Mom's May Visit to LA! Part 2...The Wine Adventure.

After a fun-filled week in LA it was time for Mom and I to take a little road trip to Solvang to spend a couple days relaxing, eating good food, and drinking great wine!  I had looked up some Wineries on Sunday night to prep us for the following couple of days and get some good ideas before we got there.  Yes, I'm a planner; I try to be spontaneous but it's nice to have good options over nothing!

We left on Monday morning and checked in at Hadsten House in Solvang and made our way to Los Olivos to start our Wine Tasting Adventure!  In addition to our stay at Hadsten we had our choice of over 20 wineries with complimentary tastings and most people find they save as much money as the cost of the room just by using that discount.  Awesome!  Our first stop was Daniel Gehr's Winery which I'd read on Yelp had an incredible port that everyone must try.  We liked most of the wines we tasted there, but really enjoyed the Riesling and of course, the Fireside Port.  I loved this winery and how friendly everyone was; I felt happiness as soon as I walked in the door, and as soon as we mentioned we were from Wisconsin, we chatted with a fellow Packer fan who works at the Tasting Room and has season tickets to the games!  We bought the Port and were on our way to the next Winery.

Our first stop on our Wine Tasting Adventure was Daniel Gehr's Winery :)

It was just a block and a half away to Coquelicot, and our server, was incredibly helpful and knowledgeable.  Their menu also gave descriptions of wine and key words, using comedy to explain which definitely comes in helpful after a couple stops.  My favorite wines at this Winery were the Back Seat Blonde and Back Seat Brunette.  I loved the lime and mango flavors in the Blonde but really enjoyed the Blackberry in the Brunette.  Mom liked the description of the Brunette which made our decision easy, especially since we're not Blonde.  We bought the Red and then took a little walk around Los Olivos.  There were probably 15 wineries in this four block radius so you really had plenty of options but I was so happy with both of those I was ready to get closer to our Hotel.  We did stop at one more and shared the tasting but since they were heavy on the Red Wines and Mom prefers White we didn't buy anything because nothing stuck out to us.

Daniel Gehr's had given us complimentary tastings to Lucas & Lewellen in downtown Solvang so that was our last stop of the day.  I loved this winery because you had a choice of a Red Tasting, White Tasting, Sweet White Tasting, or Mixed.  I chose the White and Mom got the Sweet White.  We enjoyed both of our tastings but after a long day of drinking wine, I wish we would have saved this for the following morning.  I do remember how good the Viogner was, and we actually bought two bottles, so Mom could take one with her!  This will only ensure I'll be back again to try the wines and buy more on my next visit.  Once again, they were very helpful here and happy to answer any questions we had so I look forward to stopping by again soon!

After hearing so many rave reviews about the chef at Hadsten House we decided to have Dinner there.  I started with the Lobster Bisque which had a puff pastry shell on top and was absolutely amazing.  Mom got the Warm Spinach Salad which was just as good as my soup.  They were out of the Braised Short Ribs which is what Mom wanted to order so she chose the Chicken Marsala and I got the Sea Scallops which had a Parmesan risotto and white truffle oil.  They were the best Scallops I have ever had, perfectly cooked, and paired so well with the risotto.  I was really impressed with my meal!  We still had dessert left so Mom got the Apple Pie with a house-made caramel sauce and I got the Creme Brulee that was really good too.  Overall, I was really happy and glad that we decided on that for Dinner!

Entrees & Dessert at Hadsten House in Solvang...thanks Mom!!

Since we had spent most of the day drinking we took a little nap and then went over to the Chumash Casino to do some gambling.  I knew Mom was looking forward to this for days!  We spent a few hours there and for the time we were there I didn't lose all that much, so it was kind of fun to do something I don't get to do very often.  And just spend time with Mom too :)  We had gotten upgraded to a spa suite when we checked in and there was no way I wasn't going to use that giant jacuzzi tub with fireplace and flat-screen TV before we left, so we took a little dip in the tub and watched some 'Sex In The City' before bed.  Talk about an awesome day!

The Wine Adventure and Road Trip continues in Part 3!