Christmas in Cali

Santa Cruz, Carmel, Monterey, Napa, and SF of course.

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This is a great spot in Monterey to grab a high quality meal without a lot of formailty. It's clearly all about the food here but the atmosphere and the service make it a great experience all around.

Quite frankly I wasn't expecting much, we ended up at this place because we found it listed in a guide book. But once the food hit my lips, my perception totally changed - this is a great restuarant!

We took a tour of the Robert Mondavi vineyard in Oakville, CA. Centered around some of the best grapes in the world, including those from Tokolon, Mondavi has built a gorgeous winery. The entire facility is right there in the vineyard so the grapes never have to travel more than a couple hundred yards from the vine to the barrel to the bottle.

After briefly waling by the vines you entire the winery at the same point as the freshly picked gapes. The tour walks you through the entire process, detailing more than you every expected to know about wine making. At the end there's a tasting with some tips on serving and appreciating wine. Of course they drop you off in the gift shop when it's all done and you've had enough wine to start feeling good about buying a lot more, but for ten dollars it's totally worth it.

The location is gorgeous and so is the facility - definitely worth a stop along the valley, plus it's across the street from Opus One!