BrixChicks: Green and Sober to Celebrate Earth Day

Okay, so one out of two isn't bad. Xandria and I wanted to celebrate Earth Day by writing about some interesting East Bay things that allowed us to be green by trying local wines and not driving too far to get them. Oh. And we carpooled. First stop, Vintage Berkeley a pretty space with fun things to try and buy. There we met the Dave Parker from Parkmon wines. We tried their Syrah and Sangiovese. We look forward to seeing them later to try their Contra Costa Mourvedre and hopefully snag some of their sold out Viognier. Lamorinda is practically up the block from us, so very green. I had missed the delicious Pinot Noir being poured at previous tasting from Fort Ross, which was the buzz at last years Pinot Days. More from Miss Xandria later. And speaking of Pinot, our next stop was the Wine Mine for a bunch of Pinots, some greener than others. Of course my favorites were David Bruce and AP Vin. David Bruce you all likely know, but AP Vin are Pinot rockstars from San Francisco, who make lovely Pinots that score off the charts if you are into that thing. Or just taste great if you're not. They source fruit from vineyards famous for high quality and produce carefully crafted small batch vintages that you will love. We tried the delightful Rosella's, which hails from one of our favorite Pinot growing spots, the Santa Lucia Highlands. Yum!

The next day, I took my act on the road for the Earth Day in Green Valley celebration.

Iron Horse with their fabulous outdoors digs in Sonoma's Green Valley was the Hot Spot, literally as the temp climbed into the 90's and I hit the AC hard. I tried 400 year old salt from Timbuktu, paired Chardonnay with chocolate and liked it! and was introduced to Wedding Cuvee Sparkler. Beautiful color..kiss of peach...beautiful flavors..creamy mouth feel. This wine tastes like love. Then on to Hartford, where the pairings were so spot on it was amazing. Chardonnay with

melon soup, pinot noir with delicious Bellwether Farms Carmody, Zinfandel with a meatballs in a syrupy sauce. I signed up for the recipes. Tasty. So tasty, I completely forgot about the green theme.

Last stop was Balletto/Dutton Goldfield. Wow! Talk about tasty wine. Pinot Blanc. Perfect for a hot day. Three stellar Pinot Noirs including a delicious Sanchietti Pinot. We had so much fun tasting while Dutton Goldfield's ass't winemaker Brandon [aka @winemakerb] was pouring. We were having a ton of fun. Can you tell? BONUS: They carded Thea and I! Ha! Beautiful us! Beautiful wines! Gorgeous day! Lots to learn about green. Many thanks to Joy Sterling from Iron Horse and all who drove the celebrations. And Happy Earth Day to you!