CALIFORNIA DREAMIN'

As I had said under miscellaneous Comments, I had written a post earlier about my California trip, but it somehow did not get published. When I write about wines, I do so in a Word document first and then copy and paste onto the blog. In that case (and when I write various other comments like this one), I write it directly into the blog. Anyway, while I won't be able to remember the details I had written before, I will briefly discuss the trip as it is somewhat wine related.

My wife's family had a wonderful reunion in San Diego at the end of July. It included a Hawaiian-themed party (during which I tasted an Amarone for the first time thanks to my brother-in-law), a day at the beach, and a great breakfast in Old Town among other events. My son and I slipped off for a tour of Petco Park, which is a beautiful stadium. I learned an excellent rule from someone who has commented on this blog before (and who I met for the first time here). The rule is "Over 90, under 20," meaning that it has a rating of 90 or above from one of the rating entities and cost less than $20 bottle.

After the reunion, my wife and I took the Pacific Surfliner (Amtrak) up the coast to Ventura. It was a beautiful ride, mostly along the coast with a stop in LA. After an enjoyable time in Ventura, we rented a car and drove up to Arroyo Grande (near San Luis Obispo). Along the way, we stopped for a vine tasting at the Brander Vineyards where we sampled five wines. Brander is in the Santa Ynez Valley. A little further along we stopped at the Melville Vineyards in the Santa Rita Hills (which is its own appellation) and I sampled another 8 wines. My wife then assumed driving duty and we completed our journey to Arroyo Grande where enjoyed a lovely time in a Starbucks with my in-laws, had a lovely dinner on the waterfront in Morro Bay, and a nice lunch at Avila Beach.

No sooner have we returned than we are making plans for our next trip to California right after Christmas -- this time to Monterey and Pebble Beach for the wedding of our niece. I hope to get in a winery visit on that trip as well.