Sonoma Valley - VIP

Back in October my then fiance & I went on an amazing trip to Sonoma Valley.  His company received an all expense paid trip from Clearwater/MTV and they gave it to Bryan as a token of their appreciation for his hard work.  Even though this was a few months back it was such a great experience I just have to blog about it.... The wineries, the restaurants, the VIP experience..... the quality time before the wedding madness.....UH-MAZING.

The VIP treatment started when a town car picked us up at the airport to bring us to home for the weekend, The Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn & Spa.  The hotel a bit older, very quaint and cozy, fitting for Sonoma.  

The next morning we took a cab to Gloria Ferrer Winery for a little sparkling wine & cheese.  We sat outside overlooking the vineyards while drinking enjoying our bottle of sparkling wine, brie, baguette, & salami.  Such a nice way to start out our morning. 

Afterwards we went into town to do a little exploring and a little more tastings.   

Part of the VIP treatment included an amazing dinner at the Inn's premiere restaurant, Sante.  Sante Restaurant has earned the prestigious Michelin Star as well as AAA's four diamond rating.  I believe the sommelier mentioned that Sante is the only restaurant in Sonoma to receive a Michelin Star.  We went with the amazing tasting menu and my absolute favorite course was the butter poached lobster.  Oh so to die for!

The next morning the VIP treatment continued.  A town car picked us up at the Inn to take us on a private winery tour.  Now these wineries weren't just your average wineries, you definitely would not stop at these amazing vineyards with your typical $100 van wine tours.  Not that i'm knocking the van tours, I actually enjoy them very much...but this....this tour was special.  The itinerary that was given to us prior to the trip showed that we stopped at Petroni Vinyards.  We read the reviews and they were all really good, everyone spoke so highly of Petroni, so needless to say I was very excited to visit that winery.  When the driver handed us the itinerary Petroni was no where to be found!  They revised our itinerary, Petroni was X'd, Robert Hunter took it's place, and I was oh sooo sad.  

When we arrived at Robert Hunter we were given an intriguing narrative on the history of the land and of the Hunter family.  We then took a walk around their charming garden that is outside of the Hunter home. It was a beautiful sunny day, perfect for a tasting in the garden, which by the way overlooks the vineyard.  I believe we were able to taste 4/5 different wines.  ALL were excellent, we ended up buying a bottle of their yummy bubbly their 2001 Brut de Noir (light and crisp with notes of apples and pears).  It's a nice addition to my new wine collection.  


From what we were told the Mr. & Mrs. Hunter are very humble people.  They limit their tours and they are by appointment only, so make sure you don't just show up....after all it is their home.  

Okay so this post is getting a bit too long lol.... sorry for the rambling I'll have to finish up another time. Oh but just so you know... There was no reason for me to be sad, Robert Hunter was a FABULOUS change/addition to our itinerary.  While Petroni is still on my to visit list, I am so happy that we were able to experience the Robert Hunter garden tour.

Till next time... 

<3 Jen