Wine and Spirits Travel

It had only been a month since I was last in Seattle yet I didn’t mind coming back. Aside from the weather – which was definitely not cooperating on this day – it’s a great city to explore wine, food and spirits in.  We were going to start with a mixture of all on the Chocolate Indulgence Tour , one of the offerings from Savor Seattle. We met with Brett Affleck-Aring (yes, he is related to the Oscar-winning actor) at the Mayflower to start our tour at that hotel’s Oliver Bar. Brett shared our motto that chocolate is the fifth food group and he was prepared to show us all aspects of the treat, starting with the Seattle Flatliner ,a coffee and chocolate cocktail served by bartender Patrick. This yummy mixture of Café Umbria, Dark Crème de Cacao, Bailey’s Irish Cream and Demerara 151 Rum is shaken with ice (there’s no blender here). It’s the perfect drink to make you forget about the wet day, something Seattle gets about 200 days a year. While we were sitting at the bar, I also s

It was my first trip to the Willamette Valley and though I knew it wasn’t going to be as long as I’d like, I didn’t know that it wasn’t just wine I would be discovering. Ron Burke of Oregon Wine Tours was waiting for Lynn and I when the Celebrity ship docked in Astoria , Oregon. We had been warned that the drive to the Willamette Valley would be a long one, but the scenery and the tales about the area’s wine vineyards made the ride go by quickly. The valley has a total of 17 AVAs (American Viticultural Areas) and it was easy to see why with the hills, peaks and mountains on each side.  It is by far the largest wine producing area in the state, claiming over 300 of 425 wineries. Though Pinot Noir is the grape Willamette is known for, additional varietals are popping up around. Our first stop was at Patton Valley Vineyard . On a clear day, you can see Mt. St. Helens from here, and on a slightly cloudy day we still got some good views. Monte Pitt owns 24 acres of sustainable vineya

In many ways, my travel experience is quite different from the average vacationer. This is most notable in my schedule. When I’m on a trip, I am usually following an itinerary that leads me through each day and night. In the hours that I don’t have something on the agenda, you will find me in front of the computer writing or uploading photos. So, what happens when I’m in the middle of the ocean on the Celebrity Millennium without working internet and no strict schedule?  I get to find out how the other half lives and in this case I got to be a cruiser on vacation (at least for a day). I will be the first to admit that I am a Type A personality who doesn’t do well sitting around and doing nothing. For me, doing nothing means not working at least two things at once. There was no reason for me to do that, though, as I had a rare free day, and, it was also Mother’s Day so I had another excuse to relax.  I safely tucked my computer into the stateroom safe, filled my bag with all the maga

It’s hard to complain when everything has been going so well with my travels, but I was very disappointed to get the phone call that Up & Away had cancelled our Hot Air Balloon ride.  I had really been looking forward to it. Safety comes first, though, and the wind was not cooperating. No balloon ride meant that we had a bit of extra time in our apartment at Camellia Inn in Healdsburg. I had remembered a great coffee shop down the block and we enjoyed some lattes and pastries from Flying Goat Coffee before the driver picked us up for our final Sonoma wine stop. D’Argenzio Fine Wines was nothing like I expected and nothing like I had seen before. At first I thought we were just going to a boutique winery, but I soon learned that the D’Argenzio family had much bigger plans for this facility, which also has a tasting room in Burbank.  The place looks like it belongs in an Italian village and that’s just what they are helping build around them – in the middle of Santa Rosa ,