so after our fabulous lunch at bottega, it was off for a marathon of afternoon tastings.

life is hard.

first up: plumpjack.{plumpjack, plumpjack 2007 reserve chardonnay}

lovely wines from both plumpjack and cade wineries.  & apparently an influx of nc people had come through their doors on that very same day.  hmm.

we picked up a bottle of the 2007 reserve chardonnay, which i just love because it’s fruity, acidic, and unoaked.  major yum.

onward!

{windiest day ever, silver oak entrance sign, front of tasting room, mr. lusher with the stash, watertower}

while we may be posing in that first picture, the wind was blowing nonstop & STRONG.  if you look in the picture of the front of the tasting room, you can see that the water is blowing sideways. the tasting room was huge & gorgeous, having gone through a major rebuild just recently.  it was also PACKED.  we tasted their big fruit cabs, but didn’t feel compelled to buy anything, since their wines are pretty readily available.

and then we saw this place.{napa wine co}

mr. lusher recognized it & we felt compelled to stop.

& holy shit, am i glad we did.  this place features their own line of wines, but also spotlights small, boutique wineries that you might otherwise never have the chance to experience.

the dimly lit tasting room, with impressively lofty ceilings, was free of other tasters, which i almost prefer.  i think sometimes, being the only ones there, you get the opportunity to try some really different things that may not be shared if there’s a large, tipsy mob around.

plus, we were in the hands of luis.  & dude knew his stuff.

i can’t even remember what all we tasted here, i just know that luis poured us this:

{extra large picture for dramatic effect}

well, the one we had was the 2006, but we were blown away.

so if you ever, ever, ever, everrrrr see this wine, BUY IT.  you’re welcome.

on the way out the door, i plucked one of these off of a tree.apparently, olives are not to be eaten directly off the tree.  apparently, they are supposed to be cured first.

holy bitterness batman!  that was a vile discovery.

& then, we may or may not have gone back to our hotel for a nap & slept right on through to the next day.

life is hard.