. . . in which the blogger goes through a Sideways phase--at least for a few hours.
I visited Shafer Vineyard in Napa Valley for a tasting session, which was fun, but probably mostly lost on me. The other five visitors seemed much more attuned to the nuances of wine than I, though it was a good exercise to compare merlot with cabernet and syrah. I liked the wines I sampled, though not enough to drop $190 for the top-of-the-range bottle.
The weather was wonderful--atypical for what I'm told is usually the rainy season in wine country. I gather it's off-season for the tourist crowd, too, which made my visit more enjoyable.
