Windmills & Wine - What More Could I Want?

Windmills & Wine - What More Could I Want?

September 7th, 2007 @ 2:10 pm by Mrs. Peppermint
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As the wedding nears (3 months away as of tomorrow!) it seems that all my free time is being taken. Fall can be busy (a lot of birthdays and holidays), but this year I’m booking up quick! In fact, Mr. Peppermint and I are escaping LA (and man has it been hot!) to drive up to Solvang tomorrow for my birthday. And, in true Miss Peppermint fashion, we’ll also be checking another thing off our ever-growing wedding to-do list: booze!

We’ll be going to the Santa Barbara County wine country made famous by Sideways. We’ve actually gone to a few of the wineries before (Firestone, Curtis, Kalyra), but are hoping to discover some new places as well. We’re on a mission to have a relaxing weekend (when was the last one of those?!?) and select the wine for our wedding. Since our site doesn’t have a corking fee, we figured we might as well bring it ourselves. After all, I’d rather have wines we know and that will remind of us of (what looks to be) a wonderful weekend!

For any of you interested in the Sideways-tour (yes, it’s become quite popular), check out: the Sideways Wine Trail: Day 1 & 2, or the Sideways Virtual Wine Tour. Here’s the map below!

How much wine would you recommend buying? Our caterer suggested doing an even ratio of red to white and about 1/2 bottle per person. As to champagne (for a champagne toast) about 1/5 a bottle per person. Anyone who has experience in the matter, I’d love your advice!

Tags: alcohol, palm-springs |

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11 Responses to “Windmills & Wine - What More Could I Want?”

Bee

Mrs. Bee (message) 3,235 posts, Sugar bee

though i’ve been many many times, i still love solvang! i think the amount of wine you need to buy really varies depending on your crowd. are they a big drinking crowd?

evite has a calculator based on light-heavy drinking variables that you might find useful.

http://www.evite.com/pages/party/drink-calculator.jsp

have fun this weekend!!

9/7/07 @ 2:17 pm (reply)

Guest

Linda

I love it up there! So easy to get too! Been going there for YEARS!

Check out Buttonwood and Sunstone. If you want a easier trip to multiple wineries without driving, park on Los Olivos main drag. You can hit up Andrew Murray, Daniel Gehr, Consilience and Richard Longoria Wines!

Have fun!

9/7/07 @ 2:37 pm (reply)

Guest

starjas

We sort of used the evite drink calculator and then decided to buy magnum sizes of white and red wine and champagne. For us, that was 1 bottle for each table with the champagne poured individually and the wines at each table. What happened is that we had about 20 bottles of the wine and champagne left over. People tended to drink more of the signature cocktails we offered, margaritas.

9/7/07 @ 2:39 pm (reply)

Bee

Mrs. Bee (message) 3,235 posts, Sugar bee

that’s a great point starjas - we offered two signature cocktails, and people drank those instead of wine, though they’re typically pretty big wine drinkers.

we finished half a case of rum that a friend gave us (he has a premium rum company), and we got $1000 refund from the store we purchased our alcohol at! (for leftover wine and hard liquor)

that might be another option to look into because a lot of stores will give you refunds for unopened, unchilled bottles of alcohol.

9/7/07 @ 2:51 pm (reply)

Guest

Cyndi

Along the lines of some of the other posts: I’m jealous. I used to live in Santa Barbara and now I live in Wisconsin. Some of my favorite wineries are Gainey (good tour), Foxen, and Zaca Mesa. Enjoy!

9/7/07 @ 3:06 pm (reply)

Member

Maegan (message) 272 posts, Helper bee

Hi Miss Peppermint. I live in Santa Barbara and am headed to LA tomorrow (thankfully FI has a pool so we will beat the heat this weekend). FYI - the weather here is perfect right now, over the heat wave.

I was going to recommend some wineries as well, but other Bee readers have the same great taste - check out Sunstone, Zaca Mesa, Rancho Sisquoc if you can (farther drive) and Buttonwood is a favorite.

Oooh, and another FYI, all Blue Bee stores are having their semi-annual store clearance sales this weekend. Fri = 50% off, Sat = 60% off, and Sun = 70% off - and this is off anything and everything in all stores!! I got a Dolce & Gabbana bikini this morning that I’ll save for the honeymoon.

9/7/07 @ 3:27 pm (reply)

Guest

Mary-Heather

I took a roadtrip in that area with my mom this spring, and I highly, highly recommend checking out Windward Vineyard - they make Pinot Noir (and only Pinot Noir) and it is incredible. We’re stocking up on cases for my wedding next summer! Plus, they have lavender planted all over, yummy cheeses, lavender in the restroom, and you’ll feel like you’re in France. Everybody wins.

9/7/07 @ 3:36 pm (reply)

Guest

jlb07

I don’t have any wine buying advice, but Happy Birthday Miss Peppermint! Tomorrow’s my bday too! Enjoy the weekend.

9/7/07 @ 4:25 pm (reply)

Bee

Miss Peppermint (message) 84 posts, Worker bee

Jlb07 - Happy Birthday to you too!

Thanks everyone for all the great advice, I’ll be sure to report back after my weekend!!

9/7/07 @ 5:23 pm (reply)

10.

Guest

NKC

I love Rancho Sisquoc simply for the atmosphere, but it’s a bit off the beaten path. Los Olivos is great because it’s one stop shopping, but can be a little hard to drive away from! good luck!

9/7/07 @ 5:50 pm (reply)

11.

Guest

Weddingbee » Blog Archive » Solvang Recap

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9/12/07 @ 9:29 am (reply)