California Wine Country

The California Wine Country in Napa and Sonoma suffered during the recent fires. Now they are suffering from a lack of people visiting the wineries. The fire is over and the wineries are open. October is still the best time to visit our beautiful wine country. With fewer crowds the experience will be even better. If you were ever thinking of going now is the time.

Locke, California and Al's Place

This week my son and I had dinner at Al's Place also know as "Al The Wops" in Locke, California. Locke is a small town on the Sacramento River about 30 minutes south of Sacramento. The town was founded in 1915 by the Chinese who had lived in Walnut Grove and moved after a fire destroyed
their homes. In 1970 it was added to the national registry of historical places because it is the only town in the United States built by the Chinese for the Chinese. Today it looks pretty much the same as it did in 1915. It is not a tourist trap and is not a ghost town. there are currently about 70 to 80 people live there.

They have a Chinese Spring Festival every year.

Al's Place is a restaurant/bar in the center of town. When I say center of town, there is really only one street and Al's is in the middle of that street. The night we ate there they had a taco special and we had our fill. What I remember most is their steak special but it was the only night they didn't serve steak. The steak dinner as I remember included family style salad, french fries and pasta. We are going back because my mouth waters just thinking about their delicious steak dinner.

To get there from Sacramento take I 5 south to Twin Cities Rd and go west to the river. At the river turn left and Locke is about a mile away.

Amador Wine Country

My favorite times of the year to visit the wine country are Spring and Fall. In the Spring the temperatures are warming up and the vines are starting to bud. It's not too hot or cold and great for eating a lunch with a bottle of wine outside. In the fall the temperatures are cooling down and the harvest season is underway. If you want to see how wine is made that is the time as the crush is in full swing.

Last week my son and I went to the Amador Wine Country to pick up my wine club bottles and to also try a few wineries we hadn't been to before. There is a lot to be said for the foothill wineries. The rolling hills are beautiful and this time of year are still lush and green, the crowds are less than in Napa or Sonoma and most wineries don't charge to taste.

We picked up wines at Villa Toscano, iL Gioiello, Cooper and Dillian. If you want to picnic all have outdoor seating. If you want to buy a hot meal then I would suggest Villa Toscano. I would also suggest opening up a bottle of their wine to go with lunch.

We also stopped at the Scott Harvey tasting room. I have been going to Amador for over 30 years and Scott has been around well before that. When I first met Scott he was the wine maker at Santino Winery which is now Renwood. Scott was trained in Germany and produces great late harvest wines. He also makes great Zins and white varietals.  This time I purchased some late harvest Riesling.

If you are in the Sacramento area I would suggest making the short trip to either El Dorado or Amador county to taste their wines. This is a great time to go.

Pops Travel Guide, Disneyland

In Front of Castle

It pays to go to Disneyland with someone who knows what they are doing. Last week my daughter and I went to Disneyland on Thursday. I thought midweek the crowds would be light. I was wrong, the crowds were huge with lots of school age kids. If it wasn't for Jennifer I would have spent most of the day in line.

Jennifer is my Disney expert and with her knowledge we were able to ride most of the best rides before noon. Here is how she did it.

Jennifer uses the "Fast Pass" to the full extent which allowed us to avoid most lines. As we entered the park we went directly to the Indiana Jones ride and picked up a fast pass. Most people stopped there to get in line. We then went to the Pirates of the Caribbean ride and found no line. We were able to ride twice in a row with no lines. We then went to the Haunted House and again no line. After riding the Haunted  House it was time to use the fast pass for the Indiana Jones ride but before we went over there we picked up a fast pass for the Haunted House so we could ride it again. At the Indiana Jones ride we had a very short wait using the fast pass. We then went over to the Haunted House and rode that again. Jennifer didn't want to ride Splash Mountain so I was able to get into the single rider line and had a very short wait. Now it was time to get a fast pass for Space Mountain. As we walked over there we noticed the wait times for Pirates of the Caribbean and Indiana Jones were 70 minutes each however we were done with those rides. After getting the Space Mountain fast pass we went to It's a Small World and rode that, then the Jungle Cruise which was about 30 minutes and 20 minutes wait each. When we finished both it was time to use the Space Mountain fast pass. Before that we got a fast pass for the Buzz Lightyear ride.  Wait time for Space Mountain at that time without the fast pass was 60 minutes, we walked right up. When we finished the ride we still had to wait before we could use the Buzz Lightyear fast pass so we got in line and rode it that way which was about 20 minutes but as we got off the ride we went right back in with fast pass and were able to ride it twice within 30 minutes.  We wanted to get a fast pass for Thunder Mountain but the ride was down and fast pass was closed. Therefore we went to lunch.

