A few weeks back, I was treated to an enlightening appellation-specific tasting of
Santa Lucia Highlands wines courtesy of the host,
Hahn Family Wines.
Santa Lucia Highlands sit on the southeast facing slopes of the Santa Lucia mountain range, on one side of the plentiful Salinas Valley. I made the somewhat significant trek down there with my trusty vinopanions, the
Brix Chicks'
Liza (
Twitter) and
Xandria (
Twitter). I hadn't been down in the area since I was but a wee lad, noshing with me folks, so it was a treat to see the Valley again. It was in all of its late Spring splendor and we enjoyed taking in the bountiful scents of the fruits and vegetables growing near the highway.
The recovery is almost over...I have managed to survive another incredibly awesome North American Wine Bloggers' Conference, once again headquartered at the Flamingo in Santa Rosa (Sonoma Valley). The 4 days of vino-frenzy began with a trek out to Murphys in the longtime wine region of Calaveras County, where some Twisted wine fun was had by a few lucky bloggers who made the trek. Hosted by El Jefe (Twitter) & Scott (Twitter) of Twisted Oak & Newsome-Harlow, we visited the tasting rooms of Hatcher, Newsome-Harlow, Tanner and finished up at the TO tasting room with some Renner wines. 
