Top Picks of Sonoma Vineyards

While we went managed to fit in visits to about eight different wineries/vineyards while in Sonoma, there are three that stuck out and will remain favorites in our eyes.

Benzinger Winery:
While we almost didn't stop here because it seemed to be a tourist favorite, I am very glad that we did. The wine was more than really good and the people were great and friendly. This was the first wine club we signed up for! We didn't get to take the tram tour, but I suggest doing so if you have the time.

Imagery Estate Winery:
This is by far my favorite, but it plucked my heartstrings... wine + ART = heaven. They make roughly 25 different wines and each year, each one of those types gets a new label done by an artist. that means new labels and new art every year! On site is a gallery of all the original art. I have to say, I was extremely impressed with the work, there are A TON talented artists that have been chosen for labels. Obviously, this is the second wine club we signed up for.

Check out their online gallery here.

Ty Caton:
The wine that Ty puts out is in a category of its own. While this tasting room is in a mini shopping center, away from its vineyards, it is definitely a hidden gem. His Cabernet's are kicking some serious butt and his wines are climbing fast in notoriety. This was easily the best quality, taste and friendliness that we encountered on our trip. It is a must visit!

South African Pinotage

Again with the South Africa addiction, I know. But this one is a must. The latest wine that Justin and I are addicted to is the Pinotage. More specifically the "Chocolate Coffee Pinotage." We of course tried this for the first time at our favorite place, Tolani Wine Bar (see dofoodstuff.blogspot.com for full review). I have yet to find a red wine as comforting as this one. The Pinotage is specific to South Africa and is a blend of two grapes, Pinot Noir and Cinsault. There are Pinotages that are not coffee chocolate, these I seem to not like nearly as much.

Our first taste and favorite Pinotage was The Dark Lady from Doolhof, Wellington, South Africa. We have found it impossible to find in stores. With that said, we needed a replacement to feed our cravings. After trying a few we did not like, we finally stumbled upon Barista at the Whole Foods Wine shop. We have served it to our friends and family, all who have also enjoyed it. It pairs unbelievably with a hearty tomato sauce and pasta meal, or some delicious chocolate dessert. The bottle costs around $13 and so far we have only found it at Whole Foods. We ended up buying the last ten bottles and dishing them out to family members!

Easy Summer Cocktails

These cocktails are quick & easy to make and are excellent on a summer day (or any other time of the year really!) The recipes are listed per-glass.

Cucumber Grapefruit
1/4 grapefruit
Club soda
Organic Cucumber Vodka (such as Crop Vodka- http://www.cropvodka.com/)

Juice the grapefruit and strain the juice before adding it to your shaker. Add ice and 1-2 shots of vodka. Shake it up! Pour into a glass and add a few splashes of club soda. Garnish with a wedge of grapefruit. This drink tastes best on the rocks!



Hard Ginger Ale
Club Soda
Skyy Ginger Vodka

Again, this one tastes best on the rocks. It is half vodka and half clubs soda... it pretty much tastes like ginger ale. I have tried a few ginger vodkas and Skyy is by far the best.



Easy Pom
POM Juice (any flavor, my favorite it POM-Mango)
Vodka
Sprite or Club soda

Again, on the rocks! Add equal parts vodka, sprite and pom juice. Garnish with a lime if you are feelin' fancy!

Frosted Lemon Lime Martinis

I helped throw an engagement party recently where the theme was "Frosted." Naturally, I offered to provide an appropriately themed alcoholic beverage. For this event I made a lemon lime martini. The goal was a frosted, semi clear-white martini.

Measurements are for 1 pitcher of lemon lime martini:

3-4 cups vodka (depending on strength desired)

1.5 cups sparking lemon-aide (Italian lemon-aide)

1.5 cups lime-aide

1/8 cup lemon simple syrup

1/2 cup club soda (or sprite for a sweeter taste)

Fresh slices for garnish

Rock candy sticks for garnish

Fill pitcher (or large seal-able container) 1/8 full with ice. Add the first 4 ingredients and shake. Mixture should turn slightly frothy. Add club soda and several slices of lime to the pitcher and stir gently. Each martini can be garnished with a lime slice and a rock candy to finish the job! Depending on how sour your lime-aide and lemon-aides are, you may need to adjust the amount of simple syrup.

Lemon Simple Syrup:

1 cup water

1 cup sugar

1 tablespoon grated lemon zest

Bring water to a boil. Stir in sugar and lemon zest. Boil until water becomes syrupy. Let cool before using in your martinis.

Vampire Punch

For this year's Halloween party I made Vampire Punch. The trick was to make a dark red drink that was ever so slightly cloudy, to look like blood. It was quite a hit and I had to send someone to the store to get more supplies! To set the mood I served this in a large crystal punch bowl. I added a few red glow sticks. Some other creative ideas would be to stick plastic spiders in ice cube trays and fill them with water, creating spider cubes for the drinks. You can also fill a latex glove with water and freeze it so you have a large floating hand in your punch. The recipe below is for a punch bowl worth of drinks.

1 bottle Cranberry- Pomegranate Juice
1/8 cup ruby red grapefruit juice
1/4 cup Chambord
1/2 handle of Vodka

1 cup club soda

Pour all the above ingredients into the punch bowl and gift it a few stirs!

Fairvalley Wine

I think I discussed this wine in one of our South Africa Entries on Do Travel Stuff (http://dotravelstuff.blogspot.com/). We accidentally discovered this wine at Stew Leonard's at the suggestion of one of their wine enthusiasts. It was during the summer and we were looking for a light crisp wine. Well this day, we hit the jackpot. The wine enthusiast suggested a new one they had gotten in for the spring. It was a Chenin Blanc from a small winery in South Africa called Fairvalley.

The Chenin Blanc is crisp and light- just perfect for a summer evening (we still drink it in the winter now and then as well). It is not easy to find, but I have been able to buy a few cases from Stew's. We always have it on hand just in case we have guests. Any of our dinner guests that have tried it usually love it. We have been able to find a few of the reds at other, smaller wine shops, but have yet to stumble across a vendor that carries the Chenin Blanc.

This winery is located in Paarl South Africa. The Fairvalley winery, from what I can understand, is a winery started by the workers of a larger winery and estate called Fairview. The grapes are Fairview grapes, but the wine is a creation of the Fairvalley winery. While we were visiting South Africa in the spring, we went and visited the Fairview winery because we love the Fairvalley wine so much. Fairview also has great wine, but there is just something about that Fairvalley Chenin Blanc that is just so special.

Check out their website here: http://www.fairvalleywine.co.za/

Argo Tea

The most exciting thing to note drink wise from my trip to Chicago is definatelya non-alcoholic beverage we picked up at our pit stop at Argo Tea Cafe. At the suggestion of one of our clients, we hopped inside this little tea shop. The menu board was overwhelming (in a good way) with pictures of each flavor and type of tea. They offer a tons of different flavors of several different types of teas, everything from Chai to Bubble teas. I tried their seasonal pumpkin Chai tea, which was just as comforting as a fresh cup of hot chocolate on a winter afternoon. I usually have to be in the mood for Chai, but this was scrumptious. My coworker Laurie had the green tea with ginger twist. This I would imagine would be more appropriate for a summer day, but it was yummy and refreshing.

This is now on my list to go hunt down in NYC! Check it out for yourself at www.argotea.com.