Susanne We admired the architectural heritage on the main square which is the largest plaza in California and has the traditional layout of a Mexican town square. The plaza is a designated National Historic Landmark and hosts many special events and festivals throughout the year. We strolled around the square and found a nice eatery called the Basque Boulangerie Café on the east side of the square. This casual yet trendy place offers a full assortment of baked goods, an espresso bar, a wide variety of sandwiches and salads and box lunches to go. The outdoor features a nice patio, but unfortunately we had to stay inside as the rain kept coming and going. I enjoyed a great baguette with French Brie while my travel partner Leslie savoured her quiche and fresh fruit salad.
Special of the day
After lunch we headed into the Castle Winery just off Sonoma’s main square. This winery has been voted Best Boutique Winery in 2006 and 2007 and today has a production of 5600 cases of wine annually. Castle considers itself a minimalist winery, and winemaker Vic McWilliams says “Treat the wine as you have the vines, tend them by hand, make them in small lots with care and attention and use only the most minimal intervention. The signature variety here is Pinot Noir, but this winery also offers Vigognier, Cinsault, Grenach, Syrah, Merlot, Zinfandel, Late Harvest Viognier and Port (made from Syrah grapes).
Stephanie Friedmann shows off a chocolate dipped bottled of port
We chatted with Stephanie Friedmann, the tasting room manager, who provided us with a sampling of some of Castle Wineries products. As always, I got hooked on the dessert wine which includes a 2006 Viognier Late Harvest and a 2005 Syrah Port. In addition to the wines we also sampled a heavenly delicious port chocolate sauce, a unique product that can be poured over ice cream and other desserts. Other unique gifts ideas include chocolate dipped bottles of port, and the tasting room features a variety of merchandise including t-shirts and various souvenir items.
More goodies at Castle Winery
In the late afternoon we made our last stop on this excursion at the Gloria Ferrer Caves and Vineyards which produce world-class award-winning sparkling wines as well as Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. The Ferrer family’s involvement with sparkling wine goes back several centuries in Catalonia, Spain, and their most famous product is Freixenet, a world famous sparkling wine made according to the méthode champenoise.
Priz-winning sparkling wines at Gloria Ferrer Caves and Vineyards
Local expert Matthew Coyne gave us some background about the méthode champenoise and indicated that man-made caves are used for storing wine. The difference between wine and champagne is that wine undergoes a second fermentation in a barrel while champaign’s second fermentation happens inside the bottle. Carbon dioxide gets trapped in the bottle and creates the renowned bubbles of sparkling wine. The Gloria Ferrer Caves & Vineywards offer six different varieties of sparkling wine as well as eight different varieties of still wine, which include Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Pinot Noir Rosé, Merlot and Syrah.
Ready to taste some cava
In addition to their extensive vineyard estates in Spain, west of Barcelona, the Ferrer family today also owns wine growing operations in France, Mexico, Argentina and California. Gloria Ferrer’s first vintage was produced in 1984, and today they produce 155,000 cases of sparkling wine a year. Gloria Ferrer herself still lives in Catalonia and comes to visit about two to three times a year. Despite her blue-blooded entrepreneurial pedigree, Matthew described her as a very down-to-earth individual.
Great view over the Sonoma Valley from the Gloria Ferrer property
Various festivals and wine-tasting events are held at the Gloria Ferrer Caves & Vineyards. In addition, the estate is a popular destination for weddings. The view from the Vista Terrace across the broad Sonoma Valley is impressive and makes for a beautiful backdrop to the many special events that are held here.
Properly educated about wine and definitely in a much lighter mood after all these tastings, we started heading back to the city. The atmosphere in the van was now downright giggly, and everybody was in a great mood. As we approached San Francisco, Michelle stopped at a lookout point high above the northern terminus of the Golden Gate Bridge which provided us with an excellent view of the city, despite the cold winds and the grey and rainy skies.
A rainy view over the Golden Gate Bridge
At the end of our excursion with Incredible Adventures, we got conveniently dropped off on the doorsteps of our hotel, the Queen Anne Hotel, to take a bit of a rest before we would head out for dinner. Despite the intermittent rain we had a great excursion into the countryside north of San Francisco. Now we understood even better what makes this place such a popular getaway from the city.
