For Emily's quarter century birthday celebration, thirteen of us met at the historic Bernardo Winery for a day filled with good company, delicious food, and of course, wine tasting.
The afternoon started with a tour from Nancy, who educated us on the 122 year old Bernardo's organic wine growing practices (they specialize in the red varietals) and showed us around the lush ranch-style winery. She gave us [generous] tastes of their house Chardonnay (very creamy, not too oakey) and Reisling (delectably sweet), as well as the fruity and full-bodied Merlot and crowd pleasing Syrah. She polished us off by popping a cork of some celebratory champagne to toast to. Overall a wonderful tasting experience.
We then headed to the bustling outdoor restaurant on site, Cafe Merlot, where we noshed on tasty California classics and listened to the live band. Some popular choices? The "Bella" chicken, caramelized onion, and horseradish aoili sandwich on crispy sourdough and the Cafe Merlot house salad- complete with sun-dried tomatoes, chicken and goat cheese. Oh, not to mention the apple strudel a la mode (with a candle on top!) that our lovely server brought out while we sang "Happy Birthday" to Em. We couldn't decide which we liked more- our delicious meals or the wine! So of course, we had to go taste a few more types just to be sure.
The day turned out to be quite the hit and many of us commented how we couldn't believe we had never been to the winery. The perfect venue for a small gathering, girl's day out, or afternoon date- Bernardo Winery is definitely one of North Couty's hidden gems.
xo,
L
*more pics to come!
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