Vino Love - Orin Swift's Palermo, 2012

Good Evening, Kittens!  And Happy Tuesday?

I woke up this morning CONVINCED it was Friday.  Imagine the crushing blow when I realized that it was only Tuesday!!  Oh the injustice!

Today was actually a good day at work - busy, but not too crazy.  I may not have been as productive as I would have liked, but I got a lot done and the day flew by.  Regardless of how things turned out, at the end of the day, it was still Tuesday when I wanted it to be Friday.  What to do to boost morale?  A good glass of wine couldn't hurt.

A few weeks ago, I was lucky enough to attend two Orin Swift tastings in two weeks.  (It was a good time to be me!)  If you're new to these parts or you haven't been paying much attention, I will reiterate that Orin Swift is one of my favorite labels.  And they have some of the best looking labels too!

The wine that I chose for this evening just happens to have one of the most amazing labels I've ever seen!  Dave Phinney (the genius behind Orin Swift) is, like me, a minimalist.  A minimalist with a love of the macabre.  Arguably the best example of that is Palermo's label.  The town of Palermo in Sicily is home to the Catacombe dei Cappuccini.  These burial catacombs are located under the Capuchin monastery.  When the monastery outgrew its cemetery, they began to excavate these crypts and interred the first friar, Silverstro of Gubbio, in 1599.  Originally intended only for the brothers of the monastery, being interred here became a symbol of status.

Whether part of the clergy or just someone with a little money to spend, the remains that have lain in these catacombs for centuries can be absolutely stunning.  And it was Vincent J. Musi's photograph for National Geographic that caught Dave Phinney's attention.  This incredible photograph of the remains of a Palermo priest is so beautiful that it could very well have been a painting.  The image resonated so deeply with Phinney that he chose to use it for a blend that he named Palermo.

photo credit

The wine in the bottles adorned with the image above is just as impressive as the label itself.  In true Orin Swift fashion, this wine is an amazing blend, in this instance it is Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Cabernet Franc.  The blend is 15.5% alcohol by volume, so it's a big fruit-forward wine.  A DELICIOUS fruit-forward wine!  With aromas of currant and coffee, the notes of berries and chocolate linger on the palate and make your taste buds incredibly grateful to be included as part of this experience.  No joke, every aspect of the experience is life affirming.  Having to deal with the doldrums of day-to-day responsibilities can wear you down, but this wine will pick you right back up!  It's a respite in a glass!  And, from personal experience, will make the best out of a Tuesday that truly should have been a Friday!

Salud, Kittens!
XOXO!!

Orin Swift Birthday Wine Tasting

Hello Kittens and Happy Monday?

Mondays are hard.  I don't think too many people would disagree with that statement.  Most weeks, for me, the best part of the day is coming home and opening a nice bottle of wine.  All in the name of preserving my sanity.

Earlier this month, a friend notified me of a wine tasting that was taking place at BottleRock, a wine bar not far from my apartment.  While I hadn't been there in a while, I recently learned that it has been voted as one of the top ten wine bars in the United States.  And once you've paid this place a visit, it's not hard to see why.  BottleRock is beautiful and sleek with incredible wine, an amazing menu, and a friendly, knowledgeable staff.  I believe I'll have to become a regular here.  Especially if they have wine tastings as incredible as the one we went to on a regular basis!

While I would be quite interested in attending a wine tasting on any normal occasion, this particular tasting was special for a few reasons: first, it was taking place a few days after my birthday.  Second, my friend Kim was still in town.  And third, it was a tasting of one of my favorite wine makers, Orin Swift.  Happy Birthday to me!  Again!!

While the bottles below are not the exact bottles that were poured that night, we did taste most of them and I though you might like to see just how pretty they all are - both the wines and the bottles themselves are works of art!  Just a few quick things about Orin Swift.  Their flagship wine, Prisoner, was recently sold to another winemaker and is still retaining the name The Prisoner, but is now being produced by the newly established The Prisoner Wine Company (such a creative name, no?).  Also being produced by The Prisoner Wine Company is Saldo, Cuttings, and one of the only white wines to be associated with this brand, Blindfolded (which I did not particularly car for).

Orin Swift is still going strong with their other amazing blended wines (Dave Phinney, the founder and winemaker, is arguably the best blender out there), though their Locations series is noticeably absent from their site.  If you ever come across an Orin Swift F or I (French or Italian blends, respectively), do not hesitate to pick a few up.  While I'd posted about the Locations I before, I walked away from this tasting with a bottle of F...which has already been consumed.

photo credit

Below is the tasting list from that night.  We also got to taste an INCREDIBLE bottle of Papillion!  

