A Day Spent with Wine

I often get the question, “Since when is wine tasting considered a form of outdoor recreation?” It might not be one the most extreme trips that we offer, but Peak Adventures has a little something for everyone.

Peak Adventures typically offers two wine tasting trips during the year, one in the spring and one in the fall. Of course both times of year are beautiful, but my personal favorite is the fall. The leaves are changing color on all the surrounding trees, which makes for a stunning backdrop to the rolling vineyards. Wine tasting is very much apart of the outdoor recreation industry. Just driving along the tree-lined streets that lead to each winery makes you appreciate nature’s beauty. It gives people a chance to see the calmer, more sophisticated side to nature as opposed to a loud rushing river, or an intense climb up the side of a rock face.

The first weekend in October, I took three Sac State Students, all of which were foreign exchange students, one from Germany, one from Quebec, and one from Taiwan, to Napa for the day to visit three wonderful wineries. These three students also happened to be female so the theme of the trip turned into “a day with the girls”.

Our first stop was Robert Mondavi winery, where we took a Basic Wine Tasting tour. We got escorted to a private room with a beautiful oak table and a glass wall that showed us a perfect view of the vineyards. A wine educator talked us through a typical wine tasting. He showed us how to smell, swirl, and taste wine. He pointed out what to look for when tasting, for example, rolling the wine around in your mouth allows the wine to cover all of your taste buds and adds for a more enriching experience. This was a great way to start the day and we were feeling like wine tasting experts by the time we left.

The Franciscan was next. After tasting four different wines, we sat on the patio of the Franciscan winery to have lunch. The patio was a gorgeous; it was covered with roses and trestles and water fountains. For lunch, I had prepared a cheese and cracker platter, of course, along with a green salad, a fruit salad, and turkey croissant sandwiches. The girls and I chatted about how different our countries were, what we liked to do in our free time, and some great places to visit in California.

We finished the day with a visit to Sterling winery, which includes a tram ride up the side of a hill to get to the winery itself. It has a beautiful view and as soon as you get off the tram, there is a person there to greet you with your first wine pouring. After three more tastings and a stop at the gift shop, we headed back to our 12-passenger van to drive back to Sacramento. It was a good thing I was driving because it didn’t take long for the girls to fall asleep in the back seats.

If you are ever looking for something relaxing to do and want to see wonderful fall colors or spring flowers, consider joining Peak Adventures on our wine tasting trip and see a different side to outdoor recreation.

-Madison