June 6th – met FL friends at Domaine Carneros for a lovely tasting and a great introduction to the beautiful settings we hope to encounter as we wander Napa & Sonoma valleys. Champagne at 11:30 was a good start.

Close by was Cline and their rich reds.

Our VRBO was right off Sonoma Square – we dined & wandered around the town.

June7th- off to Cliff Lede Vineyards for wine tasting and rock and roll music. Most vineyards name the vine plots Chardonnay 1, 2,3…etc. Not this vineyard they are named after classic rock songs from “My Generation” to “Dark Side of the Moon”. Bill, our tasting host, was the most knowledgeable of our entire trip. The wine was great but a bit out of our price range.

Next stop – Castello de Amorosa – the pictures are better than words. Wine tasting was in their caves – surprisingly, the Chardonnay was better than their reds, so we purchased a bottle.

As we headed back to our VRBO we took a side trip to Yountville to walk their sculpture trail and do a drive-by of the French Laundry. Dinner was near the Napa Riverfront.

June8th – off to Jacuzzi Winery which is a sister winery of Cline. And yes – the family did invent the Jacuzzi tub along with airplanes and water pumps. The setting is Tuscan with a chapel and well-appointed grounds with flowers and fountains. The wines weren’t bad either.

Off to Sonoma Botanical Gardens. The surprise there was that all the trees originated in Asia. What we thought were native were not.

Then on to Ledson Winery styled as a castle. The facility was very impressive, but the wines were not so hot, and our tasting guide was poor. It was a lot of work to engage him in conversation about the vintner, the wines and/or the beautiful castle.

We finished the day at Ty Caton cellars where we tasted 7 wines -one better than the other – so good we joined their wine club. This was just a tasting room – no castles- but we were so glad we stopped. For dinner we returned to Sonoma Square.

June 9th – Kunde Winery – Last day of tasting and the best yet. Kunde grounds were beautiful with pools and flowers and hill sides lined geometrically with lush vines. We were greeted with a glass of wine then escorted through their wine caves. Then another glass of wine and a van ride through the vineyards and up the estate’s hills to an overlook with an elevation of about 1800 feet giving us a 360 view of the vineyards and Sonoma Valley. While spending about 45 minutes on the observation patio enjoying the view we tasted 5 other wines – perfect conclusion to our wine country trip.