Edit: FRIDAY (not Saturday) recap

A good start to a day of wine-tasting involves a big breakfast, and they don't get much bigger than they are at Pearl's Diner. It's not quite a hole-in-the-wall, but it is hidden away in a little strip mall near the Safeway supermarket, and doubtless escapes the notice of most tourists. It's a very popular breakfast spot for locals (and tourists in the know). The decor is 50's kitsch, and the food is hearty portions of tasty homestyle diner food. I wouldn't be surprised if we ate every breakfast here on the trip. Today I'm going to try the biscuits and gravy, which is pretty much my litmus test for a great breakfast place.

The countryside is beautiful here. It's been interesting to check it out this time of year. When we were here a couple of years ago, it was late May, and the continuous heat had already baked the hillsides brown; the only greenery was the trees and the grape leaves. Now, the hills are lush green, and the vineyards are inundated with grasses and weeds (including the pictured yellow flowers- will try to find out what those are). No leaves on the grapes right now, just little buds of new growth.

Started the tasting portion of the day off at the Robledo Family Winery. Very cool story here, as Reynaldo Robledo, Sr. is the fist Mexica migrant to open his own winery/tasting room. He worked his way up over the years from vineyard worker to vineyard manager to landowner and eventually winemaker. This is very much a family business. All 9 children are involved, and the mother does the cooking for events at the winery. The 8th child, Larry, was an excellent host, and ended up giving us our dinner restaurant recommendation. Strong selection of whites and reds here. We picked up a few bottles of a spicy tempranillo. This winery is definitely recommended.

Next stop was Gloria Ferrer, who specializes in sparkling wines. Since bubbly is Rhonda's favorite, there's no way we were missing this place. It may be the only winery that will be a repeat visit from our last trip. The fact that Rhonda joined their wine club and gets free bubbly at the tasting room makes this a no-brainer! Did the tour here, and saw the bottling line in action. If you're a fan of the bubbly, definitely check this place out. Spectacular views from the hillside tasting room's balcony.

On to Schug, another spot worth a stop for the views if nothing else. Tiny tasting room, with not much traffic (it was Friday). We had the place to ourselves for half an hour. One of the guys working there was planning a trip to Kansas City, so I chatted with him about the trip Jason and I took to Arthur Bryant's and the relative merits of KC, Texas, Carolina and Memphis-style 'que. This guy also sounded exactly like Vince Vaughn, which was pretty funny. Oh, and the wine. Nice pinot noirs here- picked up a couple of bottles.

Next up: Homewood, which was recommended by Eden, our server at Pearl's (she works there on the weekends). Unfortunately, their bathroom was out of order. This was unfortunate because we'd had a lot of water (very important to stay hydrated when tasting) and we were really looking forward to using the facilities. We cut the tasting short here, but did grab a bottle of a nice acidic (in addition to the expected floral and fruity) sauvignon blanc before heading back to the hotel.

Larry from Robledo did us right by recommending Taqueria La Hacienda for dinner. This is definitely a local spot. It's nothing to look at, but what it's lacking in atmosphere, it makes up for in the food department. Great pastor and asada tacos.

Back to the hotel, which was hosting a free tasting from the Nicholson Ranch winery. They had some really nice wines, including a buttery chardonnay and a complex pinot and syrah. Too rich for our blood, though (the cheapest thing, the chardonnay, was 30 bucks). I think they get away with those price points because they're in between Sonoma and Napa (the Napa valley is in general a pricier/fancier spot) If you're not scared by $30-50 price tags, you might consider checking them out.

5 tastings in 1 day- whew! I doubt we'll keep up this pace, especially since I'm squeezing in a brewery visit Saturday or Sunday.

Clarification for interested (or concerned) parties: since I'm driving, Rhonda gets to do most of the actual tasting/drinking. "Tasting" for me involves a lot of swirling and sniffing, a tiny sip, and a lot of chewing and swishing that tiny sip. Most of my sample gets poured out. Apparently spitting is a totally acceptable part of tasting etiquette, but I haven't seen anybody else do it and I'm not inclined to be a trendsetter when it comes to public spitting!

We'll put together an online photo album from the trip when we get back.