Friday was the sandwiched day of our trip, a continuation of the 4th wine trip that I've taken with Pops.
I wrote about the first day when we visited
Flora Springs via
GiftyBox and
Pope Valley Winery. It was the beef in our burger, cold cuts in the sammy, ice cream in the
It's-It, or...ok, enough! Anyhow, Friday was our transition day to from
Napa to
Sonoma. It was also the only day on the trip where Pops and I had no set plans.
We started the day as usual, having coffee at
Brown's Valley Yogurt & Espresso Bar, with Pops' buddies. Following that, we headed out, alllll the wayyyy to
Sonoma (it's about 20 minutes max, from my Parents' home in Brown's Valley,
Napa). Our first stop was actually a couple miles South of Sonoma at one of our favorite diners, the
Schellville Grill. It's been serving great down-home food for decades and almost just as consistently, flooding every Winter. The all-important big wine-tasting breakfast accomplished, we headed further South to the Sonoma portion of
Carneros after some thoughtful planning over our country potatoes.
Another holiday season means another wonder trip to wine country with Pops. I usually get the week off between Christmas and New Years from the day job and with that extra time I like to spend some quality father and son time spent, well honestly, what else but drinking wine? We also recently added a summer trip to the roster, as one trip is usually not enough for the two of us. We decided to continue to explore parts of Napa that were still new to us for this trip, especially with the economy in a wonderful tailspin.
The first stop of the day was intended to be at one of the best value-driven brands in the marketplace, Cartlidge & Brown off of Green Island Road. Unfortunately, they weren't open and thus we weren't able to taste nor pick up Pops' wine club selections. Seeing as how we were in the Southern-most part of the Valley, we decided to then head over to Kirkland Ranch Winery, off of Jamieson Canyon Rd (SR-12). 
Ever since 2003, the middle of September brings a certain feeling of excitement to my mind. It brings to mind dusty, hot vineyards, absolutely full of virtually mature grapes. It brings thoughts of BBQ, 
Day 3 of our wine trilogy was my last day with Pops on this, our 4th Wine Trip together. I wrote about the first day in 
OK, so I wasn't off gift shopping for some flowers to take to the Pope, I admit it. His continent was involved, however. A few weeks back, my sister and my mom headed off into the skies towards a three week trip in London and Paris. Freed from familial ties, my Dad and I decided that it was time for another Pops & Son Wine Trip, this time in the Summer. Previous wine trips taken during my week off from the