A Day in the Napa Valley

10 Monday Aug 2015

Posted by Lyn Douglas in Napa Valley, San Francisco

Tags

Madonna Estate, Napa Style, Napa Valley, Nicholson Estate, Photography, San Francisco, Sonoma, Sutter Home, travel, vineyards, wine, wineries, Yountville, Zinfandel

It was an early start when we were picked up by the comfortable coach for our day out in the Napa Valley and Sonoma.

Napa Valley is a renowned wine-producing region north of San Francisco, with hundreds of vineyards set amid rolling hills. Its wineries range from small, family-run estates to prominent brand name producers.

We stopped at a total of three wineries. Each winery was picturesque and offered various wines for tasting and purchase. One of the wineries was also offering olive oil tastings along with the wine.

The drive out through Napa and Sonoma was mile after mile of beautiful scenery.

Our first stop at the Nicholson Estate Winery in Sonoma included a walk through the beautiful vineyards, and a presentation on how the grapes are picked, crushed, blended and bottled. While we were outside we tasted 3 of their wines before heading inside to the official tasting room for 2 more tastings. Of course all of these wines were available for purchase.

Leaving from Nicholson estate, after an hour of travel we arrived at the Madonna Estate in Napa where we were offered another 5 tastings. In the main tasting room there is a shop where I bought several lovely and unique gifts to take home to Australia. I am very pleased with these purchases as they are so different and exclusive to this area.

Our lunch stop was at Napa Style in Yountville. This was a perfect spot to have a bite to eat with a great selection of snacks and meals and many lovely stores to shop or just browse through.

From lunch we drove over to our last winery for the day which was Sutter Estate where we had another 5 tastings of their Zinfandel range of wines, including pink, white, red, sparkling and port.

At all 3 wineries the reception was super and the samples of wine very generous.

From Sutter Home estate we drove back through the beautiful scenery of Napa Valley, over the famous Golden Gate Bridge and back to San Francisco.

We only had a short visit to San Francisco so I’m so glad we spent one day on this tour through Napa and Sonoma. I highly recommend it to any one wanting to do wine country. I have spent quite some time in wine areas in Italy and I definitely saw many lovely similarities.

Greve in Chianti

21 Thursday Aug 2014

Posted by Lyn Douglas in Greve in Chianti, Tuscany

≈ 23 Comments

Tags

Bagni di Lucca, chianti, Chianti area, chianti hills, florence, greve, Greve in Chianti, italy, Photography, Piazza Matteotti, Ponte a Serraglio, Siena, Toscana, travel, tuscan hills, vineyards, wine, wineries

It is just under a 2 hour drive from the little village, Ponte a Seragglio where we were staying in Bagni di Lucca to Greve in Chianti. So we set off early one morning in our little Fiat 500 for the trip up to the Chianti area in the Tuscan Hills. It actually took us twice as long to arrive to this gorgeous little town as we stopped a couple of times along the way also my navigation system failed.

However, the stops were so worth it. The drive up to Greve in Chianti was wonderful with breathtaking views of the Tuscan Hills. We stopped many times to admire the vineyards on the hills and take photos of the magnificent panoramas that the Chianti offers.

This Chianti area is one of the most beautiful areas in Tuscany. Many of my photos remind me of postcards and calendars that I have seen of Tuscany.

Greve in Chianti is often considered to be the entrance gate into the Chianti region since it is the first major town you reach as you head south of Florence toward Siena. It is located along the SR222 provincial road, locally known as the Chiantigiana Road, and is about 30 km south of Florence and 40 km north of Siena.

Piazza Matteotti is the main piazza in Greve and even if it isn’t “square”, it is still the focal point of the town. This main piazza was a perfect location for us to wander around. You can enjoy a coffee, gelato, a glass of wine, or for us it was a delicious lunch.

We arrived about lunch time so after a leisurely walk around the piazza and stopping to look at several menus we chose our restaurant for lunch. I must say, it was not easy. There are several bars (coffee shops), wine shops, restaurants and pizzerias in the main square and in the small streets around the main square. The menus all appeared to be meals of local Tuscan cuisine.

Wandering around this unique piazza was so easy and delightful as there is a portico or covered walk way framing the shops which sell the local produce, the artisan shops and the restaurants. Although the weather on this particular day was perfect I can imagine this portico would be wonderful on a hot summers day or in fact would probably give some relief on cold days.

We stopped in to many of these shops. Sometimes we just looked and in other shops we purchased. Here are a few of these lovely shops.

We left Greve in Chianti later in the afternoon and headed over to Siena.

The easiest way to move around the entire region is by car, and one of the most scenic roads to take is the Via Chiantigiana from Florence all the way to Siena.

If you don’t have a car, Greve is luckily one of the easiest towns in Chianti to reach from Florence. You just need to catch bus 365 from the SMN train station.

Barossa Valley – Australia

17 Tuesday Sep 2013

Posted by Lyn Douglas in Adelaide, Australia, Barossa Valley

≈ 13 Comments

Tags

australia, barossa reservoir, Barossa Valley, grape vines, maggie beer, South Australia, vineyards, wine, wine capital, wine making, wine tasting, wineries

The Barossa valley is one of Australia’s top wine making regions.

The Barossa is about 60 k’s North east from Adelaide. It is a beautiful drive up through the hills and in to the valleys with its many vineyards. It is famed for its European heritage and its legendary wines and is the wine capital of Australia.

The Barossa valley apparently has the oldest grape vines in the world which originally were brought to Australia from France.

Wine isn’t all that tastes great in the Barossa. The Barossa is also known for its food and history. The secret ingredient is the dirt. The fertile soil of the Barossa is home to some of the world’s most lauded vineyards

While there we visited Maggie Beer’s Farm Shop which offers tastings of local seasonal produce which you can purchase. Maggie is one of Australia’s most loved cooks. You can purchase one of Maggie’s signed books, have a light lunch or simply sit back and take in the view.

I doubt very much that you will be able to leave the area without some of the very nice local wines or in fact some of the locally made jams, preserves, sauces etc

Just be careful not to leave your bottles of wine in your hot cars.

The Barossa has the perfect climate suited for its reds but having said that, I drink white wine and my favourite Australian wine comes from the Barossa.

Another lovely spot is the Whispering Wall where we stopped for a picnic morning tea. The Whispering Wall needs to be seen (or heard) to be believed. The retaining wall of the Barossa Reservoir is curved in just the right way, so if you whisper at one end you’ll be heard clearly at the other, more than 100 metres away.

The Barossa is a great romantic escape offering many different types of accommodation. You could easily spend several days in this gorgeous region exploring the hundreds of wineries, tasting the local wines, visiting the art galleries or enjoying amazing meals in any of the many restaurants and cafes.