Halloween Weekend in Sonoma with Friends!

Halloween 2009 is sure to go down in the books as one of the best in history.  We traveled with the Hills down to San Francisco last Thursday and met up with the Abo's, Von Stroh's, Williams', and Fraser's on Friday in beautiful Sonoma, California.  The weather was gorgeous and the leaves were at their peak.  The vineyards were picturesque and we were ready for some wine tasting. 

With the Hill's at St. Francis

In total, we hit up about a dozen or so wineries over three days and it was a blast.  On our way to pick up the Abo's, we hit up Gloria Ferrar and St. Francis wineries.  Gloria Ferrar, while good bubbly, was pretentious and snooty (skip it) but the folks at St. Francis were awesome and the wines were delicious...especially the Chardonnay.  We were running a little late to pick up the Abo's so we met up with them at Woodenhead and then we all headed over to Iron Horse, stopped for a quick pit stop to Porter Creek (a shout out to our precious little godson Porter Abo) and ended at Twomey Cellars.  Then, it was off to the grocery store and then to our great little house on Dry Creek road.  We got settled and relaxed a bit and then it was off to Barndiva for a delicious dinner and to meet up with the rest of our crew.  We wrapped up the night with some shuffleboard at John and Zeke's.

Twomey Cellars

Saturday was a riot.  After a morning run, we all loaded the party bus/limo at 10:30 am and toasted the start of our wine tasting adventure with some champagne.  We hit up White Oak and Stryker wineries and then enjoyed a nice tour and picnic lunch at Medlock Ames.  We capped the day off with a visit to Hanna and Field Stone wineries. Kudos to JJ and Dod for organizing such a wonderful day!  All in all, we loved Hanna and White Oak wines the best but we also appreciated Medlock Ames' small sorganic/eco friendly approach (complete with goats, vegetable garden and solar power).  We wrapped up our tour at about 5:00 pm and then it was "go time" for our Halloween themed dinner that Piper organized.  Each couple had to dress like their course and it was such fun.

10:30 am "Before the wine tour "

5:00 pm "After the wine tour"

Appetizers - Hill's - Greek Appetizers - They dressed like Sandy and Danny from "Grease" ha!
Salad - Von Stroh's - Sauteed spinach  - The dressed like Olive Oil and Popeye
Primi - Fraser's - Spinach/Cheese Fondue - Also dressed like Olive Oil and Popeye (so funny)
Main Course - Abo's and Williams - Mini burgers and french fries - Dressed like 50's
Dessert - Kerwin's - German Chocolate Cake - Dressed like Germans :)

Other than the ribbon and socks, I had everything at home to put this German thing together!

Despite Russ' dislocated thumb, it was a super fun night of friends, food, wine, hot tubbing and dancing.  You know it's a good night with the cab driver decides to come in for a quick dance party right?  I know we are all adults but sometimes its nice to pretend we are still in college.

Bella Winery, in the Cave

Sunday was pretty low-key.  We had a lazy morning and then headed out to Yoakum Bridge, Unti and Bella wineries.  I absolutely loved Bella and their wine cave is pretty cool.  We said good-bye to everyone after a quick stop to the Dry Creek Store and then it was back to LA with the Hill's.  We are already going through withdraws (both from our friends and good wine) but we were sure to stock up and are already looking forward to the next gathering. 

Thanks again to the Abo's and Fraser's for organizing such an incredible weekend!  I think Tuscany should be our next stop :)

I took a lot of photos so I had to post a few more below: