Having been a wine club member at Lucas and Llewelyn Winery for many years, I am always receiving notices of special events coming up at the winery located in the Santa Ynez Valley. Since I retired last year I decided, upon receiving notice of the upcoming Valentines Wine Pairing dinner, that Pauline and I would take a day and run up to Solvang, attend the dinner and spend the night at the same B&B where the dinner was to be held, The Mirabelle.
Pauline and Duane Harte on their Harley
We planned on driving up since I had planned on picking up wine while we were there but the weather was so absolutely perfect we decided, at the last minute, to ride our new Harley Davidson up instead. It was a wonderful decision. The weather could not have been nicer. Not only that, we could park the bike and enjoy the day since we didn’t need to travel anywhere.
Upon reaching our destination we checked in and then made our way to the L&L tasting room, grabbing lunch on the way all within 3 blocks of the hotel. We were greeted by the very friendly staff who more than helpful in pleasing my palate as well as Pauline’s. I purchased a case of various wines and headed back to the hotel in anticipation of dinner.
Our 4 course dinner was wonderful and the wines, most of which I had sampled earlier, were great choices for the pairings. BUT, there’s more! I am basically a red wine person but I occasionally enjoy a nice fresh Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc. Louis Lucas brought out a special Chardonnay that wasn’t on the menu. The bad part about it was the fact that I didn’t have anything to write down the name of it and since it wasn’t an L&L label (it was made with L&L grapes), I couldn’t find it in the tasting room. This stuff melted in my mouth! Smooth and slightly oaky, it was a fantastic wine. As soon as I get the name of it I’ll recommend it. (Editors’ note: Duane emailed me later, his great find of a wine was 2013 ZD Vineyards award winning Chardonnay.)
Well, like I said, we rode up on our Harley so the next morning I had to pack a case of wine for the trip back to Santa Clarita. And so I did. Believe me, I was aware of every bump in the highway coming back. When we arrived home I opened my saddlebag to find all 12 bottles intact. Happy day!