+

So on March 11th, I found myself in an amazing wine bar with two amazing people for the longest wine tasting of my life.  We got there at 7:00 and didn't leave until after 11:00!  That was not a typo.  The Orin Swift representative (a job I'd quite enjoy having) and the owner of BottleRock were pouring quite liberally and were incredibly knowledgeable of the wines, the company, and the wine industry in general.  But wine bars and tasting rooms know what they're doing...I walked away with 5 bottles of delicious Orin Swift wine!  My life can be pretty amazing.

Salud, Kittens!
XOXO!!

Vino Love - South Coast Winery's Santavese, 2009

Good Evening Kittens!

Like many of you, the holidays have been all-consuming for me.  Since we visited last, I've set up a fabulous tree, hosted two holiday soirées, and kind of sort of started my Christmas shopping.

To be perfectly honest, I'm pooped.  And I've also missed our time together.

While I find a way to establish some balance and get everything that needs to get done...done, I thought I'd share the fun, festive way that I'm figuring things out.

 I've been holding onto this fabulous holiday edition Sangiovese from my South Coast Winery shipment two years ago, I believe.  So, after I got home from work and shopping, I finally opened this bottle and I have to say, it's aged beautifully.  Unlike most bottles of Sangiovese that you are likely to run across, this particular bottle is much smoother, more balanced, and infinitely more delicious...and that's saying something since I very much enjoy a nice Sangiovese.

Port was also quite impressed!

 But that's not at all surprising - he's got great taste.

Sometimes there is no better way to try to regain your footing than a nice, holiday-appropriate bottle of wine.  And I have no doubt that I'm well on my way to catching up you up on all the holiday fun.  Already looking forward to our next visit!

Cheers!
XOXO!!

Bruschetta and Orin Swift - A Damn Fine Combination

Hello Kittens!

It's been a while since we've chatted and I feel terrible about that.

In the ten months since this little blog's been bringing us together, this was the longest that I'd been away.  And I've missed you.  Honest.  Last weekend I was up in the Bay Area and when I returned from a few days in wine country, it dawned on me that I hadn't shared a very fabulous evening that I spent with a friend of mine a while back.  So, while I'm putting other fabulous wine-related things together for you, let's consider this a little appetizer.

I adore my friend Jason and do not see him nearly enough, so when he called me up one Saturday afternoon to tell me that he had a bottle of wine he wanted to try (do you see why we're friends?) and asked what my plans were, I didn't think twice about instructing him to come by later that evening.  Since the wine he had was Italian, we threw around the idea of picking up some dinner from an Italian place or making a full dinner, and I'm not exactly sure where those plans fell apart, but we ultimately decided that since we had all the ingredients between us, that we'd just throw together some Bruschetta.  And let me tell you what a fabulous idea that was!!

My first experience with Orin Swift was with The Prisoner which I raved about earlier this year.  I just recently found out that this label was sold in 2010 to Huneeus Vitners, but that Dave Phinney, the genius behind Orin Swift would continue to make the wine.  I had a little freakout when I went onto the Orin Swift site in search of this wine and couldn't find it.  I thought that perhaps it was no longer being made, but after a quick Google, I'm better now.  Just passing the information along in case you also had the same concerns.

Moving on...the bottle that Jason brought over was also an Orin Swift, but was a bottle of the Locations label.  In my opinion, the only winemakers that can hold a candle to the blending abilities of Dave Phinney at Orin Swift are those over at Thumbprint Cellars in Sonoma.  And this bottle of I-1, did not disappoint.  This bottle takes the best grapes from across Italy and puts them together to create something spectacular, as they describe on their site, "The result is a vibrant wine that captures the spirit of Italy with a touch of new world bravado."  I'd say they were spot on in their assessment!

While I decanted the wine and Jason waited patiently while I snapped a few photos, we got going on the Bruschetta.  Let me just say that I LOVE Bruschetta!  And I was all too happy to be able to grab some basil from my then flourishing balcony planters!  Something tragic has since happened to my greenthumb....but that's a story for a different day.

