Trip to Lake County, Labor Day Weekend, Part 1

Over Labor Day weekend, Neil and I visited Lake County as a work field trip. We were invited out to Sol Rouge (http://solrouge.com/) in order to see the estate vineyard that produces some of the wine I sell. To those of you who live here in the city, this trip was able to happen because the Bay Bridge was closed (http://baybridgeinfo.org/closure), and our winery on Treasure Island was not accessible to the public.

We drove up on Saturday night and really had no idea how long of a trip we were about to undertake. Between the rerouted traffic on 101, holiday traffic and the steep winding mountain roads, it took 5 hours. So where is Lake County? North of Napa Valley.

When we finally made it, there was so much food and wine that we didn’t know where to start; meats, cheeses, olives, breads, white wines, red wines. So tasty! After a couple of hours of gluttony we headed to bed to prepare for the next day.

Sunday came and after a big breakfast we hit the road. Our first stop was to the vineyard that grows our Chardonnay. We drank the wine while looking at the grapes, so cool! Next stop, a tasting room, with more local wines.

Then on to Ceago Vinegarden for some wine and lunch (http://www.ceago.com/). The grounds were beautiful and we ate under a pergola. One of the things we ate, white lemon zest Stilton cheese, was produced there. So good, we’d definitely recommend it!

We drove around a big lake in the center of Lake County and enjoyed the scenery. After driving up a hill we found another vineyard with spectacular views. We could see the lake, mountains and tons of vines. Awesome!

Our next stop was a vineyard that only grows Cabernet. The owner showed us around, provided more food and wine pairings and shared the property’s history with us. Thanks Mike! We ended our day in an enormous vineyard. When I say it was big, that doesn’t even describe it. We were aimlessly searching for our block of grapes, but unfortunately we couldn’t find it.