Vineyards and stuff

A couple of weekends ago, it was Jon’s work party at Wente Vineyards. This winery is not in the famous Napa Valley, nor even in Sonoma, but out in the East Bay obscurity, near Livermore. We got taken there on a coach (which Jon and I nearly missed because we couldn’t hail a taxi to take us to the departure point for love nor money, and ended up running through North Beach down to the Embarcadero – me in heels at that!) and arrived just before dark. I thought it was a shame we didn’t get there when it was still light, so that we could take in the vineyard. Anyway, we had a good feed and socialise. Afterwards, Jon and I met and chatted to the chef at the bar, who was a nice chap and a big admirer of Gordon Ramsay!

The next day, I took part in a 5km charity run organised by one of our clients, BioMarin. My colleague, Elizabeth, picked me up very early in the morning and drove over the Golden Gate up to Novato, where the run took place. It ended up not being 5km at all, but closer to 4km, since I finished in 21 minutes. I took 2nd place for my age/gender category and got a medal, which is the only thing sporting that I’ve ever won! The company did pretty well in general, as a project manager was 2nd female overall and both she and the boss’ wife were first in their respective age/gender categories, and another participant, Seth, was 2nd in his age/gender category. Back in San Francisco, Jon, Seth and I went out for a hearty breakfast at a greasy spoon in North Beach (in Jon’s case, it was well needed to cure the hangover from the night before!).

The next week was a hot one. Temperatures got up well into the eighties in the city. I walked home part of the way on the Friday night, enjoying the balmy temperature, the gorgeous views of the Bay and Alcatraz, and the joys of living in the most liberal city in America, with Obama posters all over the place and two blokes walking down the street, hand-in-hand, without anyone batting an eyelid.

The good weather carried on into the weekend, when we went on a trip to Napa Valley with some work colleagues of Jon’s. It got up to 32 Celsius over there and the place was absolutely rammed with people. We visited V. Sattui - a very pretty winery, but ridiculously crowded - and then headed to Elizabeth Spencer. Jon had done a tasting there and been very impressed last Christmas, but this year the wines were both more expensive and not as good. However, they did seat us in our own tasting tent in their pumpkin-decorated courtyard, so it wasn’t all bad. After that, we went to Domaine Chandon, a fancy, modern champagne place. It was there that Carly received a call from her uncle and promptly asked us if we’d like to head over to his vineyard. So, off we went, passing through the electric gates, up the hill and past the vines to his beautiful home. The house had an amazing kitchen and was filled with interesting art, but most importantly had a huge covered deck with fabulous views over the valley to the hills beyond. There was also a swimming pool, a fire pit built in a stone wall and an adjacent 3-bed, 2-bath guest house for friends and family! It was lovely to relax there for a while before heading back to the city. As well as vines, the estate boasts lemon and olive trees. Carly’s uncle gave us each a bottle of their home-grown olive oil when we left. I smiled as we drove past his Obama poster as we swung through the gates and onto the highway.

The days of balmy weather are now over, however, as the rain set in yesterday and it has thrown it down all day today. Strangely, however, the wild parrots have been very active and noisy all the same. Yesterday was Halloween, but I was too tired to go out in the evening, although I did spot some costumed people on my way home. Now, we’re building up to Tuesday, the great day when the world could change for the better (surely, THIS time!).