Santa Barbara Wine Train Adventure 2014

It's Summer Time And The Living Is Easy!

The Arrival In Santa Barbara... Cavorting Begins In Earnest (Page Two)

Page 1 - The Departure and On The Way   | Page 2 - Arrival And The Beginning
Page 3 - In Santa Barbara | Page 4 - Coming Home
Page 5 - A Comic View

August 2nd Wine Adventure in Santa Barbara

August 2nd Wine Adventure in Santa Barbara
We arranged for a nice day!

Pre-Lunch Wine And Lunch Summary


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Let The Party Begin

August 2nd Wine Adventure in Santa Barbara
Watch out! That first step is a doozie!

August 2nd Wine Adventure in Santa Barbara
A handsome collection of folks improving Santa Barbara's looks already

August 2nd Wine Adventure in Santa Barbara
The police were waiting for Steve!

August 2nd Wine Adventure in Santa Barbara
Another successful trip!

August 2nd Wine Adventure in Santa Barbara
Yep! Everyone made it!

Parting Is Such Sweet Sorrow... See You At 4:00!

August 2nd Wine Adventure in Santa Barbara
Decisions... Decisions... But we solved the problem
The Birthday Girls gets to lead the parade!

August 2nd Wine Adventure in Santa Barbara

Stop #1 - Oreana Winery

August 2nd Wine Adventure in Santa Barbara
We are the first ones there

August 2nd Wine Adventure in Santa Barbara
"OK... It's official... I am changing my birthday to August 1st...
Then it will be Iris, Donna, and Irene"

August 2nd Wine Adventure in Santa Barbara
What is she thinking now???

August 2nd Wine Adventure in Santa Barbara
Jamie, Nancy, Wendy and the Robert's discuss their findings

August 2nd Wine Adventure in Santa Barbara
"Mom... you need to hold the glass with both hands!!"

August 2nd Wine Adventure in Santa Barbara
We are told about the various wines...

August 2nd Wine Adventure in Santa Barbara
Almost as old as Paul

August 2nd Wine Adventure in Santa Barbara
Champagne riddling rack????
Didn't know that Champagne even told riddles!

August 2nd Wine Adventure in Santa Barbara

Did You Know? - After aging, the lees must be consolidated for removal. The bottles undergo a process known as riddling (remuage in French).

In this stage, the bottles are placed on special racks called pupitres that hold them at a 45° angle, with the crown cap pointed down. Once a day (every two days for Champagne), the bottles are given a slight shake and turn, alternatively on right then left, and dropped back into the pupitres, with the angle gradually increased.

The drop back into the rack causes a slight tap, pushing sediments toward the neck of the bottle. In 10 to 14 days (8 to 10 weeks for Champagne), the position of the bottle is straight down, with the lees settled in the neck. (This time can be shortened by moving the bottle more than once a day, and by using modern, less sticky strains of yeast.)

Manual riddling is still done for Prestige Cuvées in Champagne, but has otherwise been largely abandoned because of the high labour costs. Mechanised riddling equipment (a gyropalette) is used instead.

Many stores now sell riddling racks for decorative storage of finished wine.

August 2nd Wine Adventure in Santa Barbara
Jamie, Nancy, and Wendy are having a ball! - All smiles

August 2nd Wine Adventure in Santa Barbara
Belly up to the bar!

August 2nd Wine Adventure in Santa Barbara
Craig guards the door

August 2nd Wine Adventure in Santa Barbara
So much wine... So little time

August 2nd Wine Adventure in Santa Barbara
Louise, Jamie, and Nancy!

August 2nd Wine Adventure in Santa Barbara
Serious contemplations underway

August 2nd Wine Adventure in Santa Barbara
We filled the entire room!

August 2nd Wine Adventure in Santa Barbara
Yes it does!

August 2nd Wine Adventure in Santa Barbara
Some people drink... Some read...
Some use the books to hold up the wine bottles

August 2nd Wine Adventure in Santa Barbara
Louise Is ready to Zin

August 2nd Wine Adventure in Santa Barbara
We got Bob some Head and Shoulders Shampoo after seeing
The dandruff all over the table

August 2nd Wine Adventure in Santa Barbara
"What did Paul whisper???"

