MY BIRTHDAY BREAKFAST AND WINE TASTING AFTERNOON
Welcome to my birthday breakfast and wine tasting afternoon. If you’ve been following along lately you know that I recently celebrated a BIG BIRTHDAY in the home of celebrated lifestyle blogger Cindy Hattersley. At the risk of giving you birthday overload, I simply can’t resist sharing with you all of the wonderful festivities I engaged in while in Central California wine country.
When our Last Supper concluded on Friday night I was instructed that from that moment on I was not allowed in the kitchen, and that the following morning I wasn’t to come upstairs until I was invited to. Hummmm, mysterious.
So the next morning I slept in a little bit and took my time getting ready, such a luxury for someone who typically gets up at 6:00am every weekday to get my son off to school. When I was finally invited upstairs I arrived to find my friends hard at work in the kitchen, putting the finishing touches on a wonderful birthday breakfast.
They had also been busy putting up decorations.
I was so touched by the effort made, and looking back at these photos makes me so grateful and appreciative of the truly great friends, and wonderful husband I have.
Mimosas were served and just to set the mood, a fire was lit.
Cindy made a beautiful and delicious quiche, complete with a birthday candle.
After our delicious and hearty breakfast we headed out for a tour of 3 wineries. The meandering pastoral roads of Paso Robles wine country were simply bucolic.
In fact, “Paso Robles” in Spanish means “The Pass of the Oaks” and as you can see, it certainly was.
Everywhere you look there are vineyards, and picket fences…
and farm houses that in many cases house wineries and tasting room.
The first stop on our winery tour was at Justin Vineyards & Winery. I can’t wait to give you a comprehensive tour of Justin, my favorite winery in San Luis Obispo County. The tour through their subterranean caves and amazing wine library, paired with tastings of their award winning wines deserves a blog post of its own. So stay tuned for that very soon.
Our 2nd stop was at J.Duci, a winery owned by a young woman, with a tasting room presided over by her mother and other family members. The iconic Duci family is part of the original 4 winemaking families that actually founded the winemaking industry in Central California. Our visit there was over-the-top fantastic and included the most amazing picnic lunch (prepared by my girlfriend Lisa) that you will ever see. It too deserves a separate blog post so stay tuned to be blown away.
Our final wine tasting of the day was at Villa Creek Winery. Wrought iron lover that I am, I particularly enjoyed the industrial decor of their tasting room. Everyone in our group loved the wine too, and we all purchased bottles of their delicious red wine blends. In fact, it was so good that our bottles will be saved for a very special occasion in the future. Stay tuned for more on Villa Creek Winery.
We ended our day of wine tasting with the sampling of olive oil at Pasolivo. They make wonderful olive oil from olives harvested from their own Paso Robles olive grove.
We had such a wonderful day, followed by a delicious dinner at Artisan Restaurant in downtown Paso Robles. I can’t wait to share lots more with you soon.
Wishing you a wonderful holiday weekend.
So there you have it: MY BIRTHDAY BREAKFAST AND WINE TASTING AFTERNOON
Thanks for dropping in! Do please leave a comment below. I’d love to hear from you!
- If you’d like to read After Orange County every time a new article is posted, please “Subscribe” to the blog using the Subscription Box above.
- If you enjoyed this post, please help me spread the word by sharing it on your Facebook Page. You can “Like” my Facebook Page here.
- If you enjoyed the photos, please “Pin Them” on your Pinterest page. You can follow my Pinterest Page here.
- Do you Tweet? Please follow my Twitter Page here.
- Follow my blog on BlogLovin.com
All opinions expressed in this post are my own. Unless otherwise credited, all photos are the original property of Celia Becker @ www.AfterOrangeCounty.com and may not be reproduced without specific permission.
