Yes, I have been back from my first trip for Project Y-ine for a week now, but this past week has been filled with meetings, Congresswoman Woolsey fun and showing Ashley Routson (aka @TheBeerWench aka my@ProjectYine partner in crime) around wine country.   We visited Russian River Brewing Company, Michel-Schlumberger, Bella Winery, St. Supery, Kaz Vineyards and of course, the Dry Creek General Store & Bar… And this is only a few of them.

Tomorrow I will be throwing myself into the food and wine culture at the  TASTE of Sonoma event.  This large Sonoma-centric event will be at the MacMurray Ranch property on Westside Road in Healdsburg.  Over 150 Sonoma wineries will be there, along with over 60 local chefs, so I am not sure which I am more excited about — The wine or the food!  It will be my first time at this 30th annual event and I am sure I will have lots to write about next week!

Labor Day weekend is always an eventful time in Wine Country, for some it is the last weekend of Summer and for others it is the last weekend of freedom before the long hours of Crush take over lives.  A Labor Day BBQ at Mounts Family Vineyards, Bird Day at Michel-Schlumberger is on Saturday and Steve Pile will be singing on both Saturday and Sunday at Bella Vineyards & Wine Caves…  All in my favorite appellation- Dry Creek Valley.

Speaking of Dry Creek Valley, the Winegrowers of Dry Creek Valley are hosting an event dedicated to the appellation’s flagship varietal, zinfandel, on the following weekend called ZinTopia.

On September 19th, the SoulShine Blues Band will be playing and guests can enjoy wines from Dry Creek Valley wineries and eat local food from local chefs.   And, if you purchase a ticket and enter the word ZIN then you will receive 30% off the purchase price of $75.   Did I mention there will be a grape stomp?

September and October are my two favorite months here in Sonoma County, each year I celebrate my birthday, stomp on the fallen leaves, eat so much candy I cannot walk on Halloween and laugh at the Australian interns that take over the Healdsburg bars during Crush.  It is truly an amazing place to live or visit….

We made the stops in Dry Creek Valley at the usual suspects, including Truett Hurst, Papapietro Perry, Kokomo Winery and Michel-Schlumberger.  My non-wino friends had a great time at all of my favorite wineries, laughing at the glasses from TH or loving the mystery barrel (and winemakers) at Kokomo and especially the photoshoot in the rows of barrel at MS.  They all loved the wine too, thus cementing each winery into my winery hall of fame (to be mentioned at a later date).

The one thing all four of my favorites have in common (other than the Dry Creek location) is that each winery has their own style of Pinot Noir.  All delicious in their own way, but all very different with wines that range from lighter fruity flavors like the 2005 Pinot Noir from MS to the robust raspberry flavor of the Pinots at PP (specifically the Elsbree Vineyards).

Pinot has been my one true wine love for some time.  It wasn’t until I discovered this varietal that I started drinking and loving wine.  After years of living in Oceanside, Ca and having a roommate that would always drink heavy Zins from Ravenswood, I discovered the joy of a lighter wine in the La Creama 2003 Pinot.  Of course the movie Sideways came out a few years later and I couldn’t order a glass of wine without someone asking me about that movie.  Five years later, this wine has grown in popularity and the amount of vineyards growing this grape just keeps on getting larger.  This only fuels my love for this grape.

The two Sonoma County appellations that grow some of the best (IMO) grapes are the Russian River Valley and Sonoma Coast.  The fog provides the perfect blanket for these demanding grapes.

Saturday night was the second “big event.”  My first ever Twitter Taste Live where I would be able to stream live with Matt from A Good Time with Wine on the #TTL website trying none-other than my favorite wines….  Yes, it was a Passion for Pinot night on #TTL.

About 15 wine bloggers met up at Palette Art Café in Healdsburg (Great food and FREE WIFI), socialized, ate some dinner and drank many different Pinots.   Unfortunately after a long day of Barrel Tasting and a stolen iPhone, I had to leave early (I am so sorry I wasn’t able to stay).

Sunday morning I was up and ready to tackle my very last day of Barrel Tasting.  This time I was caffeined up and excited to hit some new wineries in the Russian River Valley.  I met up with Danelle (aka @daynell), fellow wine bloggers (see above) and Samantha Vega from 101.7 The Fox (aka @1017TheFox) at Joseph Swan.  Here we tried some pretty good samples of Zins.  After leaving, Danelle, Samantha and I got lost for the rest of the group…  And with no cell reception and an apparent lack of knowledge of the area, we ended up not being able to find Olivet Road to meet up with the posse.

This adventure led us to Westside Road where we passed by two friends of mine who were frantically waving at the passing cars, trying to persuade people to visit the Thomas George Estates (formally the Davis Bynum tasting room).  Of course, I had to stop.

Here we sampled two delicious Pinots.  One where I am coming out and saying was the best (in the barrel) Pinot Noir I had all weekend. – This was an 2008 Lancel Creek Russian Rover Valley Pinot.  A perfect blend of strawberries with a hint of cherry. It wasn’t too dark or too light… I guess I would have to call it “just right.”  It even paired perfectly with my vegetarian tamale that they were serving.

