Text 9536, 104 rader
Skriven 2014-02-05 22:52:00 av MICHAEL LOO (1:123/140)
Ärende: ch. st. jean 142
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We dropped our bags off at the Sheraton Petaluma, which
though it claims to be in wine country is really a fair
distance west of it, at a newish but seemingly a bit
neglected marina on the grandly named but unimpressive in
real life Petaluma River. To be fair, there are a couple
wineries within a few miles, and Sonoma is less than half
an hour away. A good but not great room on the first floor.

As Lilli claims Mexican as one of her preferred cuisines,
and I know a great place just down the road, Mi Pueblo,
which I'd visited a couple times with the late great Jim
Moraga, we headed in that direction.

The parking lot was chockablock, so we went around a bit and
found a place a few blocks away in a residential area. At
the door we were informed of a wait of 15 minutes, so I
asked if we could eat at the bar; the answer was in the
affirmative. It was more fun, and we had pleasant chats with
others, some eating there, some waiting for a table (at that
sometimes way more than 15 minutes). The bartender was
extremely busy, a regular dynamo, but had a few kind words
here and there. And the jolly clientele makes sure that the
atmosphere is of a fiesta.

I got tacos de lengua y cabeza - pig tongue and cheek, which
were delicious, and a hard taco de chicharron (actually, as
she likes regular fatty pork if it's not too spicy, we split
this). She got cheese enchiladas and pronounced them good.
There is a pretty good pico de gallo to jazz things up.

Negra Modelo for me, some really eye-openingly bad red wine
for her.

The meal was quite reasonable, about what a plate of short
rib stew would cost at the hotel, sans wine.

--
Breakfast. The hot offerings looked pretty dubious, so I
expanded my horizons and had a bowl of Lucky Charms, a
cereal that appeared after my childhood, so I never bothered
to try it. It's like Alpha-Bits or maybe sweetened Cheerios
mixed with about 1/4 to 1/3 strange brittle marshmallow
candies by volume. I'm sure it's appalling healthwise, and
it's not great shakes flavorwise. That being unsatisfying,
I took a couple hard-boiled eggs and covered them with the
Huy Fong sriracha that along with togarashi seem to be a nod
to an Asian-heavy clientele.

A quick stroll through the grounds and the adjoining park,
and that being exhausted, it was time to get an early start
on the road.

We'd figured on visiting Keller Estate, a somewhat boutiquey
winery quite close to the hotel. The Internet, source of all
things accurate and informative, said it was open at 10, so
we tootled out there only to find the gate closed. Called 
up, and someone rather sleepily said that the Internet was,
gasp, wrong, and in fact the place wasn't open at all, and
please come back tomorrow.

So we proceeded up the road to Sonoma, a pleasantly sleepy
town, to try to find Gundlach Bundschu, which we must have
sailed right past, as it was neither where the GPS said it
was nor where the map did. So on up the road past dozens of
likely-looking and unlikely-looking ones, until at length
we found ourselves at Chateau St. Jean, not a bad winery at
all, though biggish and a professional operation, with the
tasting operation you would expect.

There was a big crush at the tasting bar, and it was quite
a while before we could get anyone's attention. I guess also
we were not dressed sufficiently California chic; we took
our revenge by lingering at the bar and asking lots of inane
questions. Also by just coincidentally tasting only the more
prestigey of the releases.

Pinot Noir La Petite Etoile 10 - I was hoping for more from
this wine, i.e., Burgundian. Instead this was a lightish,
red fruity nothing, quite pleasant, but indistinguishable
from any west coast Pinot. It compared favorably with wines
at half the price.

Cabernet Sauvignon (Alexander Valley) 10 - spicy with dark
fruit; a biggish wine in a style I like. The coffee or
toffee notes were a bit prominent, but the greeny aspect
that I remember this brand having was thankfully absent.

Eighty Five Fifty Five Cuvee 09 - an extremely pleasant,
accessible wine, oaky and brambly, with a long minty and
dark berry finish. Also a bit light and perhaps not so
ageworthy. Very expensive, too.

Cabernet Sauvignon (Sonoma) 10 - slightly less concentrated
than the Alexander Valley, and with more of that brothy
quality; still a decent buy at 25% less than the Alexander
Valley. Good as a picnic wine or with sandwiches, if that
isn't too damning.

We held off drinking too much, as we had miles to go before
we slept.

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