Ukiah and Mendocino County

October 11, 2011

Ukiah, California

We're just wrapping up a nice, albeit short, visit here in Mendocino County.  We had an easy drive (I'm beginning to get the hang of these "leave by 10:00 and stop for the day by 2:00" drives) down from Eureka, in spite of some rain along the way.  It was basically US-101 south all the way.  We pulled into the Ukiah Elks Lodge mid-afternoon and were soon set up and paid up.

Today, the rain stopped in the morning, so we decided to pack up the pups and take a ride.  Having done a little research online, I knew we wanted to head west to Booneville, then north toward the little burg of Mendocino.  We didn't make it all the way, but that was just fine.

CA-253 west from Ukiah is one of those roads where large vehicles are "not advised".  In fact, RVs over 40' aren't allowed at all, and we could tell why.  Climbing 1,500' through switchbacks then dropping down the other side the same way, over two sets of mountains, made for an interesting drive.  Fortunately, it's only 16 miles to Booneville, in the heart of the Anderson Valley.  We stopped for lunch at the Redwood Drive-in (including a burger carne sola for the pups) and started our winery search from there.

We made two winery stops (recognizing that we had a long and winding drive back home) in the small town of Philo.  Our first stop was at Navarro, one of the oldest operations in the Anderson Valley.  After tasting and purchasing a couple of bottles, we circled back to Goldeneye, a winery I'd read about online.  They are primarily a Pinot Noir producer, and part of the Duckhorn wine group from Napa Valley.  We had a great tasting in a very relaxing setting.  After getting a glass of Chardonnay in the Visitor's Center, we adjourned to the patio overlooking the "home" vineyard, found a nice spot under an umbrella, and were treated to a nice tasting of four different Pinots.  Sitting on the patio, working at our own pace; now that's how to do a tasting right.  Since they're flexible on shipping, we even signed up for their wine shipment program.  It should be a good addition to our "portfolio".

Wonderful tasting a Goldeneye

View from Goldeneye's tasting patio

Should be harvesting soon!

Fully relaxed, we headed back over the mountains to Ukiah, stopped in the Lodge for a brew, and settled in for the night.  It was a mostly cloudy and damp visit, but we enjoyed it and will stop back again.