Road Trip to Solvang - Day 1

May 15, 2015

Nine of us wino's made the road trip this weekend. I left work at noon and it took 3 hours to get to Buellton. Heavy traffic. I expected the trip to be 30 minutes shorter as I was leaving from work which would be closer and be less miles. I did average 38 mpg for the entire trip which made me happy.

I arrived in Buellton about 3:00 and headed over to Huber Vineyards. Had a nice long visit with Norman and Traudl.  Checked in to my hotel and got ready to go into Solvang to meet up with everyone for dinner.

Margie had arranged for dinner at the Mad+Vin restaurant in the Landsby Hotel, www.landsby.com,     where a few of the group was staying, I opted out because the  daily rate was ridiculous. I got 3 nights for the same price as 1 night at the Landsby. That gave me an extra $600 to spend on wine.

Dinner was a 7:00. Restaurant was nice and fairly quiet except for the proximity to the bar. Noisy group that apparently kept the noise going to much later in the evening. This restaurant did charge us $10 per bottle corkage. No other place did.  A variety of food was ordered. Several of us had the lamb shank which was huge. Came with some red vegetables, probably peppers on top which made it look like a hat. A bone protruded from the side and it did look like a "head". Quite original and flavor was good. I had ordered the soup of the day which was exceptionally good. Vegetables with a goat cheese topped hunk of bread floating in it. Everyone seemed happy with their meals.

A lot of wine on the table.

I brought a 2013 Huber Charlottes Reserve, Dornfelder. Big, dark, inky wine and it did pair perfectly with the lamb.

The Sands brought a Acquiesce, Grenache Blanc and a Kessler Hawk Pinot Noir. They did not write the years down or the vineyards so I have no further information. Nor do I really remember tasting the wines.

The Cookes brought a 2010 Larner, Santa Ynez Valley, Syrah which was quite good and went well with the lamb.  They also noted a dessert wine but it did not get opened until Sunday night. Way too many wines on the table.

Paul and Margie brought a 2008 Dusky Goose, Dundee Hills, Pinot Noir and a 2011 Peter Michael "La Carriere" Chardonnay. Had some of the Pinot which is always good and passed on the Chardonnay. I know it was oaky.

The Blackburns brought 4 wines. 2012 Schramsberg, Blanc de Blanc Brut, 2010 Schramsberg, Blanc de Noirs Brut. Both were very nice and I had a lot of both of them. A 2011 Gary Farrell, Russian River, Maffei Vineyard, Zinfandel and a 2013 Flowers, Sonoma Coast, Chardonnay. Neither one did I taste.

So day 1 down and looking forward to day 2.