There are tons of Bruschetta recipes out there, but I really don't think that following a recipe is necessary.  As long as you've got the right ingredients, you can doctor to your own taste.  The ingredients are as follows:
-Vine ripened tomatoes, diced
-Fresh basil, chopped
-Garlic, minced
-Parmesan, shredded
(is anyone else as entertained with the fact that each ingredient has a different definition so far?  Well, that's about as much fun as we're going to get from that)
-Extra Virgin Olive Oil
-Balsamic Vinegar
-Salt and Pepper

Combine ingredients (the Parmesan is optional, though recommended) and allow for the flavors to marinade for a bit and serve on Crostini.

I attempted to make my Crostini, but this is not something that I've mastered yet.  If you feel you can master the broiler without burning your toast, you can try to make your own.  But if you don't want to spend a considerable amount of time scraping the burnt edges, you may just want to buy some.  Not that it's close or convenient, but the best Crostini I've ever had by far are those from Jimtown Store up in Sonoma.  Each time I go, I bring back at least one bag.  I can't say exactly WHY they are so good...perhaps they are sprinkled with a salt/pepper/crack mixture, but you're just going to have to trust me on this one.  Pricey (online, though in the store, way more affordable)?  Yes.  Worth it?  Absolutely!!

So many simple ingredients came together to make one spectacular night!

I hope you all have these types of experiences from time to time.  I consider myself fortunate that I do on a fairly regular basis.  Perhaps as I get older, I just recognize and appreciate them more.

Salud Kittens!!
XOXO

This Charming Dame Lesson 6 - Always Have a Bottle of Bubbly On Hand

"Always keep a bottle of champagne in the fridge for special occasions.  Sometimes the special occasion is that you've got a bottle of champagne in the fridge."
     -Hester Browne

photo credit

Can I interest you in a glass of bubbly, Kitten?  Yes?  In that case, I think it's safe to say that we can continue this beautiful friendship of ours.

I am a huge fan of bubbly, or sparkling, if you will...  I am one of those annoying people who refuse to refer to everything as simply 'champagne'.  Champagne is a very specific term for sparkling wine that comes from the Champagne region in France.  Most of what Americans consider 'champagne' merely because it has bubbles is really sparkling, or as I like to refer to it as 'bubbly'.

Whether it hails from France or Italy or Spain or California, it's always a good idea to keep at least one bottle on hand.  You know, for emergencies or special occasions or impromptu celebrations.  Which brings me to the much anticipated and long overdue sixth installment of the This Charming Dame Series.  An integral aspect of incorporating more glam into the everyday is always being prepared for a toast.

There is something quite magical about bubbly and it is well-documented that many people have had quite the love affair with it for a very long time.  From authors to designers to winemakers to actors to economists to Presidents to Prime Ministers to Emperors to monks and even Royal Mistresses, there has been an intoxication of the senses by and a fascination with a glass of sparkling wine.

"There comes a time in every woman's life when the only thing that helps is a glass of champagne."
     -Bette Davis

"My only regret in life is that I did not drink more champagne."
     -John Maynard Keynes

"Too much of anything is bad, but too much champagne is just right."
     -Mark Twain

"I'll drink your champagne.  I'll drink every drop of it, I don't care if it kills me."
     -F. Scott Fitzgerald

photo credit

There are quite a number of reasons to pour yourself a glass of bubbly.

"I only drink champagne on two occasions.  When I am in love and when I am not."
     -Coco Chanel

"In success you deserve it and in defeat, you need it."
     -Winston Churchill on champagne

"I drink champagne when I win, to celebrate...And I drink champagne when I lose, to console myself."
     -Napoleon Bonaparte

"I drink it when I'm happy and when I'm sad.  Sometimes, I drink it when I'm alone.  When I have company I consider it obligatory.  I trifle with it if I'm not hungry and I drink it if I am; otherwise I never touch it - unless I'm thirsty."
     -Madame Bollinger

photo credit

Whatever your personal reasons for keeping a bottle or two or however many you like on hand (I'm SO not judging you), make sure you always stop yourself from consuming the bottle(s) you keep around for unannounced company.

photo credit

I've also found it quite a good idea to keep some frozen orange juice in your freezer as well, just in case your company is in the mood for a mimosa.  I do not drink juice on any type of regular basis, so while it's not fresh squeezed, it will most definitely work in a bind!

