tasting along the wine road: revisited

I'm about wined-out.  Well, at least for another, say, day or so.

For the second year in a row, we took part in the Annual Wine & Food Affair:  a tasting event along the Wine Road, integrating the Dry Creek, Alexander, and Russian River Valleys.  This year, we brought along Gabe's mom and her boyfriend.

 sober @ Windsor Oaks Vineyards, our first stop

About ninety {90!} wineries participated in this two-day event, pouring their current releases, some reserves and library wines, and served food that paired well with their wines.  Many prepared and served their own homemade dishes, while others hired caterers.  Either way, the food was amazing everywhere we visited {several veg dishes}, and the best part is we each got to take home a souvenir cookbook containing all of the recipes from every participating winery.  We also got to take home our commemorative wine goblets that we toted to each place.

Not included in the price of our tickets, however, were the eight bottles of wine we bought to enjoy during this upcoming holiday season at home.  Although it didn't seem like it at the end of the day, we had visited ten wineries, all within a five-hour time period.  Don't worry, we hired a chauffeur for the day!  We used the same company, Wine Country Chauffeur, we used last year on our honeymoon, and we were again very pleased.  I highly recommend them, especially Mary, if you plan on livin' it up in wine country in the future. 

Although all of the wineries we visited had perfectly drinkable wines, there were definitely a few that stood out above the rest.  These were the wines we bought.  Of course.
@ Kokomo Winery: {2} bottles of 2007 Pinot Noir, Winemaker's Reserve, Peters Vineyard
also @ Kokomo Winery:  {2} bottles of 2008 Chardonnay, Peters Vineyard
also also @ Kokomo Winery:  {2} bottles of 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon, Dry Creek Valley
@ Papapietro Perry Winery:  {1} bottle of 2008 Pinot Noir, Leras Family Vineyard
@ Selby Winery:  {1} bottle of 2008 Selby Rosé of Syrah {on sale for only $9!}

We are so grateful to Mary, our driver, for understanding our taste in wines and insisting that we visit Kokomo and Papapietro Perry.  Their reds are big reds, which I love, and Kokomo's Chardonnay is big, buttery, clean, and phenomenal.  Mmm...

At Kokomo, we had the pleasure of meeting and chatting with Randy Peters, of Peters Vineyard, and we were just as excited about his Reserve Pinot as he was.  That is another benefit of this event:  you get to meet the winemakers, and if you are really lucky, their dogs too.

I don't know which part of the day is my definite favorite--rubbing Lobo's belly at Matrix Winery, or going back for seconds {alright, thirds!} of four mushroom soup at Papapietro Perry's. 

 We also met Tucker, a Giants fan, at Wilson Winery.

 The view at Wilson is breathtaking. And the wine is good, too!

All in all, a very enjoyable event that you should definitely check out next year.  We could go the next seven consecutive years and still not hit every participating winery.

This year was their 12th annual.  Anyone ever been?