Mom & Dad's September Visit to LA! Part 2.

After spending a wonderful couple of days in Carmel with family, Mom, Dad and I headed to Solvang to spend a couple days there!  It was just a couple hours from Carmel to Solvang but I was really bummed there were no Football games being broadcasted on AM radio in California!  How was I supposed to get my Sunday Football fix?!

Thankfully, after we arrived in Solvang and checked into The Hadsten House (where Mom and I had stayed this past May) we made our way to Los Olivos to check out a couple wineries before the day was over.  We were able to catch the tail end of the Packer Game, and lucky for us, they pulled off a win, after a huge deficit!  We really liked the wine at Arthur Earl & Alexander Wayne.  They had lots of options to choose from and we were able to tailor it to our taste.  We even bought some dips and hot sauce at these tasting rooms!  

First Wine Tasting in Solvang at Daniel Gehr's!

We did start our day at Daniel Gehr's since it was where my incredible Port came from!  I picked up a bottle of Pinot Gris from there while Mom and Dad decided on a Late-Harvest Sauvignon Blanc from Alexander & Wayne.  Thankfully we were sharing tastes at these rooms and that gave us all a chance to taste different wines.  As we walked back to the car we saw the Carhartt Winery.  What?  Could it be a Winery that Dad would actually like and be excited about?  The Tasting Room was small with just a couple stools and there was Led Zepplin on the radio...I loved it!  Unfortunately, there wasn't enough room for us in there so we went to the back patio where there was plenty of room and beautiful furniture.  We ended up moving back into the Tasting Room after some people left because the owner was there and just more friendly than our server was.  I ended up getting a Syrah from there and we found out throughout the day Mom actually liked Syrah's & Malbec's.  It just had to have certain components that appealed to her taste buds.  She likes more earthy reds that have a quick finish while I prefer the more fruity reds and full-bodied whites.

Banana's Foster.  Amazing.

That night we went to Dinner at Checco, and the only positive thing I can say about the restaurant was that the Caprese Salad was good.  It was really disappointing and the service was some of the worst we'd ever had.  Not to dwell on that Mom and I went to grab dessert at Hadsten House and had the best Banana's Foster I've ever had.  It's not something I would typically order but the way the Bartender described it, sold us, since we wanted something that would fill us up.  This dessert was so perfectly sweet and prepared I can't say enough amazing things about it!  Even if you're not a banana person, this dessert was incredible!  You just have to try it to see.

The next morning after a nice breakfast at the Hotel we went to Lucas & Lewellen where they have some sweeter white wines and then we checked out Tocatta, their sister Tasting Room.  I really liked the wines at Tocatta, and they had a Sweet Red Wine, that we ended up getting two bottles of.  One for me and one for Mom & Dad!  We walked around Solvang and checked out some of the shops and then went to the Chumash Casino so Mom could gamble for a little bit.  I came out $25 ahead so that was good enough for me and Dad and I enjoyed some refreshing cocktails at the bar until Mom was left penniless ;)

Dad & I hanging out at the Casino Bar...just waiting for Mom ;)

We did stop in Santa Barbara to check out a couple of the Tasting Rooms there.  We shared these as well, and couldn't even finish them because they were very red-heavy and I think at that point, we were all wined out!  We got to LA in the early evening and all ended up crashing early after such a long weekend!  More about the last part of our trip in Part 3!

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!