Gone RVing!: wine

Friday, March 31, 2017

Wining again...NOT!

Tradewinds RV Resort. Vallejo, CA

March 31st, 2017

While in the San Francisco area we stayed 3 nights at Tradewinds RV Resort which is in Vallejo. A couple at Wilderness Lakes had given us the name of the place. While it was in a poorer part of the area it was very satisfactory for a few nights. A little pricey for someone who doesn't like to pay more than $10 night but at $36 a night and the fact that we were close to San Francisco, it was OK.

The office/washroom/laundry building

The sites were very narrow and there were only a few transient sites.

The weather looked great for our two days there and we decided to go to Napa Valley first, for a drive through.

Early start because the drive is very busy and we were off. First stop was at the Visitor Centre in Yountville and then we went north along Rte 29 stopping off at wineries along the way. We did not partake in any wine tasting because it is SOOOO expensive. Even in the best wine areas of France, tasting is free. For about $50 each you get to taste 5 wines and that is the cheap price. However, it is a beautiful area and we took a bunch of photos.

Robert Mondavi Winery

Statue in front of Robert Mondavi Winery

Robert Mondavi Winery

Antique grape press

We were told about the winery built as a castle. Some people have just too much money!!

Castello Di Amoroso

Chapel by the side of the road.

After the castle we crossed over to East and took Silverado Trail back south to the campground.

On the way back I spotted a winery built in the style of the Cape Dutch buildings of the Stellenbosch area in South Africa. We drove into Chimney Rock Winery (check this link for better photos than mine) and I went in to ask if it was owned by a South African. I was told that it was founded by a South African but he had been bought out.

Frieze of Ganymede above the cellar entrance. Ganymede was the Greek cup bearer to the gods.

That was our day in Napa Valley. Wine, wine everywhere and not a drop did we drink!

Thanks for following along.

Saturday, March 25, 2017

A night in a winery

A winery somewhere in California.

March 21st, 2017

We have a membership in Harvest Hosts, which allows us to stay in Wineries, Farms and Orchards all over North America. We are not obliged to buy anything but we do like to go into the tasting room and if we find a wine we really like, we will purchase a bottle or two. If you decide to join up, please add our email (michaeldaryl@gmail.com) as your referral. Then we both get an extra month added.

The directory lists all the places that allow us to stay overnight. so we picked one that was about 2 hours from Flying Flags and what a good overnight stop it was. we were one of two RVs that stayed overnight.

The weather report was predicting rain so the winery staff told us to park on a paved area so that we did not get stuck in the field where overnighters usually stay.

We went into the tasting room and enjoyed sampling their fine wines and ended up buying a couple of bottles. There was a great atmosphere in the room as there were about 10 other people tasting wines.

Here are my pictures of our overnight stay. I cannot give the name of the winery because it is protected under the Harvest Host organization so that only members can know which wineries are a part of their membership.