Last weekend Richard’s mom Sheryl came to visit us! We started out going to Maria Maria Friday night which is one of our favorite Danville restaurants. Every night they have live music and the entire look and feel is infused with Carlo Santa’s influence as he is the owner, hence the name “Maria, Maria.” Saturday was great because I was able to go to a baby shower hosted for Christel in Pleasanton. It was great to see one of my good friends Cathy at the shower (Christel’s sister in-law and good friend of mine!). The weather was beautiful, we sipped on Prosecco in the sunshine and had a wonderful afternoon at the shower. After the baby shower Richard, Sheryl and I headed out to Livermore wine country as we heard they have several amazing wineries. It was great to not only see there are over 40 wineries in Livermore but they have great reputations and it was only a 30 min drive which is closer than Sonoma. We didn’t have time to visit as many wineries as we would have liked, but we did spend some quality time at two great places, Bent Creek and Wente.
Bent Creek crafts small lots of complex wines made from our own grapes and other Livermore Valley vineyards. I loved this place because the people who worked there were so friendly and personable. We had a great time visiting, tasting and purchasing. The long and narrow tasting room is at the end of a road winding down the hill that overlooks the vineyard. They also served chocolate and glazed pecans to pair while tasting. I probably could have made a meal out of those pecans – they sell them at the winery and also have the recipe online, I just may need to try it out. My favorite wine here was the 2007 Livermore Valley Zin and at $25 per bottle it’s a great price point. According to the description, it’s a blend of red fruit, cedar and spice followed by intense Bing cherry flavors with a zing of cinnamon and cloves. It was so good, we opened a bottle as soon as we got home!
