Madera Wine Trail

Last Saturday a group of ten of us, Laurie and Daymond (who also spent the night with us on Sat and took us to Tenaya Lodge for a wonderful dinner that night) and three couples who tailgate with us for the Fresno State games, enjoyed the Madera Wine Trail fall event. We visited four wineries during the day. The following pictures chronicle our adventure:

First on the schedule at 10am was Ficklin Vineyards. They produce world famous ports and we tasted some great ones.

The guys (Jerry, Larry, Daymond, Ken and Rick) waiting for the event to open.
And, the gals (Charlotte, Laurie, Judy, and Sue...and me behind the camera) are waiting, too!
I got into this one! These are some of the barrels that date back to the late 1800s when the winery began.
Linda Lev pours some great Tawny port in the cellar.

Our second stop was Quady Winery, where they produce some great sweet wines. We enjoyed the all of them, but everyone particularly like the Purple (tastes like grape candy) and the Diversion which smelled and tasted of rose geranium.

Next we went to Chateau Lasgoity Winery, just a short distance away. We had a barrel tasting, led by Mark. We tasted a "new" pinot noir that is going to be great!

Larry and Kenny querying Mark about the tasting.
The Slatens and Engles with Mark next to the vineyard.

Our last stop was Westbrook Wine Farm in O'Neills for a visit with friends Ray and Tammy. They produce some high quality wines in small batches. Ray loves to talk about his wines and the winery itself. This is the front of the winery...
An this is the back, looking down from the vineyard.
This is Tammy's garden house and garden area, which was the wine storage area before the larger facility was built.Fall foliage in the Westbrook vineyard.Daymond and Kenny looking like they have had enough wine for the day.

Kenny and Susan...Sisters!