California - Day 2

(warning - long post with lots of pictures - ENJOY!)

We woke up ready for a day of wine tasting...but we didn't know where to go.  So looking at recommendations, maps, website info, etc, we decided to stay in the southern part of the area.  We packed up and made our way to breakfast.  It was a wonderful breakfast with choice of eggs or pancakes.  Apparently that wasn't good enough for James - he asked if they had/could make Eggs Benedict.....of course they could, we would just have to wait a bit for them to whip up the hollandaise sauce.  No problem, we were still planning our day.  Being easy, I went with the eggs thinking the protein would keep me full for our  morning of wine drinking.  (Side note and why I'll never get my husband to take a cruise.....We were enjoying the paper and a cup of coffee when James says can you feel that...um no, what is it?  Well, the laundry room was under the dining room area and James was getting vertigo from the spinning of the washers downstairs.  Yeah, no cruises for me unless its a girl's trip)  Below are some pictures from the Applewood Inn.

Our first stop of the day was at Lynmar Estates (recommended by Kristin at Better Together- THANK YOU!).  We got there around 10:30, but unfortunately they were not open until 11 for tastings.  So, we wandered the grounds taking pictures (or rather, I wandered and James took pictures).

We enjoyed our tasting here very much and even ended our day by picking up 6 bottles of wine from here.  They have great Chardonnay and Pinot Noirs.  YUM!  One of the great things about this winery is they have a modified wine club for people who are out of town (that's us) and can't take advantage of the wine club perks (pizza and pinot on site, pick up parties, etc).  Once a year you are offered the opportunity to purchase from the wine club listing and new releases.  So we signed up for that.

After leaving Lynmar, we decided to try VJB.  This one was recommended to us by the couple at J Winery.  The wines were just okay, though we left with 3.  The wines were Italian in style.  So we left with a Red table wine, a zinfandel and a port.  The best thing that came from this stop was lunch.  While visiting the tasting room (they are in the process of building a winery location, the tasting room is near the vineyards) I had to use the little girl's room.  The tasting room did not have one so they sent me next door to the restaurant.  I walked in and knew immediately where we were eating lunch...Oh my gosh the smells were wonderful.  I shared this information with James when I returned to the tasting room.  The place was called Cafe Citti and if you are ever in the area, you MUST stop.  It was wonderful.  The picture below is of our sandwiches.  Homemade breads, spreads and even Mozzarella cheese.  We haven't stopped talking about it yet!

From there we drove back towards the Farmhouse Inn, where we were staying the next two nights.  On the way we stopped at DeLoach and tasted some Zinfandels.  Good, but definitely not as good as the wines at Lynmar or J from the day before.  But in keeping with our purchase trend, we did buy a couple zins, plus a port.  (the picture below is the courtyard at DeLoach)

After picking up our wines at Lynmar, we checked into the Farmhouse Inn.  Very cute layout.  They have huge bath tubs, saunas and fireplaces in each cottage.  In the main office they have organic soaps and bath salts that you can take to your room.  We tried both bath salts and James loved the lavender soap (he might have even cut a bigger chunk of it so he would have some left to bring home.)  They also have the makings for s'mores that you can do in your room.  Very cozy!!!  That evening we had dinner at the restaurant on site.  Good food and great service.  Pictures below are from our room and after dinner.