One more thing that I've found to be helpful is belonging to a sparkling club.  I belong to South Coast Winery's Sparkling Club in Temecula and I love it!  They offer eight different types of sparkling ranging from the classic Brut and Blanc de Blanc to more unique sparkling varietals such as their Pinot Noir Rose and their Ruby Cuvee which is a sparkling Syrah.  Sweet but not too sweet...it's heavenly!  Two weekends ago, I went down with my family for a wine pickup and tasting day, so in addition to the bottle of Mumm I already had, the June and August selections which I was picking up, and two additional bottles I purchased, I'm totally set!

 But I will share more about my Sparkling Club at a later date... Right now, I will simply share what I consider to be the three best California wineries for bubbly - in case you are new to the magic that is sparkling wine.  I don't think you can go wrong with Mumm and Chandon from Napa, or South Coast from Temecula (though you will want to stay away from their Sparkling Pinot Grigio, their Sparkling Gewürtztraminer, and their Diamante Spumante if you are not a fan of super sweet).

Though I wouldn't suggest trying all of them one right after the other...you might end up like Tallulah Bankhead, drinking out of your shoe.  Unless you're into that kind of thing, in which case, have at it!

photo credit

If this lesson made you thirsty (and I can't blame you if it did) here is a diddy for you while you pop your bottle of choice.  If you are unfamiliar with Champagne Charlie, I highly suggest you spend the three minutes and get yourself acquainted:

To see my inspiration for the 'This Charming Dame' series, please visit Quite Continental Charm School.

Cheers Kittens!  Just make sure to save a bottle for company!
XOXO!!

Eating Clean - Wine Snob Tofu

Hello there Kittens!

Have we been formally introduced?  No?  Alright.  Hello, my name is Melinda and I'm a wine snob.

I have a problem admitting that.  While I do not drink exorbitantly expensive wines as they are not within my budget, I do have more than my fair share of wines in the $50 price range.  While many true connoisseurs with basements that have been converted into custom wine cellars may scoff at a $50 bottle of wine, most people of average means would deem that truly excessive for one bottle of wine.  And they would not be wrong.  Most people cannot afford to be so frivolous with their hard earned money.

My fantasy.

photo credit

My reality.

photo credit

While I love my mini wine cellar - fine, wine fridge, I aspire to a full fledged underground cellar one day!  But in the mean time, I need to counteract the fact that my wine clubs will send me their higher end wine and the fact that I find my pocketbook sometimes not playing the factor that it should when I purchase wine at the last few wineries when we go wine tasting.  Because I do not feel comfortable drinking a $50 bottle of wine by myself on a random Tuesday night, I try to always have daily drinkers at home...unfortunately, even when I am trying to stay away from expensive bottles, my daily drinkers are typically in the mid $20 range because I refuse to drink bad wine.  And that can get quite expensive.

While I agree with Cliff Hakim that "Life's too short to drink cheap wine", I truly believe that good wine doesn't need to be super expensive (this belief is fueled by the fact that I've tried some truly expensive bottles that I though were terrible).  So, I have been trying to do more experimenting with more affordable daily drinkers.  It's not too difficult to find incredibly tasty yet inexpensive whites, such as my favorite Sauvignon Blanc or this New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc that you can find for less than $10 at Trader Joe's!  But finding a good inexpensive red is a whole 'nother story!  So, when I was at the grocery store last week, I picked up a bottle of Sebastiani Pinot Noir since I remember having liked a cab from them in the past.  But the Pinot?  It was...TERRIBLE!!!!!!!!!!!!  Bridget had come up for the second to the last episode of The Newsroom and she didn't think it was as bad as I did.  When she thought it was a Merlot.  This wine was unrecognizable as a Pinot.  There was no discernible fruit and I'm not going to get into exactly why it was so bad, you're just going to have to trust  me on this one.  I tried, I really did, but I simply could not drink this wine, so I went for a bottle of something else and Bridget's words stuck with me.  "Looks like you're going to be cooking with wine!"

I came home from work the next day and found that I did not have the main ingredient for what I had planned to make for dinner.  I also did not have half of the ingredients I would have needed for my backup plan.  And I was hungry.  So, I threw on an apron, started pulling stuff out of the fridge, and got to chopping without knowing exactly where I was going with this whole experiment.

 Is anyone else entertained by the fact that I unintentionally pulled out my wine apron??

With good wine in my glass, it began...

 Port's help in the kitchen is always appreciated.

My tofu had excellent self-esteem!

