Sonoma Wine Country

On our first full day in San Francisco, we actually weren't in San Francisco. We woke up bright and early (6:15!!) on Sunday and got ready for the day. We enjoyed breakfast at the hotel restaurant, making sure to get some protein in our stomachs before before we hit the wine!

The mini bus we took out to Sonoma Valley on Sunday. 

We booked this tour through Viator, but the name of the tour service was Green Dream Tours. Our bus driver and tour guide, Rainey, picked us up in a mini bus at 8:30 a.m. and we headed north towards wine country. On the 45-minutes drive, she explained to us the history of wine country, the process of wine making, and steps of wine tasting.

Stop #1- Homewood Winery.

The first of the small, boutique wineries that we visited was Homewood Winery. They purchase grapes from various growers and produce wine with those grapes. They said that allows them to make several different variety of wines without having to specialize, especially since they did not have a lot of property. We tasted six different wines and it was just 10 a.m.! The wine was great and the scenery was wonderful, however, the man that led our wine tasting, Bob, was less than pleasant. I'm the end, the wine won us over and we ended up purchasing a bottle of two different red blends. They were the weekend special, so we purchased the for a total of $28! 

Homewood Winery.

After wrapping up at Homewood, we hopped back on our mini-bus with 10 other people (all couples) and made a quick 10-minute drive to the Larson Family Vineyard. We loved, loved, loved this vineyard. The land for the vineyard was previously a ranch and was purchased by the Larson family. We were greeted in the shop by guests enjoying the Larson's adorable and lazy dogs. They were curled up with the children of guests who had found a place on the floor. The tasting was out back in a picnic-like setup. We tried 5 of their yummy wines, including a "3 Lab Cab" an ode to their furry friends. 

Stop #2- Lasrson Family Winery. 

In the vineyard at Larson Family Winery.

Rainey picked up sandwiches from a local deli and we scarfed down some delicious turkey sandwiches before heading out. By that time, 11 wine pours in, we were needing it! Then, we re-boareded the bus and headed to the quaint downtown Sonoma where we had an hour to explore and window shop. 

Sonoma City Hall.

We went into a few boutiques and grabbed an ice cream to split while we walked around the square. Rainey pointed us in the direction of a chocolate shop that makes handmade truffles and allows you to try their ganache and chocolate. While we were scoping out truffles, one of the sales women saw my Aggie Ring and sparked a conversation about the Aggies in her family. It's really fun to see the Aggie Network everywhere, even when it is least expected! 

The chocolate shop where I encountered
a fellow member of the Aggie Family. 

The final stop on our trip was the Nicholson Ranch, where the view was wonderful and the wine was tasty! We couldn't say 'no' to the merlot that we tasted there, it was so smooth, that we ended up going home with a bottle. No regrets about that purchase!

Nicholson Ranch.

After finishing up at the final winery, we hopped back on the bus and braved the traffic back to San Francisco. To keep everyone happy and subdued, Rainey broke out a bottle of "emergency wine" as soon as we hit the traffic around the north side of the bridge. It took us about an hour and a half to get back to the hotel, where we relaxed the rest of the evening and plotted when we would consume our three new bottles of wine!

Our "post-wine tour" picture. Not too much worse for wear!