Pleasant Day in Wine Country

The Island visitors have acquired a taste for wine, encouraged by a 21st-century science that recommends light imbibing for medicinal reasons. I picked them up at their hotel last Monday, and within 40 minutes we were sipping wine on a Sonoma hillside. We would hit a few of the larger, well-known tasting rooms; not among our group were the sophisticates who troll California for out-of-the-way wineries highly rated by the Wine Spectator. We knew enough to taste the difference between a zin and a cab, but that’s about the extent of our expertise.

The Viansa is one of the first wineries one encounters on the way to Napa / Sonoma. Perched on a hillside, it’s a favorite venue for wedding receptions and corporate functions. The amicable host gave us the history of each vintage as he poured a sampler into our glasses (the humble tour guide declined to participate---it was not even 11, and there was a lot of driving to come).

One of the visitors started to pass around pictures of her grandchildren and chat about each one. I struck two destinations off the six in my tentative itinerary. Long and leisurely would be the theme for this pleasant day in wine country. © 2007 Stephen Yuen

The view at Viansa.