August 2nd Wine Adventure in Santa Barbara
The proper way to taste... But Will was blowing bubbles into the wine

August 2nd Wine Adventure in Santa Barbara
OK... Time to move on!

August 2nd Wine Adventure in Santa Barbara
Bob didn't realize his paper was upsidedown

Stop #2 - Pali Winery

August 2nd Wine Adventure in Santa Barbara

Did You Know? - In 2005, entrepreneurs Tim Perr and Scott Knight pooled their resources and their passions to found a winery dedicated to producing small lots of artisan Pinot Noir that they loved to drink.

They established a state-of-the-art winery and tasting room in the town of Lompoc, CA and named the winery "Pali," after their hometown Pacific Palisades on the coast just west of Los Angeles. Today, Pali Wine Co. produces a Cuvee series of wines defined by their appellation of origin and named for different neighborhoods in the Pacific Palisades. We also produce a very limited amount of vineyard-designate wines.

 

August 2nd Wine Adventure in Santa Barbara
We met up with others.... Merrialyce, Steve, Jon, and Connie

August 2nd Wine Adventure in Santa Barbara
Steve makes a wine decision!

August 2nd Wine Adventure in Santa Barbara
Loved the wallpaper... Need some for our home

August 2nd Wine Adventure in Santa Barbara
Smile!

August 2nd Wine Adventure in Santa Barbara
What! Is that a secret wine signal???

August 2nd Wine Adventure in Santa Barbara
"OK... Let's drink!"

August 2nd Wine Adventure in Santa Barbara
Paul calls the Wine Bistro to make reservation for 20 at 1:15

August 2nd Wine Adventure in Santa Barbara
Will gets a lesson on wine tasting....

Stop #3 - Ava

August 2nd Wine Adventure in Santa Barbara
A rather modern facility

August 2nd Wine Adventure in Santa Barbara
Sasha and Wendy treated us to the tasting... Thank you!

August 2nd Wine Adventure in Santa Barbara
Loved the wall! Talks about the local area

August 2nd Wine Adventure in Santa Barbara
Someone did a lot of work

August 2nd Wine Adventure in Santa Barbara
The various soils in the local area

August 2nd Wine Adventure in Santa Barbara
Amen

August 2nd Wine Adventure in Santa Barbara
The flowers were magnificent

August 2nd Wine Adventure in Santa Barbara
The had a nice selection of books... Iris wanted to take this home!

Did You Know? - "Momofuku" could be translated from Japanese as "lucky peach", though Chef David Chang has written that the name is "an indirect nod" to Momofuku Ando, the Taiwanese-Japanese inventor of instant ramen. Chang also suggested it is not an accident he chose a word that sounds like the English curse word.

August 2nd Wine Adventure in Santa Barbara
We know our AVAs

Did You Know? - An American Viticultural Area (AVA) is a designated wine grape-growing region in the United States distinguishable by geographic features, with boundaries defined by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB), United States Department of the Treasury.

Meanwhile We Had Beer Drinkers Busy Sampling The Santa Barbara Delights

 
Hans... Keeper of the Beer Map (Courtesy of Gary Gray)


Decisions decisions (Courtesy of Gary Gray)


They are running out of glasses (Courtesy of Gary Gray)


Gary and Hans ... Our beer champions (Courtesy of Gary Gray)


Looks like India Ink (Courtesy of Gary Gray)


"Here's mud in your eye! (Courtesy of Gary Gray)


Marion and Gary showing us how it is done (Courtesy of Gary Gray)


They drank the first place dry (Courtesy of Gary Gray)


Time for the giggles (Courtesy of Gary Gray)


Beer comes in all colors.... And plaid? (Courtesy of Hans Thedens)


Decisions decisions (Courtesy of Hans Thedens)


Block stacking is an ancient beer drinking custom (Courtesy of Hans Thedens)


Who is going to try the blocks?? (Courtesy of Hans Thedens)


Hans and Gary told us so (Courtesy of Paul)

Did Someone Say Food

August 2nd Wine Adventure in Santa Barbara
Twenty of us head up State Street to to the Wine Bistro
NOTICE: We are right on time!

