Last stop of the day was the Robert Mondavi Winery
The winery has the look and feel of a mission. This statue, and many others at the winery are done by a bay artist- this one is of St Francis of Assisi
The vines are resting but will soon start to grow at a rate of 1 - 2 inches per day.The grapes in To Kalon are used for wines sold here at the winery and are also used for Reserve wines and other high end bottles.
These are French Oak barrels each housing wines from the property. Brace yourself- each barrel has $30,000.00 worth of wine in each one. The red color was Robert Mondavi's way of using the 3rd stage press wine from the basket press that is too strong for consumption. These barrels are used are used for about 6 years total at this winery for three levels of wines .
Of course it ended with a tasting-- I have never had a $68.00 dollar bottle of wine before- so the taste I had was fantastic. I did buy a couple of bottles (not the 68 one)- so they will be saved for our 2009 holiday meal.Another great day in Northern California