AVV: April 2008 Archives
We got up at 5:00 a.m. to make certain we made it to Phoenix in time for our 12:00 lunch appointment. We were driving 70 all the way, but we were still one of the slowest cars on the road and the only Prius (just like the previous evening). Trucks would stream past us, driving at a wicked pace. Guess gas mileage isn't an issue down here. The speed allowed us to get to Phoenix early so we had plenty of time to change out of travel clothes and into "tasting" attire for our event at Caffe Boa, a restaurant that describes itself as a Euro-style bistro and wine bar.
We had lunch outside with some trade accounts, weather was perfect for this. We were a little disappointed with the light turnout, but the food was great and the wines showed well. Made a brief stop at My Wine Cellar nearby, a wine shop and tasting bar that does some great wine education programs and visited with one of
the owners, Kathy. Then it was on the road again for Tucson and our bottle signing at A.J.'s (a grocery store that has a great selection of wines and gourmet foods) that afternoon. Turnout was less than we hoped, but everyone loved the 2004 Alexander School Syrah so we sold quite a few bottles of this.The highlight of the day was definitely spending the night at Hacienda Del Sol. We had a delicious dinner with a bottle of wine from one of our neighbors,Trenadue Dry Creek Petite Sirah (Victor Trenadue was also staying at the hotel and they were featuring his wines,something we should look into).
For the next month, AVV owners Hank and Linda Wetzel are plying the nation's roads, visiting with sommeliers, restaurateurs and consumers to tell the winery's story and preview many of our new wines. They are also filing these blog entries along the way, chronicling their trip.
FRESNO-April 2--Our first stop on the trip took us only a few hundred miles from the winery, to Fresno for a trade tasting at a new restaurant called Pangea. We arrived about an hour early. We needed the time because Pangea is located in a maze of shops in a new upscale shopping center. We had a good turnout, lots of great appetizers and much interest in the wines. By 3, we're back on the road headed for Phoenix (an eleven hour trip per our
GPS). Much discussion just which was the quickest way (avoid LA) but we decided we'd risk the LA traffic as it was the shortest way. Fortunately we were late enough to avoid rush hour and had a fairly easy, although long drive to San Bernardino where we had dinner at Slim Pig N's.
