By Dick Ahrons          Photos by Ed and Erin

If you think the movie “Sideways” had the great pinots, then you should have joined the Après Bus Tour of the Santa Cruz Mountain wineries on the east side of the mountain. Some of the Pinots were outstanding.

We started with a wine crawl in downtown Saratoga. Three restaurants hosted tasting for 8 wineries with a spread of whites, reds and Champagne. Starting at Viaggios, we had Champagne from Equinox. For the Chardonnay drinker, Mt Eden has several good ones complemented by some hors d’oeuvres at The Basin Restaurant. Cinnabar poured a neat cab at Sent Sovi.

After about 1.5 hrs of the crawl, 29 of our Apresians boarded the wine bus and off we went. The first stop was California Cafe where Bonnie Doone was pouring its Big House Reds and Whites, but the Raspberry Framboise in a petite chocolate cup was a fait accompli. See photo. We were treated to a band playing and time only for a step or 2 before we went to the caves of Testarossa. We went into their caves where they were pouring 5 wines. On the outside patio, we complemented our testing with the music of a live band.

Back onto the bus and up the mountains to a small restaurant called Nonno’s. Two wineries were pouring, one of which was Windy Hill. Windy Hill treated us to their awesome gold metal winning Pinot as we listened to live music of a flamingo guitar. At Nonno’s, we were treated to a table of free appetizers consisting of cheese, roast beef, and ribs. Many who brought a lunch just stored it away to take home.

Now, onto the summit of the mountains --- We went to Burrell School Winery, which is housed in a historical schoolhouse. There we had wines and treated to an outstanding views with a few strawberries from Watsonville added in. Mary Parks bought a bottle of Old School House red for a friend who has not yet retired from teaching – she thought she needed it. Ed Martin got a well deserved relaxation from his fantastic job as President – see photo. Several of us walked through the grape vines. Now, the trick was to get the bus out of the parking lot. Our able bus driver, Alex, maneuvered the bus and we did need to get a few cars moved. We took off and followed the summit of the Santa Cruz Mountains to Bear Creek Road. This included a couple of almost missed turns and going along slooowly this beautiful winding, sometime one lane, mountain road. The bus winding along narrow Summit Road was in itself an adventure worth the trip. We arrived at Bear Creek Road with a decision to make. We had time for only 1 more winery. Boo --- So we voted, and David Bruce won over Byington.

David Bruce did not disappoint us. We walked into the tasting room with 3 wine tables pouring 6 wines. In the center, there was a table of delicious appetizers, presented elegantly. Four of wines were awesome Pinots from their estate and Alexander Valley. Of course, the price was also awesome. (On the following weekend, I tasted McHenry’s Pinots, which were as good and only $18 per bottle.)

We returned to Saratoga. As we rode, people filled out a survey, which overwhelmingly wanted a repeat next year. Some even commented, “sooner”.

At 5:30 PM, we said goodbye to our able and very warmhearted bus driver, Alex, thanking him for bringing us down the mountain and in one piece.

Since the “glass” ticket was good for 2 weekends, people did go (including me) wine testing on the west side of the Santa Cruz Mountains the next weekend. I had to revisit David Bruce, open both weekends, to taste those Pinots again.

What a beautiful day it was, not too hot, not too cool – the perfect day to mellow out on good wines.

For those who acted as the designated drivers (or do not drink), the Vintner’s Festival gave them a gift of either a festival cloth bag or a festival tee shirt – of course wine colored.