Weekend Winos

Enthusiasts in search of quality libations to enhance weekends.

Category Archives: Travel


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Wine Flight – First Class Tasting Across Time Zones

Last weekend a few of the weekend winos set off  for a well deserved wine tasting experience in Spain and Greece.   With much anticipation about the Spanish reds and no knowledge of Greek wines at all, little did we know that the adventure would begin on American Airlines.

AA First Class Wine List

AA First Class Wine List

At 7:00 am en route to a layover in  NYC (First Class upgrade) we started with a Valdo Prosecco Brut.  They describe it as well-balanced, flavorful and aromatic — I say let the vacation begin!   We reached our cruising altitude and soon discovered that we were  just at the start of a tasting adventure in the skies

  • Ardenwood Chardonnay
  • Turi Sauvignon Blanc
  • Castle Rock California Cuvee Pinot Noir
  • Viansa Vino Rosso

After a couple of rounds to “make sure” we had a well formed opinion, the Pinot Noir stood out as elegant, smooth, medium-bodied with aromas of cherry, tea and spice.  Note:  for proper context, these were true tasting size pours, the flight attendants were delightful and in no way did we over imbibe.  Nothing worst than a drunk passenger on a long flight, except maybe a screaming baby.

AA Business Class Wine List

AA Business Class Wine List

Before we knew it, we arrived at JFK and looked forward to our next wine flight to Spain.  Grateful for the upgrade to Business Class we were greeted with a lovely Gosset Brut Excellence glass of champagne.  The original plan of a good night’s sleep was quickly replaced by a lively discussing of what to taste next from the 7 options available:  2 white, 2 red, 2 dessert wines and a special selection from Ken Chase, the AA Consulting Enologist/Viticulturalist.

  • Villa Solais Vermentino di Sardegna DOC
  • Domaine de Martinolles Cuvee Saint-Hilaire
  • MontGras Cabernet Sauvignon Reserva
  • Spotted Owl Vineyards
  • Bodegas Lustau Sherry, Jerez
  • Senhora do Convento Vintage Port

The champagne was the best match for the smoked salmon with blinis and cream cheese starter, and the MontGras Cab for the grilled fillet of beef crusted in Boursin cheese served with spinach, balsamic grilled tomatoes and whipped potatoes.  Unfortunately, exhaustion took over and I was asleep before the dessert cart arrived.  I missed the last leg of my “flight”, I guess you could say . . .

A few hours of sleep was enough to rejuvenate, however, and begin the search for Spanish reds!


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Bubbles and a Ray of Sunshine on the Bay

Santa Cruz, CA

Santa Cruz, CA

This weekend the group was determined to relax, enjoy the fresh sea breeze and make the most of this sailing adventure.  The captain was set and the boat was ready to sail.  All the nautical libations had been researched – we quickly found out there were no rum fans at all, so Captain Morgan would stay on shore.

Did I mention that we were in Santa Cruz, California?  Locals know that the fog stays low till after noon and the wind picks up at around 1 pm.   No problem, we planned accordingly and decided that we were committed to relaxing no matter what the weather had in mind for us.

Starting point was lunch at the Crow’s Nest, casual, tasty food with a good variety of drink options. The group quickly gravitated to the nautical drinks:

Kamikaze Sailor

Kamikaze Sailor

  • Kamikaze Sailor: Stoli vodka, lime juice & a splash of Cointreau.
  • El Capitan Margarita: Herradura tequila and Patron Citronge on the rocks with a blend of sweet & sour juices.
  • Crow’s Nest Sailor Jerry Mai Tai:  A polynesian blend of five rums & fresh fruit juices.
  • Champagne: before, during and after boating.

Sailing not exactly,  we did go boating in a very nice sailboat, the wind did not cooperate but that wasn’t going to stop us from having a great time.  The clouds covered the sky as we left the marina in Capitola;  the captain made sure we were safe and had as smooth a “sail” as possible.  As we “sailed” towards Santa Cruz a ray of sun broke through the clouds and magically followed our boat as we travelled north and then back to the marina.  The prosecco kept flowing and everyone agreed we would be back to try our hand at sailing the next time.

See you next weekend!


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Wine, Beer, Frozen Mimosas and Lots of Garlic at the 2013 Gilroy Garlic Festival

You Have To Go At Least Once!

This weekend we knew it was going to be hot so we tried to get there early to avoid the long lines. No such luck, but what a great surprise when we finally got there and parking was FREE with a bus waiting to take the group to the entrance.  No lines to buy tickets and you could definitely smell the garlic coming from Gourmet Food Alley.

Gilroy Garlic Festival Beer Tin

Gilroy Garlic Festival Beer Tin

We started to walk around and quickly decided we needed a strategy

1) food, drinks, walk around, music, shop and repeat, or

2) drinks, food, walk around, drinks, music, food, shop

we all agreed the shopping was last because it was too hot to carry anything.

So, we’re off… no wine tent in sight yet, so….first stop is the beer garden followed by garlic fried calamari and garlic fries.  We bought the beer tins as a practical souvenir and took a break to listen in at the Cook-off Theater.   Yes, the free garlic ice cream booth was right in front of us, but the line was about 60 people long.  We walked around and were tempted by many goodies but there was still the other half of the event to conquer.

We avoided the Children’s Area, yes we did, and came back to Gourmet Food Alley just in time for the Flame-ups by the Pyro Chefs, that was impressive.. huge flames of fire.  And we move on.

Garlic Goodies

Garlic Goodies

It is high noon and it is very hot.  The wine tent is now in sight but we haven’t tried the pesto pasta yet and we’re tempted by the henna tattoo booth (unfortunately the line was too long).  So with bellies full we walk around and find our way to the wine tent.  Five or six wineries to taste and what a surprise frozen mimosas (the perfect combination of tasty and refreshing).   We knew this would be our final stop before shopping at the everything garlic tent.

Last stop… everything garlic to buy under one tent.  Yes every one bought something, how could we resist.  The garlic infused oils, soaps, rubs, dips.  Yummmm!  Clothing, wine glasses, cook books.  A one stop shop and by the look on everyone’s face it was time to say goodbye and head back home.

See you all next weekend!