UPDATED: September 22, 2012

DETAILS
DATE: September 29, 2012
SCHEDULE:
1. Inspiration, 10AM - 11:30AM
2. Super Sonoman, 11:30PM - 1:15PM incl lunch
3. Meeker, 1:30PM - 2:45PM
4. Wellington, 3:30PM - 5PM
5. Fig Café, opens at 5:30PM

ATTENDEES:
1. CAGrl (veg kabobs & maybe shrimp kabobs)
2. CAGrl +1
3. trifecta (chicken or fish to grill)
4. trifecta +1
5. ajrod27 (appetizer or salad)
6. bsevern (yummy pedroncelli cupcakes!!!)
7. tenuki (only for Wellington on)
8. Tassadar2k03
9. random122

MAYBES:
1. cmaldoon
2. cmaldoon +1
3. chemvictim
4. chemvictim +1

REGRETS:
- anyone who misses this one!

CAGrl wrote:So I figured I create a thread to visit Wellington/other wineries in the fall. I'm busy early October (49ers games at home) but anytime before or after that we're free.

I really want to go to buy a case of Wellington Duke so we definitely have to go before the middle of November. So when does everyone have some time and which wineries should we visit?

I'll update this as well as the title as we get more definite plans.

Would love to go, but I always have a busy fall with family stuff and work. My solution join th Wellington club. They ship a 1/2 case in the fall and spring and I always fill it out to a case with the duke or now duchess in the spring. The costs $6 a bottle at the club price and it isn't to much for the added shipping weight.

cortot20 wrote:Would love to go, but I always have a busy fall with family stuff and work. My solution join th Wellington club. They ship a 1/2 case in the fall and spring and I always fill it out to a case with the duke or now duchess in the spring. The costs $6 a bottle at the club price and it isn't to much for the added shipping weight.

Nice. It's just a great excuse for me to go and visit wine country. Don't take away my excuse now!!!

I'm probably in. The problem with planning around Wellington is it feels like it's in the middle of nowhere :P

CAGrl wrote:So I figured I create a thread to visit Wellington/other wineries in the fall. I'm busy early October (49ers games at home) but anytime before or after that we're free.

I really want to go to buy a case of Wellington Duke so we definitely have to go before the middle of November. So when does everyone have some time and which wineries should we visit?

I'll update this as well as the title as we get more definite plans.

I wanna go but might maybe be having a baby in November. And I don't think we can make it in October. BOO!

michelleshari wrote:I wanna go but might maybe be having a baby in November. And I don't think we can make it in October. BOO!

I plan on stopping by Kunde to get the gewurtz that joel liked so much.

CAGrl wrote:I plan on stopping by Kunde to get the gewurtz that joel liked so much.

Mmmm... can't wait for that to arrive.

I just called Wellington to have them put a case of the Duchess on hold for us. Perhaps we'll pick up during this trip.

JOATMON wrote:I just called Wellington to have them put a case of the Duchess on hold for us. Perhaps we'll pick up during this trip.

Just drank a bottle of that. Insane QPR.

kylemittskus wrote:Just drank a bottle of that. Insane QPR.

This will be on top of the case I got on the tour.

Toby said that a lot of people are calling up and reserving cases of the Duchess. He estimates they have only about 6-7 weeks supply left at the rate it's selling.

JOATMON wrote:I just called Wellington to have them put a case of the Duchess on hold for us. Perhaps we'll pick up during this trip.

Did Toby give you the same price we got on the tour?

I'm going to have to open a bottle soon.

tenuki wrote:I'm probably in. The problem with planning around Wellington is it feels like it's in the middle of nowhere :P

Not sure if serious...

SmilingBoognish wrote:Not sure if serious...

Sure it's centrally located but it's over half an hour to get to any of the other places I usually might be, Santa Rosa/Healdsburg, St. Helena, Napa, etc. Unless I'm actually hitting Glen Ellen/Kenwood specifically I'm not spending an hour getting there and back. I assume that's why we've always just made it the last stop and hit fig cafe after when I go with Sparky et al.

I guess it's close to downtown Sonoma too but then there are enough wineries that are minutes away ...

tenuki wrote:Sure it's centrally located but it's over half an hour to get to any of the other places I usually might be, Santa Rosa/Healdsburg, St. Helena, Napa, etc. Unless I'm actually hitting Glen Ellen/Kenwood specifically I'm not spending an hour getting there and back. I assume that's why we've always just made it the last stop and hit fig cafe after when I go with Sparky et al.

I guess it's close to downtown Sonoma too but then there are enough wineries that are minutes away ...

So going on that, any suggestions on where else to visit besides Wellington and Kunde?

CAGrl wrote:So going on that, any suggestions on where else to visit besides Wellington and Kunde?

Ty's tasting room is just up the road. Also there's a few in sonoma square on the way. R2, Adobe road to name a few.

CAGrl wrote:So going on that, any suggestions on where else to visit besides Wellington and Kunde?

girl and the fig for lunch would be killer..... I believe Ty isn't too far away....there's actually a bunch of wineries out there near Wellington/Kunde:

http://sonoma.com/visitorsinfo/Sonoma_County_Winery_Map.pdf

Arrowood would be great (albeit potentially expensive), but I would want to taste their library wines...not sure if they even pour them, would have to check.

cortot20 wrote:Ty's tasting room is just up the road. Also there's a few in sonoma square on the way. R2, Adobe road to name a few.

I think Sojourn's tasting room is right near the square. They make some excellent Pinots.

bsevern wrote:girl and the fig for lunch would be killer..... I believe Ty isn't too far away....there's actually a bunch of wineries out there near Wellington/Kunde:

http://sonoma.com/visitorsinfo/Sonoma_County_Winery_Map.pdf

I would recommend Loxton (next door), Imagery, Enkidu, Paradise Ridge,...

SonomaBouliste wrote:I would recommend Loxton (next door), Imagery, Enkidu, Paradise Ridge,...

I love w.w. for participation like this.

I also love that my laziness to drive far leads to other people planning

SonomaBouliste wrote:I would recommend Loxton (next door), Imagery, Enkidu, Paradise Ridge,...

Peter, I noticed you have been on the boards this week. With harvest coming I would think you would have your hands full. Might we be seeing an offer from you this weekend? If so, wonderful!

cortot20 wrote:Peter, I noticed you have been on the boards this week. With harvest coming I would think you would have your hands full. Might we be seeing an offer from you this weekend? If so, wonderful!

No!!!!!! My wallet screams..... In for 3 if it is what I think it is.

cmaldoon wrote:No!!!!!! My wallet screams..... In for 3 if it is what I think it is.

Clue?

bsevern wrote:Clue?

You were on the tour, what was he alluding to? He had a couple bottles at WD's place on Wednesday too I believe.

cmaldoon wrote:You were on the tour, what was he alluding to? He had a couple bottles at WD's place on Wednesday too I believe.

Yeah, but I want to see a Pope Hat if it's that...

cmaldoon wrote:You were on the tour, what was he alluding to? He had a couple bottles at WD's place on Wednesday too I believe.

Ahhh....but of course

I didn't try it, but know it will be tasty.

So Saturday or Sunday?

These are my available dates are the weekend of:

9/22, 9/29, 10/20, 10/27 and 11/3

Obviously contingent on my and hubby's new jobs.

CAGrl wrote:So Saturday or Sunday?

These are my available dates are the weekend of:

9/22, 9/29, 10/20, 10/27 and 11/3

Obviously contingent on my and hubby's new jobs.

a) If there's a SB Pope Hat I'm also in. Even molarchae liked it! (Totally not her style, the dessert wine person she is.)

b) Sept dates I won't be around, but the last Oct and the Nov date are conceivable. More likely the last Oct. Don't plan around me, though, since I can't quite plan those out yet.

klezman wrote:a) If there's a SB Pope Hat I'm also in. Even molarchae liked it! (Totally not her style, the dessert wine person she is.)

b) Sept dates I won't be around, but the last Oct and the Nov date are conceivable. More likely the last Oct. Don't plan around me, though, since I can't quite plan those out yet.

