Nothing would be more tiresome than eating and drinking if God had not made them a pleasure as well as a necessity ~ Voltaire

Monday, November 24, 2008

the rest of my escape to the wine country...

ok, i admit i was too relax for the rest of my trip to even turn on my laptop and blog...  but, who can blame me...  i was having such a good time!  here's a recap for the rest of my trip...

11.21.08 (Friday)

we had arranged car service to take us around for the day so we can enjoy a few glass...  first, we headed to hanzell vineyards in sonoma for a private tasting and tour...  because they are not open to the public, we were the only ones there during that time...  it totally made our experience intimate...  very cool that they have a wine library!  they only carry two kinds of wine, pinot noir and chard...  but, oh, they are all so good...

then, we went to robert sinskey vineyards in napa...  did more tasting and the guy quickly showed us around...  they do have a good pinot gris...  it was a different atmosphere than hanzell...  hanzell is very traditional whereas robert sinskey is more trendy and commercialized...

last but not least, we ended up at zd wines in napa...  our wine educator was wonderful...  he totally sold me on the reserved chard and gewürztraminer...  they also have a small but pretty nice wine library...  we even got to taste a few right out of the barrel...  i can't believe you can get 300 bottles out of a barrel...  i would say zd is in between hanzell and robert sinskey...  traditional yet modern at the same time...

at the end of the day, i brought 12 bottles home with me...

we went to carneros bistro and wine bar for dinner...  i was very disappointed at the food...  oysters totally sucked...  tuna tartar has no flavor...  my sea bass was over cooked...  umm...  the only good thing would be my wine flight and dessert...  i found another wine i adore, dr. loosen's riesling from germany!

after all the food and wines, i had a good nighty-night...

* to be continued...

i am feeling a lil under the weather now...  *sniffle, sniffle, cough, cough*  it's time for some nyquil...

Friday, November 21, 2008

escaping to the wine country...

we arrived at the sonoma mission inn today for a 4 days and 3 nights getaway...  yay!!!  this is a much needed r&r...  i've been really stressed and tired lately...  it's funny how once you leave the city, you feel relax immediately...  we stopped by sausalito on our way for lunch at scoma's...  really yummy seafood...  loved it!!!  after check-in, we went to the famous bathing ritual at the spa...  came out feeling totally rejuvenated...  then, a late dinner at the restaurant here on site, santé...  what a fabulous meal...  started off with garlic, pesto soup in a shot glass, cauliflower custard with himalaya truffles on top, tuna tartar, lobster (super tender) and finished with green apple, kiwi, white peach sorbet...  our server, shawn, was awesome!!!  tomorrow will be a long day of wine tasting...  we will be visiting 3 vineyards...  can't wait!!!

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

my baby nephew...

my baby nephew, justyn, arrived to this world on october 14, 2008...  the poor little guy is currently in the hospital because of jaundice...  my mommy said he went through a lot of needle poking in the last 24 hours...  i am so sad when i heard this...  i miss him sooo much!!!  i hope he can get well soon and be a healthy baby forever...

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

a new beginning...

so, after five long years, i decided to blog again...  this will be my little place to dump my feelings and thoughts...  i'll be sharing experiences and moments as well...


xo