Wine & Chocolate

I had decided a while ago that over the much dreaded Valentine's Day weekend, it would be best if I had some serious plans. I didn't want to be in town, probably alone, wondering what T might be doing - the thought of being bombarded by the media shoving this faux holiday down your throat was more than a little overwhelming for this girl. So when my good friend Scott asked me along to a wine tasting weekend in Lodi, California- the answer was an immediate YES!

Lodi is mostly known for having big, juicy Zinfandels- which I love! Driving from Sacramento, the scenery left a little to be desired. It wasn't like we were driving through the valleys of Napa or Sonoma. The 'town' of Lodi left a little to be desired as well. But later, as we were making our way to the wineries, the landscape changed dramatically. Suddenly, all we could see was farm land; old gnarly zinfandel vines, blue skies, mustard in bloom. We arrived with enough time on Friday afternoon to make a couple of stops for tasting before the end of the day. Most of the Zinfandel vines are head trained, which means that they aren't trained on wires for specific shoot positioning. I absolutely LOVE the way these head trained vines look.. I bought a few wines from wineries that are making wine from vines from the early 1900's. Pretty amazing...

We were really in Lodi to take part in the Wine & Chocolate weekend- all of the area wineries were participating in wine tasting and chocolate laced food to match. There were a lot of chocolate desserts to be had, but also savory dishes like chocolate chili, chocolate-chili rubbed bbq, and grilled sausages with a chocolate bbq sauce. The weather was perfect; high 60's and sunny. It was tons of fun.. most of the wineries had some really good wines, and a great festive atmosphere. We settled in at one, Harmony Lane, for a bit- to admire the beautiful man pouring wine. The beautiful man was the winemaker, who was very stylish, and also played in a band. Come on! We had fun admiring and drinking wine!

It was a great weekend, filled with lots of yummy wines, good food and great friends. We had a fantastic dinner at Wine & Roses, and Sherrill was generous enough to share her wine with us for dinner. On Sunday, we cooked at home- a really good stuffed pork tenderloin, salad, and roasted potatoes. I had brought a bottle of 2002 Stevens from my cellar to share and I was pleased that it held up nicely. And while there were certainly moments when my thoughts drifted to Thomas, I was so very thankful to have friends that I could have these experiences with. It was quite strange at times to be traveling like this without him. I caught myself a few times, momentarily forgetting, only to remember that I was there with friends, not with him. I am sure it will get easier; there were times when it felt so surreal, as if I were living another life in a parellel universe. I can't say enough how wonderful it is to know such amazing people, who want to be part of your life, and invite you to be part of theirs!