After our reception on Thursday evening, we woke up bright and early on Friday to do a ton of touring and exploring through the vineyards.

We also got a great education on the whole wine making process, at which time I was wishing I could house these barrels in my garage.

Loved seeing this in action.

 

We had the most incredible tasting and lunch on a terrace on Alexander Valley Mountain.

You can’t really beat lunch with a view like this.

Later Friday afternoon we had a great (outdoor) wine education class where we learned about pairing different wines with fruit and vegetables, and describing their flavor in great detail. I loved this because up until last week, the only thing I knew about wine was how to drink (alot of) it.

And again… with an outstanding view.

Just when I thought I’d seen the most beautiful sight, I’d see another one. Totally cool.

 

We then headed to Matanzas Creek Winery for a reception with local artisan food purveyors.

Seriously, I could not stop eating those oysters. They were to die for. It was also here that we got to sample fresh goat cheese curd – I’m pretty sure it was 24 hours old? It was incredible and by sample, I mean we downed cracker after cracker until it was gone. So good.

 

We headed indoors for a great dinner, and while the lighting wasn’t the best for photos, I did snap a picture of the menu so you can visualize what we stuffed our faces with.

The atmosphere here was just lovely.

 

Saturday we headed to a food photography and styling session.

There were tons of incredible props, and I’ll keep it real and tell you that Lori and I made one plate that was a disaster and a second plate that probably came in last place. Everyone I spent the weekend with takes such gorgeous photos.

 

We had (another) lunch outdoors which was unbelievable.

Those are braised leeks above and we ate them multiple times this weekend. I’ve had leeks before and enjoyed them in things like breakfast hash, but I couldn’t get enough of them here. They were so… caramely.

Plus… we had tons of wine.

I don’t think it is any exaggeration to say that the wine flowed like water here. I have never seen so much wine in my life. I didn’t hate it.

 

That evening, we first headed to tour the Kendall Jackson garden with Ruth Reichl.

The garden took my breath away and was stocked with everything you could imagine. Even more wine!

We then headed inside for dinner, where Ruth gave an inspiring keynote and we ate even more.

I wish that I had a good shot of the corn pudding because it is all I’ve been able to think about since Saturday. It literally melted in my mouth. As I’ve said a million times by now, all of the food was just unreal.

 

I just still can’t get over what an amazing weekend it was. I’ve always wanted to travel to wine country, but my husband is not a fan of wine. He’d gladly take me, but I never thought it would be enjoyable since he really dislikes wine. This weekend completely changed my mind on that, and even makes me think he might like some wine. I just need to force a bit down his throat from now on.

I’ve also decided that I might be changing my stance on dessert, and want to have a big dinner party with a two-bite dessert and a glass of late harvest Riesling. You have to come though so the party isn’t just… me.

Thanks for looking at my crazy amount of pictures and allowing me to share this trip with you guys. And thanks so much to Kendall Jackson for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Back to regularly scheduled programming tomorrow… when Tuesday Things are really Wednesday Things.