What a great way to finish or start, depending on how you see your seven days, my week.  After the holidays, I had a lot to catch up on, and still do. After days of wind and rain, the weather was finally nice, big white fluffy clouds with plenty of sunshine were beckoning me to get behind the wheel.

So I tossed all pending deadlines aside and took HWY 49 south to the little town of Plymouth, California.

Plymouth, the gateway, to the Shenandoah Valley Wine Country, is filled with boutique wineries, that have in the past taken the backseat to their more famous cousins, Napa and Sonoma.  As repeat winners of numerous wine competitions, this area is gaining in popularity as was evident in the tasting room at Jeff Runquist’s Wines, which was packed with wine aficionados.

This was only my second time here and I love it.  Very much still down to earth. Here, the vintner himself will pour you a glass (gratis) and chat about the latest harvest – little like the Napa of twentysome years ago.  I still LOVE Napa! Do not get me wrong 🙂

Stopped at a small boutique, Accents, in the heart of Plymouth and chatted with the very friendly store owner, Carol (as in Christmas, she told me…:-)).  She had a lovely assortment of things for me and my home.  Happy with my purchase of four tapas plates, she recommended the Market & Deli – Amador Vintage Market for a quick bite. Their turkey BLT did not disappoint and went well with my Cab Franc later.  🙂

Jeff Runquist’s Wines, Shenandoah Vineyards were the only two wineries I stopped at today.  Driving by myself, I did not want to take any chances on the windy roads back…

All in all, this was a fabulous way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

And I hope yours was fabulous as well…