Direct From Hadsten House In Solvang, CA: Day Ten: October 14th: Tarantulas At Ballard Canyon, Red Barn, Nojoqui Ranch, River Grill
"Adventures In Wine Country" with Co-Hosts Chuck Byers and Greg Rist is a new series airing in April 2010 on CHEX Television Channel 12 Durham and the Greater Toronto Area.
More Rain
The weather reports all pointed to the rain stopping by morning and the sun peaking out by noon. it was still drizzling around ten when Greg and I left Zaca Mesa Winery. It was still coming down when we arrived at the winery. We were met by Brook Williams, President of the Winery and one of the nicest guys that I had met. Brook was another "catch all" person where he oversaw the duties of: National Sales Marketing, Hospitality, Vineyard and Winemaking, I hope that he gets paid well!
Zaca Mesa is one of the older wineries in the area. It was purchased in 1972 and planted with a mixed variety of grapes in 1973. A winery was built in 1978.
The 1990's saw a drive towards Rhone style wines which is where the winery is now! President Clinton gave the winery a boost by offering the Zaca Mesa Syrah to the French President on a visit to the U.S.A. and Zaca Mesa, in 1993, was given a 6th place in the Wine Spectator's top 100 feature.
Wines
Brook poured several of his wines which had great Rhone characteristics.
Viognier
Syrah
Z Cuvee
It was great going over to Zaca Mesa and talking to Brook. It was till raining when we left. On our way back, I took Greg for a ride down Ballard Canyon Road.
The Deadly Tarantula Migration
Greg had an idea about doing a piece on the "Deadly Tarantula Migration" but with a twist. most people think that Tarantula's are the deadly creatures that movies make them out to be. But in fact, they were far from dangerous. They were just big. The title insinuates that the Tarantula migration is a deadly one but deadly to whom?
When we saw our first Tarantula, we were amazed that it was not squashed by on coming traffic.
We imagined that if thousands of these creatures were crossing a busy highway, many would perish. So the Deadly Tarantula Migration here means deadly to the Tarantulas.
We found yet another Tarantula actor crossing and wanting to become a star. We filmed it and also filmed numerous cars just missing it. Don't worry, we were in the way so the Tarantula was not harmed. Greg calculated that with all the problems with flying, driving and walking, it was easier to die from an accident than being bitten by a Tarantula. Matter of fact, a Tarantula bite may sting but will not harm one other than be a bit uncomfortable. On the other hand, there are the Black Widows and Recluse Spiders.
Greg and I then drove over to visit the Red Barn one more time. We decided to stop in and have lunch. We also took some shots of the front of the building and while we were there we shot inside once more got the chance to say good-bye to Renee and Kelly one more time (Love those hugs)! We had a small lunch (hamburgers) and then went our merry way to visit Amber at the Nojoqui Ranch. Hallelluliah! The Sun came out!
We arrived at the Najoqui Ranch in partly sunny Sky. Amber took us up to Nojoqui Falls which turned out to be a spectacular 120 foot falls. Since it had rained, the usually small trickle had a substantial amount of water going over it and that made it impressive for the camera. Greg took some excellent shots and then we were off to the main part of he ranch where Amber was going to do some riding for sake of the show.
We were there for about two hours filming Amber doing some Reining moves and then doing some range riding as Greg tried to film and stay upright on an all terrain vehicle which traversed across the countryside following Amber and her horse.
Greg was happy with the shoot. The time was getting and we had one more shoot to do before heading to Hadsten House to pack.
We went to the River Course At Alisal's River Grill where we interviewed and filmed is chef making a meal. Chef Koorey was on hand to prepare an absolutely delicious Chicken Piccata. We also tried the River Grill's specialty, the "Alisal Tortilla Soup". Delicious. Chef Koorey also struck me as a very positive and unique young man. Very happy with his job and down right impressive in his attitude. That ended our "California Shoot" and we were ready to pack.
Greg and I then visited the Hadsten House for our final evening.
END OF DAY TEN
More Rain
The weather reports all pointed to the rain stopping by morning and the sun peaking out by noon. it was still drizzling around ten when Greg and I left Zaca Mesa Winery. It was still coming down when we arrived at the winery. We were met by Brook Williams, President of the Winery and one of the nicest guys that I had met. Brook was another "catch all" person where he oversaw the duties of: National Sales Marketing, Hospitality, Vineyard and Winemaking, I hope that he gets paid well!
Zaca Mesa is one of the older wineries in the area. It was purchased in 1972 and planted with a mixed variety of grapes in 1973. A winery was built in 1978.
The 1990's saw a drive towards Rhone style wines which is where the winery is now! President Clinton gave the winery a boost by offering the Zaca Mesa Syrah to the French President on a visit to the U.S.A. and Zaca Mesa, in 1993, was given a 6th place in the Wine Spectator's top 100 feature.
Wines
Brook poured several of his wines which had great Rhone characteristics.
Viognier
Syrah
Z Cuvee
It was great going over to Zaca Mesa and talking to Brook. It was till raining when we left. On our way back, I took Greg for a ride down Ballard Canyon Road.
The Deadly Tarantula Migration
Greg had an idea about doing a piece on the "Deadly Tarantula Migration" but with a twist. most people think that Tarantula's are the deadly creatures that movies make them out to be. But in fact, they were far from dangerous. They were just big. The title insinuates that the Tarantula migration is a deadly one but deadly to whom?
When we saw our first Tarantula, we were amazed that it was not squashed by on coming traffic.
We imagined that if thousands of these creatures were crossing a busy highway, many would perish. So the Deadly Tarantula Migration here means deadly to the Tarantulas.
We found yet another Tarantula actor crossing and wanting to become a star. We filmed it and also filmed numerous cars just missing it. Don't worry, we were in the way so the Tarantula was not harmed. Greg calculated that with all the problems with flying, driving and walking, it was easier to die from an accident than being bitten by a Tarantula. Matter of fact, a Tarantula bite may sting but will not harm one other than be a bit uncomfortable. On the other hand, there are the Black Widows and Recluse Spiders.
Greg and I then drove over to visit the Red Barn one more time. We decided to stop in and have lunch. We also took some shots of the front of the building and while we were there we shot inside once more got the chance to say good-bye to Renee and Kelly one more time (Love those hugs)! We had a small lunch (hamburgers) and then went our merry way to visit Amber at the Nojoqui Ranch. Hallelluliah! The Sun came out!
We arrived at the Najoqui Ranch in partly sunny Sky. Amber took us up to Nojoqui Falls which turned out to be a spectacular 120 foot falls. Since it had rained, the usually small trickle had a substantial amount of water going over it and that made it impressive for the camera. Greg took some excellent shots and then we were off to the main part of he ranch where Amber was going to do some riding for sake of the show.
We were there for about two hours filming Amber doing some Reining moves and then doing some range riding as Greg tried to film and stay upright on an all terrain vehicle which traversed across the countryside following Amber and her horse.
Greg was happy with the shoot. The time was getting and we had one more shoot to do before heading to Hadsten House to pack.
We went to the River Course At Alisal's River Grill where we interviewed and filmed is chef making a meal. Chef Koorey was on hand to prepare an absolutely delicious Chicken Piccata. We also tried the River Grill's specialty, the "Alisal Tortilla Soup". Delicious. Chef Koorey also struck me as a very positive and unique young man. Very happy with his job and down right impressive in his attitude. That ended our "California Shoot" and we were ready to pack.
Greg and I then visited the Hadsten House for our final evening.
END OF DAY TEN
posted by Chuck Byers - Wine Consultant | 9:07 PM
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