The welcoming center was in every right a center, but had little welcoming qualities, as there was only one attendant and he was nose deep into a pour of 2002 Syrah with two ladies whose heads were hard to see with them being so far up their butts. We thumbed through some literature on the area and decided the best plan of action was to be on the offensive and attack vineyard's recommended by mi madre.
Stop 1: Cakebread winery... Turned away at the gate by a acne scarred twenty-something because we need reservations. Ha. What are those?
Stop 2: Frogs Leap winery... Circled around the giant sign which explained that taste testing is by reservation only.
Stop 3: Elizabeth Spalding (in operation since 1998!) winery... We were met by a man named Mark, king of the snide smile. The room was tiny, and we were joined by only one couple in their thirties. Mark looked us up and down and properly assessed our lack of experience and asked for the ID's... Weis and I came first, and after a little awkward "This doesn't look like you" conversation, Abby's ID was green-lighted as well.
Weis ducked into the bathroom to avoid the intense awkwardness that had clouded around us and we inadvertently agreed to getting the 15$ tasting. It gets better though... to save money we SPLIT a tasting! The rookie moves kept coming as we used phrases like "Yeah this one's good!" and "I like red more than this white!". He gave us speeches on the grapes, the fermentation process, aging, legs... and we sat wide eyed throughout pretending we had a place in that awful county. We ended by throwing our cash down on the counter and back-peddling out into the parking lot, laughing hysterically at our own incompetence.
We're now stationed in Mendocino California getting ready to set up shop for the night. It's back to the parks for a while... time to get a six pack and watch the sun set.
G'nite
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