Day #2 in California was filled with even more food and wine!
One of the perks of staying at The Farmhouse Inn is the breakfast. Oh lord, the breakfasts. No Costco muffins and mediocre coffee here! Yesterday it was oatmeal pancakes and the best scone I’ve ever had. Today it was waffles with a caramelized bacon and banana sauce and a pork patty. INSANE. The most interesting mix of flavors!
After breakfast we were picked up by Ken, our wonderful tour guide from Platypus Tours. He was really knowledgeable, friendly and accommodating. We visited five different wineries in the Russian River Valley and pretty much loved all of them. There were eight of us in the group and with the exception of “million questions guy,” everyone was normal. We visited Russian River Vineyards, Inspiration Vineyards, Battaglini Estate Winery, Foppoli Wines and LaCzar Vineyards. In addition to meeting the owners/winemakers at four of the five vineyards, we actually had tastings in the proprietors’ homes for the last two. 
Our transportation for the day
This vine at Inspiration Vineyards is over 100 years old. Older vines produce really concentrated flavors but have small yields.
These are younger vines, they are smaller and not designed to grow as thick and gnarly as older vines.
John’s tasting room is his garage which doubles as storage and a crystal meth lab. Kidding.
I’m starting to doubt that meteorology is a science…
They were big fans of the old country at Battaglini.
That’s us with Joe. Ciao, Joe!
The wisteria covered tasting room
The home of Foppoli Vineyards
Dominic, the guy in charge (he’s my age)
The final stop was to LaCzar Vineyards where we had a tasting (and some delicious snacks) in the owners’ home. This is the view from their backyard. You can imagine what the inside of the house looked like. I’ll give you a hint. GORGEOUS.
I think I could manage to live here.
The Reluctant Long Islander 