This new winery is definitely worth checking out.  Their tasting room currently pours several different Pinots, reminding any visitor that the Russian River appellation is a great place to visit and drink some great Pinot Noir.

It started off normal enough.  I met up with Thea at a new winery in the Russian River Valley called Copain Wines (aka @Copain).

The Copain tasting room is located on top of a hill on Eastside Road, directly across from the recreation park.  It is the only winery that I know of that is on that stretch of the road, so people will most likely only visit through word of mouth or because they were simply driving past it.  I only heard about it because they recently joined Twitter.

This posting is my attempt to start the word of mouth on this place (actually I mean continue the WOM) and let people know that if they want to taste some great Anderson Valley pinots, a Russian River GSM blend and a place to have a picnic and enjoy THE BEST VIEW from a winery   -   Then they should make sure to stop on by the Copain tasting room.

When Thea finally got bored with me taking pictures of the view, we headed over to Mill Creek Winery.  I am not going to waste my time to write much about this place because it was neither good nor bad.  It was  nothing worth going back for IMO.

The next stop: Michel-Schlumberger (aka @M_Schlumberger) to visit Judd Wallenbrock, the President, General Manager and head blogger at their award winning blog – The Benchland Blog.  Judd and crew have seemed to perfect the art of barrel tasting weekend. Visitors are instantly greeted by Judd and given an explanation of where you should go and a brief history of the winery.  Then guests travel through the cellar to taste out of the barrels, then into the next room to try already bottled wines, then lastly into their main tasting room.  This is where my friend Joe(y) poured us some wines that go back to 1989.  Of course Thea and I had to purchase the last case of 2001 Dry Creek Valley Pinot Noir (yes, I said it… There is one winery that does make Dry Creek Pinot).  After trying some aged Pinots and Cabs, we made out way into the wine club members tasting room and ended up drinking more Pinot on a picnic bench while discussing wine, social media and Judd’s new discovery of TwitPic.

Then we were onto Mounts Family Winery (aka @MountsFamWinery).  It is off the same beaten road as Michel-Schlumberger, in the middle of a vineyard.  Blink on West Dry Creek road and you will miss it.  But this is a small family winery that you shouldn’t miss out on.  Lana greets her visitors with a smile that let’s you know she is committed to customer service. Their Malbec out of the barrel was very tasty as well.

Around 4:30, a half hour after the official ending time of the event, Thea and I decided that we were most certainly not done yet.  If you know anything about Thea and me, you know that to be the truth.  We headed over to harass Jim at Truett Hurst once again.   Here we tried some Petit Verdot and talked Jim’s ear off for an hour or so.

All together a perfect day, regardless of the fact that we were wine-napped by Judd and strayed WAY off our agenda….  Oh, wait… There is always next weekend.

Did I mention that all three of my wine tasting buddies are of the male species? Yes, a day of wine tasting with three guys.  Oh, and Ed doesn’t even like wine.

Our first stop was Turett Hurst Winery to visit Bob* in the tasting room and to check out the salmon in the creek (at Jim’s suggestion).

“Truett-Hurst Winery is Dry Creek Valley’s newest Biodynamic winery. Our commitment to earth-friendly stewardship is paramount and echoes throughout everything we do, from the scenic stretch of bucolic Dry Creek on which we reside, through the vineyards and tasting room.”

They just opened up a few months back and they are completely remodeling the place to be a sustainable farm slash awesome place to drink some wine and listen to music. I look forward to seeing the barn open up, bringing my niece and nephew to visit the sheep and have a few picnic’s on their lawn next summer.

*Bob was a gracious host. We drank great pinots and zins while Bob and the guys talked about music. It was definitely a great first experience into the wine realm for Ed. He even bought the 2006 Red Rooster Zinfandel.

(pic of one of my roommates)

Next we went to visit Ross at Bella Winery. Two years living in Healdsburg and I have yet to visit this beautiful venue.  It is probably because I tend to get stuck drinking wine with Amy at PappaPertrio Perry.

The entire wine cave at Bella was still decked out with Christmas trees that brought an instant smile to my face. The smell was exactly what I think of when I think of Christmas, and the great part was that it was combined with the smell of the oak wine barrels.

Here we tried 3 different zins and a syrah that I even liked. We attempted to show Ed the proper wine glass etiquette by explaining that the correct way to hold a wine glass is by the stem which does not interfere with the temperature of the wine.  It was amusing to see such a big guy attempt to hold the glass by the stem, it just looked so unnatural for him.  I left with a bottle of the 2005 Bella Vineyard Zinfandel.

During my brief period working at the lovely Kokomo Winery (yes, another one of our stops) Becky and I would be on the lookout for a group of guys wine tasting together. It was a rare occurrence for a group only consisting of guys to go out and taste wine together.  When it happened, we loved it though.  They definitely got a good amount of attention from us.

Though, since my adventure some of my questions that are been running through my head are:

• Is a group of guys wine tasting not “macho” enough?
• Are they like Ed holding the glass by the stem – Unnatural?

Is it just me that thinks this?

This image is the first blog post of my new Flickr set called “Stuff I Love.” Every week, I am trying to add a new picture to the set. Mostly for my own personal enjoyment, but hey, if you enjoy it too, all the better.