held November 17th and 18th.  Since it was not possible for us to make it to every winery, we decided to make it to as many as we could, but concentrate on a few that are generally open by appointment only or not usually open to the public.  In the end, it was really geography and time that dictated which wineries we made it to and we actually did pretty well, visiting 12 tasting rooms (a credit to our designated driver).  This is a great event for the price and one we highly recommend attending it at least once.

Etude Wines

The mornings in Carneros are often foggy, and this weekend was no exception.  We started early to make sure we could get as many wineries in as possible, so we pulled into the Etude parking lot right at 10:00.  The fog was hanging low in the vineyards and hugged the eucalyptus trees on the edge of the vineyard giving it all a surrealistic feel of a Scottish moor.  We were amazed to find we were the first ones to arrive.  We had anticipated pretty significant crowds, but we were able to sign right in and be tasting in minutes.    

Etude is a mid-sized winery known for its Pinot Noirs from Carneros and Cabernet Sauvignon from the Napa Valley.  The winery is done in a beautiful French country home style with European style country gardens surrounded by vineyards.  Tasting here is normally offered on Saturdays for drop ins and the rest of the time, by appointment only.  The tasting fee is normally $25 and includes their reserve wines. 

The winery offered a cross section of their wines in a tent next to the main winery facility.  The tastings included a dry Semillon, a light and crisp Chardonnay, a Zinfandel from Amador Country grapes, a Red Wine Blend, an intriguing Pinot Noir Rose and lastly, their great Pinot Noir.  They also offered some artisan cheeses and hors devoirs that went splendidly  with the wines.  For those who preferred tasting the higher end Etude wines, they offered a reserve tastings for the standard $25 fee in the barrel room.  The service was great, the staff was knowledgeable and friendly; a great experience. 

Ceja Vineyards

From Etude we went on to Ceja Vineyards not far away on Las Amigas Road, a friendly, boutique sized winery set in an masterfully landscaped garden. This is a winery that is usually only open by appointment and normally charges a $15 tasting fee and is worth the effort of making an appointment ahead of time.  It was still early when we got to Ceja and not many other people had yet arrived.  This allowed us to receive great attention from the people pouring the wines and were able spend time at each tasting station discussing the wines at length.  That was the good side of being early, the bad side was we were there too early for the food and music that was scheduled for later in the day.  We did see them setting up a incredible looking Mexican style lunch that was offered later for a fee.