Coco Maria: California: Wine Country

Sunday, July 24, 2011

California: Wine Country

Blouse: H&M, Skirt: Urban Outfitters, Shoes: Rachel Antonoff for Bass

On Tuesday, we headed out to Sonoma in Wine Country to visit a few vineyards. Of course, being only 19, I couldn't actually drink any wine or champagne, but it was fun to see the process of how it's all made and where it comes from. First we went to Kendall-Jackson Winery where we got a sweet little garden tour. We saw teeny grapes growing that would eventually be turned into white wine and a ton of other fruits, vegetables and flowers they had growing as well. There were beautiful huge sunflowers, the best-smelling basil, and tiny little raspberries, just to name a few favorites. They also had a beautiful flower garden that you can see in some of my pictures. Afterwards we had lunch and went on a tour of the Korbell Winery, where they make mostly champagne. After seeing the vineyards at Kendall-Jackson, it was nice to get an inside look at how the final product is actually produced. Our tour guide was less than enthusiastic (which I can't blame him for, as there was this total jerk in our group who kept commenting and asking impossible questions) but I enjoyed walking through the wine cellars and even seeing the "world's largest bottle of champagne." Our tour guide also mentioned that about five minutes up the road from the winery was the red wood forest where they filmed a few scenes from Return of the Jedi! Being a fan of both nature and Star Wars, I convinced the rest of my family to drive up there. It was so worth it. I had never been to a redwood forest before then, and goodness me is it beautiful and awe-inspiring and a million other positive phrases. So, basically, my day in wine country was fairly close to perfect, even though I couldn't drink (not that I even wanted to), though I imagine that's what most people go to wine country to do in the first place.

In the garden at Kendall-Jackson