Kraig talked me into biking through Sonoma so neither of us would have to operate a rental car while under the influence of wine tasting. I’m very happy we did this because it gave us more time to enjoy the views and let us burn some of the wine off that we were consuming! We grabbed a baguette, grapes, and cheese from a grocery store in town and then rented our bikes from Sonoma Valley Bike Tours & Rentals for the day. They handed us a bike trail map of the area with difficulty levels listed. We decided to stick to the easy route and began our trip. We didn’t have to schedule any of our tastings for this day in advance, so it was a nice go at your own pace kind of day.

Our first winery stop was Gundlach Bundschu. We went into the lovely air conditioned wooden bar area for a $10 6 pair wine tasting.  The gift shop is in the same room as the tasting room, but didn’t interfere with the tasting atmosphere.

This place is to be pronounced as GunLock BunShoe. I found this little tip helpful in remembering the name of the Vineyard and how to pronounce it. Very clever of them! All the people working behind the bar were laid back, down to earth, and friendly. They did not rush or pressure you at all to buy anything.

After our tasting, we decided to purchase a bottle of the white Gewurztraminer to enjoy with our food outside at the picnic tables.

What people don’t tell you about wine country is all the yellow jackets/hornets that are creeping around outside in the picnic areas. They’re everywhere trying to get your wine and food, so I had to eat my food ASAP because I’m afraid of yellow jackets. I also realized while I was biking that my engagement ring was way too big for my finger, so I had to start wearing it on my middle finger for the rest of the trip.

After lunch we headed to Buena Vista for another tasting. Another nicely air conditioned tasting room. Ahh. The woman giving us our tasting also filled up our water bottles with WATER without us even having to ask! How could she tell we were biking and parched? 🙂

Our last stop was Ravenswood. Pretty much everything tasted good here. We started talking with the guy serving us here and asked him how anyone affords to live around here. He said pretty much…they don’t and explained that a lot of nearby houses were vacant or rentals.

Some random horses we biked by.

After we returned our bikes, we got ready for dinner at the girl and the fig.

I have been super excited to go to this restaurant for a really long time expecting one of the best meals of my life, but I was a little let down. I felt like the service here was not that great and they were rushing the dining experience. The restaurant was very cute and the food wasn’t bad, but just not living up to the standards I had imagined after all the rave reviews I’ve seen about this place in the past on other blogs.

I decided to button up to hide my sunburn.

Kraig enjoying his wine.

I’m willing to give the girl and the fig another shot someday. We ordered off the prix fixe menu, so maybe this had something to do with it or they were just having an off nite.

Good night Sonoma.