

Shayne Hebert, Central Florida Wine Supervisor. Follow Shayne on Twitter @abcwineshayne