 INGREDIENTS:
-1/2 large onion or 1 small/medium onion, chopped
-2 or 3 cloves garlic, minced
-2 tablespoons olive oil
-1 package extra firm organic tofu, cubed
-2 packages baby bella mushrooms, sliced
-1 large bag green beans, cut into relatively even pieces (mine were about 1 1/2 to 2 inches long)
-whatever is left in the bottle after you realize you bought bad red wine
-seasoning salt

1.  In a large pan, over medium-high heat, add the olive oil, onions, and garlic.  Cook until soft and translucent.

2.  Add mushrooms and cook until they begin releasing water.

 3.  When they begin to reabsorb the liquid, add a generous amount of wine.

4.  When the wine mixture begins to absorb into the mushrooms, add the tofu.

 5.  Turn down the heat and liberally sprinkle with seasoning salt (I love mushrooms, but think seasoning salt makes them that much better by bringing out their earthy quality).

6.  Cook for a while for the tofu to absorb as much of the flavors as possible.  As the wine mushroom sauce cooks down, add more wine.

7.  Once you are happy with the flavor of the tofu (and have come to terms with the fact that it is purple), add a little more wine and the green beans.

 8.  Turn up the heat a bit and cover to steam the green beans.  Cook until beans are desired tenderness.

9.  Add more seasoning as necessary and serve with some brown rice and a glass of GOOD red wine.

Somehow I'd never made a mushroom wine sauce before and I have the feeling I will be making this rather frequently going forward.  It was divine!!  There isn't a whole lot of measuring that went on here because I was just making things up as I went along, but I'm sure you can figure it out.  I have faith in you!

Searching for daily (red) drinkers under $20 is going to be significantly less stressful knowing that I won't have to waste bottles that I think are terrible.  If I don't like them, I can make a fabulous mushroom sauce with them!

Let's raise a glass to a great bottle of wine, or a fabulous meal as Plan B!
XOXO!!

Pay It Forward (With a Pickle)

Good Morning Lovelies!!

I'm on a roll with playing catch up!!  Here we have yet another post that's been a month in the making....

At the beginning of the year, I responded to my friend Kelly's Facebook message about a Pay It Forward project that I thought was brilliant.  She posted a message that said the first five people that responded would receive a gift of some sort from her, provided they did the same thing for five other people who would do if for five more...you get the idea.  The gift could be anything, and you had until the end of the year to do it.  Super fun, right?

Well, to be perfectly honest, I completely forgot about it and I'm very glad about two things:
1.  I have until the end of the year.
2.  Kelly is not a big procrastinator like me and sent me my gift at the very end of June.

Perhaps this is how things are supposed to work out?  You forget and then, magically, a gift arrives in the mail.  Not only does it feel incredible to get your mail and not only have bills waiting for you, but it also serves as a reminder that you've got to get your shit together and figure out what you will be sending out to your five people.  And then I started thinking...WHO was it that I was supposed to be sending things to?  I can remember four of the five, so I need to put feelers out there to figure out who the fifth person is.

So enough of yet another item on my ever growing to-do list, let's get onto the fun part, shall we?

As much as I wanted to be the 5 year old on Christmas morning, I tapped into my self-restraint and acted like an adult.  Meaning, I opened the card first.  And it was a super fun card!

Little did I know, the card was foreshadowing of the little package of fun just waiting to be unwrapped...

I had a good laugh at my new pickle wine stopper.  But then I thought about it and was quite grateful, because really, who hasn't needed to stick a pickle in it at some point??

"Where there's a dill, there's a way."  Very true.

This was perfect!!  And I can't wait for Kelly to come and visit from the East Coast so that we can enjoy a nice bottle of wine and use her fabulous gift to cork it with, but honestly, Kelly hit the nail on the head when she wrote on the inside of the card, "Who are we kidding?  You don't actually ever have left-over wine, do you?"  Well, Kelly, normally no, but on the last occasion that it happened, I remembered what the packaging said about preserving my Pinot and used the pickle!

I'm very lucky that I seem to have such great gift-givers around me.  I might appreciate that more than most because I feel like I NEVER know what to get anyone, so I'm finding this project rather difficult.  And really, the four people that I can remember responding are so incredibly different from one another that I can't cheat and buy five of the same item.  If you've got some ideas as to fun gifts to send out for this project, please let me know.  While I'm very excited about the whole idea, I can use all the help I can get!

