Wine Country with Ron & Betsey

Last Saturday, I went up to UC-Davis to visit with my grad advisor and his wife.  We took a brief drive through the beautiful Davis-campus and then headed to Napa.  Ron & Betsey are wine connoisseurs and both have taken wine tours and classes all over the country.  Ron now even teaches a wine course at NDSU!  So, of course, our trip to Napa was strictly "research!"

It was a perfect day--the weather was gorgeous, the vines were ripe with huge bunches of dark red grapes. After refueling with sandwiches and fruit at Dean & Deluca, we drove down Highway 29 and marveled at all of the beautiful wineries, and we wished we had a seat on the Wine Train!  We stopped at Peju, one of my favorite wineries, mostly because the folks leading the wine tours/tastings are animated and colorful.  The wine is pretty tasty too!  We stopped at Grgich Hills Winery to learn more about their biodynamic and organic wines.  Next, we headed to Robert Mondavi Winery.  The UC-Davis campus has several research plots devoted to wine growing, plus a beautiful event center on campus, named in honor Mr. Mondavi.

Betsey, Ron & I at Robert Mondavi

We had so much fun catching up on the happenings of ND and CA, trips, kids & grandkids (their's!), and adventures and trips!  It is the sign of true friendship when you can get together and never miss a beat.