A lovely day, this. Our first holiday lie-in, a smashing brunch and a gentle trip up the Californian coast to Solvang. It's a little bit of Denmark! Really. Windmills everywhere, pastries, cutesy little houses and bizarrely accented Danish-Americans.
Also, it's in the middle of southern Californian wine country. Yum. So after a quick danish (a Danish what? Hoho) and a decidedly American coffee, we repair across the road to a local winery for a bit of tasting. A matronly blonde with a faintly discernible whiff (both literal and metaphorical) of the noble grape welcomes us, and introduces us to her list. We decide to try 5 wines, 3 reds, 1 white and a sweet red for afters. And they were delicious, particularly the (I think) 2000 Pinot Noir from their very own vineyards.
Slightly tipsified, we decided to head into wine-growin' country proper for tasting no. 2. Another drunken wench provided us with a less interesting and not as tasty list, but on the plus side there was the most gorgeous pair of olive tapenades sitting on the bar just waiting to be gobbled, gratis.
Unfortunately, we had so enjoyed savouring the fruits of the Los Olivos valley that we missed the chance to complete our winery hat-trick. 5.30 is NOT a civilised time to close anywhere that sells booze. On the other hand, Sarah in particular had imbibed plenty, a beautiful rosy glow complementing her already porcelain-perfect features (she'll slap me for this). So we drove back to Solvang, bought the distinguished Pinot Noir (at a suitably distinguished price), and drank it with a simply delicious mushroom risotto made by yours truly.
Nice day, all in all.
Posted by biondino at June 29, 2003 03:21 PMConsider yourself slapped. But in an affectionate way :)
Posted by: sgs on June 30, 2003 05:37 AM