Whether you are doing a gift swap or not, perhaps today is the day that you pay it forward while out and about.  The joy that you can bring to someone else for an unexpected good deed or gift and the thought that they may do something for someone else will definitely make it worth it!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend, my Lovelies!!  
XOXO

Santa Barbara County Weinprobe 06.08.2013

Hello there Lovelies!  Or Guten Tag!

There are few things that I love more than a day of wine tasting.  Since I'm fortunate to have nothing but fabulous people in my life, I have never found myself wine tasting with less than desirable company.  A few weeks ago, I went up to Santa Barbara County with my sister, my mother, my mother's cousin and his wife who were visiting from Germany, and Oma's second cousin's son (I'm not quite sure about that one).

While the weather couldn't really make up its mind as to what it wanted to do on our drive up, as soon as we got into Santa Ynez, the clouds cleared up and it was a beautiful, clear warm day.  And at the first sight of vines, there was no doubt that it was a good day for a Weinprobe (German for wine tasting - my blog is totally educational!)

My mother is a member of a Gainey, a fantastic winery in Santa Ynez, so our motley crew (no umlauts) started our day there.



Gainey is a fantastic place with fantastic glasses!

The tasting is held is one of their barrel rooms which is pretty rare and makes for such a wonderful experience!  The stand outs here were the Syrah and the Merlot - simply delicious!

And right outside the barrel room is an absolutely lovely room which is lined floor to ceiling with bottles - the best kind of rooms in my opinon.

If you find yourself in Santa Ynez, definitely check this place out.  Such a great winery with a great philosophy (and a fabulous gift shop to boot)!

Their outdoor area is really lovely and we sat outside with our last tastes and enjoyed the scenery for a bit.

I love this candid little moment between my sister and my mom.  I'm sure Sylvi was relaying something good!

While a great time was had by all at Gainey, it was time to head to the next winery.  CURTIS!!!  Curtis is my favorite winery in Santa Barbara County.  Not that the others don't have fantastic things to offer, but my heart lies with Curtis.  When I visited for the first time in March, I fell instantly in love.

 

So, Curtis...there are not enough good things that I can say about this place.  But I'm going to try.

While the grounds are beautiful (this area is chalked full of these fantastically large trees), and the tasting room is small while remaining airy, bright, and incredibly inviting, one of my favorite things about visiting here is my best friend, Jason.  He and I have sort of a thing going - it's alright to be jealous.

I'd only been here once before and he not only recognized me, but took incredibly good care of our entire party of 6, imparting very important wine knowledge to the group.  For example, did you know that Viognier is French for 'Melinda'?  Now you do.

Whenever we found ourselves getting sad because our wine glasses were empty (which for the record RARELY happened - this was a totally staged photo), Jason came to our rescue!

What a beautiful man.

Yes, the wine and Jason are the highlights of Curtis' tasting room, but there are some other gems that you can find here.

And what takes this place over the top is the fact that I've only ever come here with my sister and I feel like it's one of our special places...perhaps the high alcohol content of their wines have helped  formed that opinion?

Our signature pose - which is easy since Sylvi's a head taller than I am.

Curtis really is FANTASTIC!  It just seems to make everyone happy.  Especially me!!!!

 As if it hadn't already been a fantastic day, we hit our last winery - Firestone.

I'm not the biggest fan of this winery, but I definitely wouldn't pass this one up if someone suggested we visit.

There was a wedding being set up which explained all the flowers that we passed in the barrel room on the way to the members tasting area.  They were just beautiful.

While I mentioned them before, here are my mother's cousin and his wife who were visiting from Germany.  Manfred and Petra are such wonderful people!

Then after our tasting, we headed south into Santa Barbara proper to have dinner at the Enterprise Fish Company.  This is becoming tradition as my sister and I ate there after we went wine tasting last time.

This is such a popular spot that, despite having reservations, we had to wait a few minutes - we are not the only ones that know how phenomenal this place is.  Instead of those tacky squares that light up when your table is ready, they have fantastic little lobsters.  Fun for the whole family!!

The food is also fabulous.  DO NOT pass this place up if you are passing through Santa Barbara!

Though some items were in need of additional pepper.

Also, if you visit, be aware that it's normal to feel like you're being watched...

After a fabulous dinner, we were back on our way.  After a brief photo-op next to some beautiful flowers.

After a very long day, it was nice to have some remembrances of the fabulous time that was had.

Like I've said before, if you are not familiar with this wine region, I highly suggest you remedy that as soon as possible, preferably with an international group!

Prost Lovelies!

XOXO