Maybe we'll just invite molarchae without you.

CAGrl wrote:Maybe we'll just invite molarchae without you.

sad panda

CAGrl wrote:So Saturday or Sunday?

These are my available dates are the weekend of:

9/22, 9/29, 10/20, 10/27 and 11/3

Obviously contingent on my and hubby's new jobs.

All of those are open at the moment. I won't commit to one, but if it gets locked in early I'm likely to be there

CAGrl wrote:So Saturday or Sunday?

These are my available dates are the weekend of:

9/22, 9/29, 10/20, 10/27 and 11/3

Obviously contingent on my and hubby's new jobs.

September 29th sounds like a good date; any of them would work since my calendar is open at the moment. Although, the wineries might still be pretty busy with harvest and fermentation. Didn't you and tenuki do some punch-downs with Wellington last year during a woot gathering?

SonomaBouliste wrote:I would recommend Loxton (next door), Imagery, Enkidu, Paradise Ridge,...

Good choices! Last time we visited Wellington, they recommended Loxton and we ended up joining their club!

We're headed to wine country some time in Sept or Oct and I'm already planning to visit both plus Enkidu. I love their Humbaba blend.

We're planning to go during the week so things aren't as crazy. If it's close to the time you all are going, maybe we can stay over so we can meet some of you. I couldn't do the RPM tour because of my work schedule this time around but if (fingers crossed) there is a 2014 tour, I'd like to go.

ajrod27 wrote:September 29th sounds like a good date; any of them would work since my calendar is open at the moment. Although, the wineries might still be pretty busy with harvest and fermentation. Didn't you and tenuki do some punch-downs with Wellington last year during a woot gathering?

It was Klezman and his friends. Peter was awesome to let us visit and do a punch-down. It was fun and hard work.

pcuccaro wrote:Good choices! Last time we visited Wellington, they recommended Loxton and we ended up joining their club!

We're headed to wine country some time in Sept or Oct and I'm already planning to visit both plus Enkidu. I love their Humbaba blend.

We're planning to go during the week so things aren't as crazy. If it's close to the time you all are going, maybe we can stay over so we can meet some of you. I couldn't do the RPM tour because of my work schedule this time around but if (fingers crossed) there is a 2014 tour, I'd like to go.

Well, which dates in Sept/Oct and we can definitely try to overlap.

CAGrl wrote:It was Klezman and his friends. Peter was awesome to let us visit and do a punch-down. It was fun and hard work.

And awesome. Don't forget awesome

klezman wrote:And awesome. Don't forget awesome

And while you guys were doing that, we were doing the same thing at Michel-Schlumberger during our tour of the winery. The aromas that are released while punching down the cap are amazing!

cortot20 wrote:Peter, I noticed you have been on the boards this week. With harvest coming I would think you would have your hands full. Might we be seeing an offer from you this weekend? If so, wonderful!

No offer this weekend. We're still 5 weeks from the start of harvest; one more pre-crush bottling and a little R&R It's SUMMER!

Edit: For once the w00t filter gets it right!

ajrod27 wrote:September 29th sounds like a good date; any of them would work since my calendar is open at the moment. Although, the wineries might still be pretty busy with harvest and fermentation. Didn't you and tenuki do some punch-downs with Wellington last year during a woot gathering?

Not "still busy". We should just be getting up to full speed by then, and we'll probably have some red fermentations going by then. Peak activity should be the second week of October. Visitors are welcome during crush. We can talk while we work, and if you get too close we'll probably hand you a brush and a bucket of whitewash (or a punchdown stick).

SonomaBouliste wrote:Not "still busy". We should just be getting up to full speed by then, and we'll probably have some red fermentations going by then. Peak activity should be the second week of October. Visitors are welcome during crush. We can talk while we work, and if you get too close we'll probably hand you a brush and a bucket of whitewash (or a punchdown stick).

Wait... that's supposed to keep us away? If you promise you'd hand me something like that and/or other wine related tasks I'll gladly come up and give you a day of my time and hard work in that September-November timeframe!