Tuesday, May 19, 2015

Sonoma & Napa Valley Wineries

We hit the road again to check out some wineries in the Sonoma area today.  Our first stop was at the Madrone Winery and we were the only people in the tasting room.  Nancy wound up providing us with our 5 wines for tasting.  She was very helpful and patient answering our questions.  Madrone Winery has been around a long time, but has undergone changes in ownership.  Recently a Canadian couple bought the winery and changed the name back to Madrone.

Our final selection was a Chardonnay and a Baronna red wine.  They charge $15 each for the tasting session but if you purchase two bottles of wine the fee is waived.  Still not cheap, but makes it easier to handle the cost of the wine.










 One of our stops was at the Kunde Winery and they had beautiful grounds with a small lake next to the tasting rooms.  We weren't that interested in the winery and when we saw there was a $40 fee for tasting we beat a hasty retreat from there.  There were people at the tasting tables and a tour bus plus a limousine in the parking lot so they must have thought it was worth it. 



 






St Francis Winery



Ledson Winery



Welcome sign coming down from the north.






Beringer Winery
 The wineries closed down and we were hungry for a nice dinner.  We saw the R+D Kitchen restaurant yesterday on our way back from Calistoga.  It looked like a small place but when we entered it was much larger than we thought it would be.

They had sushi on the menu and I told the waitress that I was allegric to shellfish.  I asked what they did have that didn't have shellfish as an ingredient.  We settled on a tuna platter but when it came we both commented it didn't seem like tuna.  Gerry asked what it was and she said shrimp.  Oh Oh!  Then she came back with what we had ordered, however I had eaten a couple of the sushi cakes.  Thankfully Gerry carries benadryl so I knew if I had a reaction I would survive.

A few minutes later the head waitress came over and asked how I was feeling, then the manager came by a number of times.  All turned out well for me and I didn't have a reaction.

Gerry ordered the crispy chicken sandwich and thought it was great and would order it again.  She couldn't finish the sandwich since the sushi filled her up.



 I ordered a great mushroom filled meat loaf, spinach salad with cheese and mashed potatoes which was very good also.  I just about finished it but the sushi filled me up also.


When it came time to settle the bill the waitress said it was on the house since they screwed up the order.  I told her it wasn't necessary but she insisted and wouldn't take no for an answer.  They wound up writing off a $75 bill to keep up their great reputation.  If we are in the area again, we will go back there for a meal since it was so good.  I will be more careful about the shellfish sushi.

Anybody need any wine?  

That was our day, how was yours?

2 comments:

  1. $40????? I don't know what a bottle of wine costs but $40 just to taste it is out of my budget range. I am so happy to hear you didn't have a reaction to the shrimp. That could have been bad.

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  2. I find it hard to believe people would pay $40 to taste wine. Hope they serve snacks to go along with the tasting, maybe caviar. Glad your shellfish allergy didn't flare up with the mixup in the sushi order, and that the restaurant staff concern was appropriate. Don's allergic to crab - not to any other shellfish - and he once got a shrimp louie salad that had crab and shrimp mixed. I realized it as soon as our salads were served, told him to wait while I tasted. The waiter then brought him a shrimp-only salad and didn't charge for the meal.

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