August 2nd Wine Adventure in Santa Barbara
Right in the heart of town

August 2nd Wine Adventure in Santa Barbara
We had a long table on the left-hand side of the restaurant!
EXCELLENT FOOD!

August 2nd Wine Adventure in Santa Barbara
The table was ready and the staff were hiding in the back!
They remembered us from last year

August 2nd Wine Adventure in Santa Barbara
The Birthday Girl is ready to dine

August 2nd Wine Adventure in Santa Barbara
Jose took care of the entire table and we never had an empty glass

August 2nd Wine Adventure in Santa Barbara
So many interesting choices - Will has the right idea! One of each!

August 2nd Wine Adventure in Santa Barbara
Hey! we were here

August 2nd Wine Adventure in Santa Barbara
A toast to the birthday girls

August 2nd Wine Adventure in Santa Barbara
... this group toasts to anything!!

August 2nd Wine Adventure in Santa Barbara
Meeting new friends

August 2nd Wine Adventure in Santa Barbara
Steve and his gang just grabbed a close by table....
Otherwise one could not see from one end of the table to the other

August 2nd Wine Adventure in Santa Barbara
Steve and Bob work on photography

August 2nd Wine Adventure in Santa Barbara
Click..... The lens fell out

August 2nd Wine Adventure in Santa Barbara
Wendy and Sasha are making healthy choices

August 2nd Wine Adventure in Santa Barbara
Kathy and Ed

August 2nd Wine Adventure in Santa Barbara
Getting it right

August 2nd Wine Adventure in Santa Barbara
Bring on the grub

August 2nd Wine Adventure in Santa Barbara
Paul makes the rounds

 

August 2nd Wine Adventure in Santa Barbara
Tah Dah!

August 2nd Wine Adventure in Santa Barbara
The visiting continues

August 2nd Wine Adventure in Santa Barbara
"She did it... Ordered a fantastic lunch!"

August 2nd Wine Adventure in Santa Barbara
Steve does his castanet solo...
At first we thought his teeth were chattering

Did You Know? - Castanets are a percussion instrument (idiophone), used in Kalo, Moorish, Ottoman, ancient Roman, Italian, Spanish, Sephardic, Swiss, and Portuguese music.

The instrument consists of a pair of concave shells joined on one edge by a string.

They are held in the hand and used to produce clicks for rhythmic accents or a ripping or rattling sound consisting of a rapid series of clicks.

They are traditionally made of hardwood (chestnut; Spanish: castaño), although fibreglass is becoming increasingly popular.

August 2nd Wine Adventure in Santa Barbara
Iris gots the giggles

August 2nd Wine Adventure in Santa Barbara
"Like my themed shirt? They are raisins in training!"

August 2nd Wine Adventure in Santa Barbara
Paul gets a bite of something?

August 2nd Wine Adventure in Santa Barbara
Yummy!

August 2nd Wine Adventure in Santa Barbara
Now she tells Paul what it was.....
Looked better with the legs pulled off

August 2nd Wine Adventure in Santa Barbara Paul does his rendition of "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling"

August 2nd Wine Adventure in Santa Barbara
Meanwhile in the kitchen a surprise is underway!

August 2nd Wine Adventure in Santa Barbara
Jose oversees the surprise
(Our waiter was OUTSTANDING!!!!!)

August 2nd Wine Adventure in Santa Barbara
Watch the cake disappear

August 2nd Wine Adventure in Santa Barbara
This is when Iris really decided to move her birthday forward two weeks

August 2nd Wine Adventure in Santa Barbara
Thumbs Up!

August 2nd Wine Adventure in Santa Barbara
One hour forty-five minutes later we are ready to head to the wineries again!

August 2nd Wine Adventure in Santa Barbara
Donna... Lead the way!

Page 1 - The Departure and On The Way   | Page 2 - Arrival And The Beginning
Page 3 - In Santa Barbara | Page 4 - Coming Home
Page 5 - A Comic View