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There's something so rejuvenating about driving around the foothills on a sunny day, listening to good music, chatting with great people, eating yummy food, and drinking WINE. Saturday, Charles and I did the Northern Sierra Wine Trail. It happens every year, but this year was a bit different than in years past. This year, we knew people. And we got to do one of the things that we thoroughly enjoy -- we got to talk about wine. All that gabbing meant that we didn't make it to too many wineries -- only three to be exact. We started off at Montoliva Vineyard & Winery. There we picked up our glasses, had some of Mark Henry's always lovely wine offerings, and even got to try some of Mark's home brew. The man knows how to make a good beer. Besides getting to chat with Mark, which is always a fun time, my favorite experience at Motoliva was getting to barrel sample his 2008 Teroldego. I can't wait until this beauty, with its nose of wild roses and vanilla bean, is ready for the bottle! Then we were off to Naggiar Vineyards & Winery. They were recently voted Best Winery in KCRA's A*list. Now, we've been fans a long time. I even wrote an article about them a couple of years ago. We tried every wine they offered for tasting during the Trail. We couldn't say no to any of them, they're just all so spectacular. Then Diane Naggiar discovered us and made sure we were fed. We were served a lovely pulled pork sandwich along with a plate of fresh fruit and another plate of fresh vegetables and paired that with their wow-factor Petite Sirah. After chatting with Mark Foster from Nevada City Winery and purchasing a bottle of wine, we were off to our last stop. All of our great chit chat over the course of the day had really eaten into our five hours of Wine Trail. We wouldn't have had it any other way, and it meant that we got to end our afternoon at Pilot Peak Winery. Again, we tried every wine offered because how could we resist? We love it all so. Which meant that yes, we needed to eat some more food. Hooray! We were lucky enough to have their famous coleslaw and omg! tri-tip sandwiches. We paired our food with one of my favorites, their Cabernet Franc. After purchasing another couple bottles of wine, we drove home, full and contented and wishing it wasn't another year until our next Wine Trail.  |