4/7/09 - Glen Ellen, CA (Scott)

Ah, another glorious day! We woke up this morning in Davis. After a quick breakfast and a look over our maps we said a heartfelt goodbye to the wonderful Rushton family and hit the road. Since Ashlee tackled the urban driving in Sacramento yesterday, it was my turn at the wheel today.

Just as in the past few days, the driving was smooth sailing all the way to Napa Valley. We did run into our first bit of nasty Nor Cal weather – it started raining just outside of Davis – but to be honest, it just made the day even prettier. Certain parts of the drive made Ashlee and I nostalgic for the rolling greens of Ireland. I was worried that I’d find portions of driving stressful on this road trip, but everything today was very leisurely and actually quite relaxing.
Our first stop of the day was at the Domain Chandon winery in Yountville, an upscale establishment specializing in sparkling wine. It was a Rushton recommendation -- Ashlee had mentioned that she has a penchant for champagne and they thought this would be right up her alley. They were right.

We each got a flight of four sparkling wine tastes, starting with a dry brute and working up to a sweet riche, and a large platter of cheese and salami along with a baguette. We were both in heaven – Ashlee loved the wine and I was all over the cheese tray. The winery itself was perched on the lip of a hill and we got to admire the beautiful scenery outside the large plate glass windows lining the bar as we indulged our inner vintners. It was a good thing that today was my turn to drive too, because Ashlee really enjoyed the wine. We finished up our tastes, hit the gift shop, picked up a bottle of our favorite taste to enjoy with my mom back home, and got back to Hamish.

By this time is was almost noon and we were ready for lunch. Just down the road from Chandon, we spied a Marie Callendar’s restaurant advertising a “souper special” (soup and sandwich) for $7. A perfect meal for a rainy day! And we only felt slightly bad that we were the only people in the restaurant under 70 years of age. On second thought, we actually fit right in -- people do always tell us that we are old souls. The food was good, the price was right, and it hit the spot.

After lunch, we were off to Sonoma Valley. After another beautiful hour-long drive, we found ourselves in the tiny paradise of Glen Ellen, where Ashlee had booked us a “cottage” at the Glen Ellen Inn. Before checking into our room, we decided to hit one more winery. Just around the corner from the Inn is the Benziger estate, a certified biodynamic winery. For $15 each, we got to go on a 45-minute tour of the estate along with a flight of four tastes in the wine shop. The tour itself was really neat. Ashlee and I sat in a sort of tram that was pulled by a large tractor. We were taken up through the vineyards, behind the scenes where the grapes are all de-stemmed, mashed, and turned to wine, and into the "cave" where the large barrels of wine are stored.

You might be wondering what the label "biodynamic" means. We were told by our guide that "biodynamic" is the highest level of organic that a business can be certified. The Benziger family wants their winery to have the smallest environmental footprint possible. Among other things: (1) they don't use pesticides in their fields -- instead they hired an entomologist to help them construct a habitat for "good bugs" to come and kill the "bad bugs" that prey on the grapes, and (2) they use "home-made" compost instead of manure. All this and their wine was nice too. Although I'll be honest and admit that I really haven't met a wine that I haven't liked.

The Glen Ellen Inn is a beautiful little establishment. Our room was top-notch – a small free-standing bungalow complete with a Jacuzzi tub, a fireplace, and a shower equipped with a sauna. Our cottage even has a little breakfast nook (stocked with muffins and fresh fruit) with a window that looks right out into a little creek. So pretty much the opposite of where we’ll be living in Mongolia…

For dinner we ate at the Inn’s award-winning restaurant. Simply put, the food was divine. We started with martinis (Ashlee’s featured pineapple juice and champagne while mine was espresso, Baileys, and cream) moved onto salads and finished with fresh pasta garnished with shrimp and large chunks of filet mignon in a parmesan garlic sauce. Hands down it was one of the top five meals I have ever had. Sadly, we were too stuffed to have dessert.

After dinner, we took a stroll around town and then returned to our cottage for a nice dip in the Jacuzzi tub. Ashlee was excited that we had a television. She loves television.

Tomorrow, San Francisco!