Nestled in the highlands of the Santa Lucia Mountain Range in Monterey County, the River Road Wine Trail snakes its way from Salinas to Greenfield, California.  The River Road Wine Trail is billed as “one of the Central Coast’s premiere wine touring destinations”.   I have to say that is absolutely true.  The climate in the Santa Lucia Highlands is perfect for creating very unique and highly sought after wines including pinot noir, chardonnay, pino gris, and syrah, among others.  Furthermore, River Road wineries are passionate about what they do.  Many are family-owned businesses going back for generations.  There is pride and respect for what they do, and it shows not only in the quality of their wine, but also in the way they treat their customers.  Tasting room staff are professional, friendly, and willing to discuss any questions you may have.  Wine tasting here is the ultimate, authentic experience.

Each year, wineries along the River Road Wine Trail in Monterey County celebrate Valentine’s Day by hosting a special event.  This event features some of the finest wines in Monterey County, along with food pairings, music, and fun.

This year, Odonata, Pessagno Winery, Manzoni Estate Vineyard, Puma Road Winery, Hahn Family Wines, Smith Family Wines, Scheid Vineyards, Chalone Vineyard, and Michaud Vineyard participated in the event.  What I love about this event is that not only do you get to sample a huge variety of wines, you get to see the actual vineyards and wineries where they are created and meet the makers.  How cool is that?

My first stop was Scheid Vineyards.  Michaud Vineyard was also here for the event.  I loved all the visitor-friendly outdoor seating!

After leaving Scheid I headed for Smith Family Wines.  My GPS was going wonky and telling me to turn on dirt roads leading to abandoned muddy fields, but I persisted, and eventually arrived at my destination.

Smith Family Wineries represents three generations of hard-working vintners.  Their three award-winning brands are Alexander-Smith, Paraiso, and Irie.

Next, I headed north to Hahn Family Wines.  Chalone Vineyards was also set up here.  It seemed like it took forever to navigate the narrow road flanked by fir trees back to the winery, but finally, I arrived!

Heading north from Hahn, in another 7.3 miles, I reached Puma Road Winery.  On the way, I passed rustic farm buildings and witnessed a huge rainbow arching over the Salinas Valley.  While there were a few occasional patchy sprinkles, the day remained, overall, quite beautiful.

A hop, skip and jump north of Puma Road is Manzoni Estate Vineyard.  The estate is comprised of a mere six acres (that’s only twice as big as my farm!) but the wines they produce are exceptional.  The Manzoni family has called this area home for nearly 100 years.

Following my visit at Manzoni, I headed just over a mile north to Pessagno Winery.  This, in my humble opinion, is the coziest tasting room ever.  I think it might be the combination of the warmth exuding from the wood burning stove, the cute cat curled up on a chair, the beautiful stained glass window, and the long, roomy wooden bar.  Pessagno Winery just exudes ambiance and comfort.

The final stop on my wine tasting venture was Odonata Wines.  Did you know that Odanata is another word for dragonfly?  Odonata states that variety and quality are their watchwords and that the batches of wine they produce are made from grapes that are organic and grown sustainably.  I’ll raise my glass to that!

I had so much fun today and I can’t wait to repeat the experience next year!  I hope that you get a chance to check out the River Road Wine Trail and enjoy it as much as I did.  Remember, you don’t have to wait until the Valentine’s Passport event to visit, most of the wineries here are open year round.  For more information on any of the wineries listed, or for information on the annual Valentine’s wine tasting event, see Wine Trail.

Helpful Hints for attending the Valentine’s Passport event:

• Arrive as early as possible as parking and crowds increase the later you start.
• Be aware that the wine service ends at 4 pm.
• Designated drivers who will not be imbibing get a discount: tickets are half price!
• Parking areas fill up quickly and you may end up walking quite a distance; choose footwear accordingly.
• Bring a warm sweater or coat as it can be chilly this time of year.
• Many transportation options are available if you don’t have a designated driver, including the Monterey Party Bus, limos, and of course, Uber.
• All wineries provide vegetarian as well as non-vegetarian food pairings.

Thank you for visiting my blog.  Wishing you peace, love, happiness, and happy wine tasting!