We had a bit of a lie in today as the vineyard did not open until 10:00 hrs but we soon rolled up at the very plush Domaine Carneros Vineyard – home of Taittinger Sparkling Wine for a tour and tasting.
The tour was led by a VERY French man – Gerard Depardieu in appearance, with a hint of Inspector Cluso and notes of “Allo Allo”. We had a really interesting tour on how they make sparkling wine – although they seem quite bitter that they can’t call it Champagne – so much so that at every opportunity they do refer to it as Champagne!
In one tasting room he was talking about the wine and clicked a button and what looked like a wall behind him was in fact a giant screen which rose to reveal a large glass window and the winery behind him – it all felt very Bondesque and I was half expecting to see James Bond suspended over a tank of shark infested champagne with Gerard Depardieu talking him through his slow demise.
After three generous sparkling wine tastings we then hit the Pinot noir which was all a bit much for me before 11:00 but I struggled through as Peter and myself chose a couple of bottles for purchase for the road trip. Delicious...Sonya was still tasting the fizzy stuff as Peter and myself moved onto the reds.
Before leaving Peter assembled the Pensioners on the steps of the house to take a group photo before we all dispersed – NOT an easy task assembling a group of geriatric Americans who were half cut, baking in the midday sun, whilst facing a constant stream of guests who simply could not wait for the picture to be taken and had to barge through the middle to get to the winery. He did it eventually, and with great patience!
Next stop was Sausalito – a nice town in the hill side opposite SF. We stopped to take a look at our tour guide Ted’s houseboat which he was very proud of. In the town we saw the Cafe Roma where Francis Ford Coppola wrote The Godfather! Wowser!! It was in Sausalito we saw one of the greatest Marinas I have ever seen - The Richardson Bay Marina...What a great name!
We had lunch here whilst overlooking SF and the famous fog rolling in whilst Sonya was fighting with a flock of seagulls. The baying seagulls were after her and her lunch - it was a tough fight but it was fair to say Sonya won that one! Ice Creams followed and then it was coach ride back to the hotel in SF.
To be fair to the “Saga Pensioners” who we went with most were really nice and good fun. Contrary to our bets there were no deaths although one old boy who looked close to it most of the trip, managed to pull through. We were lucky to meet the very nice and good fun Pam and Beth who were more our age range.
Dinner tonight was meeting Sonya’s friends in a great Vietnamese restaurant in The Ferry Building – we had a good fun night and some great food and some odd service. We had a waiter who was a little Basil Fawlty in attitude and another guy who was quite like Manuel who didn't understand basic instruction as he didn’t understand much – for example topping my half drunk beer glass up with water! When I mentioned this to Basil he made out it was my fault as I had poured my beer from my bottle into a glass similar to that which they use for water...oops
Bed at after midnight tonight was our latest yet!
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