Beauty and the Beast

So, we were able to ride Indiana Jones, Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted House, Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Buzz Lightyear, Jungle Cruise, some of them twice all before lunch.

After lunch Thunder Mountain was open and we were able to pick up a fast pass. Normal wait time was 70 minutes. We then rode some of the rides in Fantasy Land and walk through Tarzan's Treehouse.  After seeing the Roger Rabbit area we rode Thunder Mountain with the fast pass and by then we had been on every ride we wanted to go on and it was only 4:30 pm.

The rest of the day was walking around, shopping, drinks in Napa Rose in the Grand Californian Hotel and dinner at Storytellers Cafe in the same hotel. We then walked Downtown Disney and did more shopping before calling it a day.

Napa Rose for Drinks

It was a lot of walking, my phone app said over 30,000 steps, but next to no lines. I figured we saved over 4 hours of waiting in lines. 

If you plan your visit take advantage of the fast pass and talk to someone that has been there before.

A note on fast pass. When you get your fast pass it is good for a window of time. You cannot get another fast pass until that window starts. So you can have 2 fast passes but the first fast pass window must be active.

Space Mountain

Winnie the Pooh

It's a Small World

Buzz Lightyear

Pops' Travel Guide, California Grappa

I know there are not a lot of you out there that like Grappa. I happen to be one that does so indulge me. My son and I made the trek up to the Amador Wineries in Northern California to pick up our wine club selections. The Amador Wineries are about a 45 minute drive from our house. We usually drive up, go to the 4 wineries I am a club member of, have lunch and then drive home. It's a nice relaxing day in a beautiful part of California with the rolling hills full of vineyards. The best part is it's hardly ever crowded and the scenery and wine quality matches that of the more familiar areas in California. It's like going back in time to Napa when you didn't have to pay to taste and there were no crowds. Spring is coming soon and you might want to consider this option.

Now to the main point of this post. While I was driving from winery to winery I remembered that I was out of Grappa. For those of you that don't know what Grappa is, it's made by taking the leftover mash from the wine process and distilling it. My cousin Roberto in Italy makes his own and that's where I fell in love with it. There is one winery in Amador, that I know of, that makes and sells Grappa. If you know and love Grappa you will know that Grappa can have different tastes depending on what grapes the mash came from. We went to the Vino Nocheto Winery to buy the Grappa. There they had a Barbera and Sangiovese and I bought both. You can also get Moscato and Zinfandel.

Now Grappa is not for everyone and most of my friends think I'm crazy for drinking it but if you are like me and love Grappa then Vino Nocheto is a great option. If you live in the area and want to buy some, California law won't let you taste at the winery, then make the trip to Amador County and spend a day in the area. If you live too far away you can find locations that sell it online.

The address is 11011 Shenandoah Road, Plymouth, CA 95669 and they are open most days 11am to 4pm.   Amador County is just southeast of Sacramento off of Highway 49 in the gold country.

Travel with Pops, Napa and Sonoma Wine Country

For those of you looking to travel to the California Coast, October is the perfect time to go. The weather is perfect as it is before the rainy season and the temperature is mild. It is also my favorite time to visit the wine country in Napa and Sonoma.

Usually October is also when the harvest is going strong but this year with our drought and hot summer the harvest was a little earlier. Don't let that stop you, this is still a good time of year to visit the wineries. If you can I would go mid-week. The crowds are a lot less and you will find it easier to get to the tasting bar and to find a table at a restaurant.

For a day trip I like to make my way up through the Sonoma county wineries, cut across when you hit Santa Rosa and then work my way down Napa Valley. The wineries are up to you but some of my favorites are Kenwood and Chateau St. Jean in Sonoma County; and Grgich  Hills and for sparkling wine Chandon in Napa Valley. Look at a wine map and pick your own.

You still have time. The weather should be great into early November.