It is another sunny morning here in California. After almost 1 week of high temperatures at 100+, it was quite a surprise to Peggy this morning that she needed the sweater that she took outside with her! As our Benziger Winery tour guide said, this is perfect weather for growing wine grapes – warm to hot days and cool nights (high of 94 today and predicted low of 56).  Although the wineries open at 10 a.m., we cannot start drinking that early. We planned on stopping at 2 or 3 wineries today (realistically 2).

Vineyards at Benziger Winery

Wine cave

Wine cave

Arboretum

We decided to start the afternoon with our favorite – Benziger Winery.  We are so glad that we did. Although we had no reservations, we were in time for a combined tour of the vineyards, cave, and wine tasting. Our first tour here, about 6 years ago, introduced us to biodynamic farming which uses as much natural ways to grow grapes as possible. By using insectaries to encourage vineyards friendly insects that help to eliminate harmful insects and sheep to fertilize and keep grasses “mowed”, they are able to avoid insecticides, herbicides and artificial fertilizer. We again got a close up tour of the vineyards. New to us, was the part of the tour that included an explanation of and viewing the area where the harvested grapes are processed to eventually become wine. We were also introduced into the cave. About 20 years ago, the Benziger Family had a cave built by tunneling under the mountain. This provides them the opportunity to store thousands of barrels of wine at a constant 61 degrees without out worrying about power outages. This is truly an ideal setting for all aspects of wine production. The tour concluded with 5 tastings. As wine club members, we are familiar with the wines, but it was great to hear more about the wines we’ve been enjoying. We’ll, after that tour, tasting and buying wine to consume here in and ship home, there was not enough time to get to the next Winery before it closed. It was probably just as well. The wine tastings were generous and we are not sure we could have done justice to another tasting. Besides, for us, Benziger is a tough act to follow. It was our first  Sonoma/Napa Valley experience during our first trip here.

Biodynamic farming

Grapevines

Grapes, not quite ready yet.

We are also happy to report there was no evidence of fire damage to Benziger or Jacuzzi. As we drove around we did see some charred tree trunks with no leaves, but happily the vineyards seem untouched or recovered. We’ve had a wonderful time here in wine country and we are happy to report that despite our small but excellent sample size, the wine is safe to drink. We look forward to return research trips.