Road Trip

May 18 to 21, 2018

Lest at 9:30 am Friday from Huntington Beach. Traveling to the Edna Valley, outside of Pismo Beach. Margie's annual wine tasting road trip.  Gased up in Pismo before heading inland. 5 gallons of gas that meant 38.5 mpg. Not bad. 

Eleven of us meeting at Baileyana for a tasting at 3:00.  Nice cheese plate, decent wines but nothing spectacular. They seem to be short staffed for as many people as were there. Sun is out but so is the wind. Glad I have a warm jacket with me.

Checked in at the San Luis Bay Resort in Avila Beach. The place is a zoo right now. This resort is getting more popular every year. Looks like something is going to going on this weekend at the golf course next store. Tents are set up along with a stage.  Cleaned up and off to the Quarterdeck in Grover Beach for dinner.   Restaurant was busy. I have not eaten here before so it will be a new experience.  

I ordered the halibut on the light dinner menu. After the cheese and crackers at the winery I do not need big portions tonight. Several people brought bottles of wine but I opted out. We have a weekend of wine tasting so a martini is in order. Purple Rain martini and it was good. On my dinner the halibut was good but not great. The  vegetables were too aldente for me and had no flavor. Expected more from the reviews on Yelp.

Saturday morning up and out the door. Meeting at 11:00 at Talley Winery at the far end of the valley.  I opted out of the limo ride the others are taking. I know the area  well and also can be far more flexible on the timing by driving myself. We have a private room for tasting. Several of the wines were good. I did opt to buy a higher end Pinot since they waived the tasting fee if you bought something. This was a good tasting and informative.

We met at Clairborne and Churchill at 1:00 for a tasting and lunch. My turkey  sandwich was good and I opted for the fresh fruit. Again a winery with numerous groups at one time. A bit hectic getting the table out of the sun and adding another table to accommodate us. If you have a reservation for 11 people why do you have a table set for 8 ??? The Riesling and Gewurztraminer were the best wines of this stop. Not much info on the wine or winery. Just sit down, staff  put bottles on the table and then the staff walks away.

At 3:00 we were at Wolff Family Winery for our last tasting of the day. I am a fan of this winery. Took home 4 bottles.  Again the wind was a big factor in the comfort area. We did have a nice table big enough for us and they did turn on the space heater.  Wines are always good here.

We are all meeting tonight at AJ Spurs in Grover Beach for dinner.  Loud, noisy and busy.  Again I was not overly hungry and also opted out of the wine sharing. Had a Old Fashioned instead. Ordered the veal liver and onions. It was good but again way too much food. If I was home I would take a "doggie bag" but not when I and leaving in a day.

Sunday we had two tastings in Avila Beach which made it very convenient for me. First we went to Sinor-LaValle at noon. Mike Sinor gave us his history in the business. At 1:00 a tamale purveyor set up. One of the best tamales I have had in a long time. After picking up 6 bottles of Mike's 2016 White Label Pinot we are off to the next tasting right down the street. 

Second tasting room is Croma . They specialize in Spanish varietals. Nice wines but did not purchase.
Everyone is going to the Custom House at 5:00 for dinner. I opted out, went back and bought 3 more tamales and headed back up the hill to the resort.

Several things on this outing that I came to realize. Being with the same people for three days is a bit much. All nice people except one who over drank, but I needed a break from everything. Two days is max for me. Opted out of the limo was a really good decision on my part. I left the last stop on Saturday way before the rest did which gave me a lot of time to relax before dinner.  I like myself and  being alone is OK with me.  It gives me time to recharge myself.  I have no need to be surrounded by people all the time.  Last out of town trip Margie hosted we had dinner on Friday night, rode in a limo on Saturday to 3 wineries, had dinner Saturday night and I left on Sunday to come back home. I did not stay and visit more wineries on Sunday. That worked out for me the best. So I learned a lot about my tolerance and intolerance.