We recently completed our first Wine & Music Adventure, an extraordinary five-day tour in Sonoma County filled with amazing wines, wonderful music, outstanding weather, and a very fun group of 40 people.
This tour was the brainstorm of professional musician Mindi Abair and her husband, wine industry veteran Eric Guerra. And while we had worked with Mindi and Eric for well over a year to set up this vacation, even we were blown away by how great it was.
For one thing, Mindi is supremely talented on the saxophone, playing jazz, blues, and rock ranging from her original songs to classic tunes. But the music surpassed even our expectations as Mindi pulled strings to bring her friends along for the multiple private and intimate concerts on the tour: trumpeter Rick Braun, guitarist Randy Jacobs, singer Ashling Cole, and keyboardist Justus. The combination of sounds from these professionals would wow any lover of music, no matter your preferred genre.
Secondly, Eric’s ability to put together the wine component of this tour was unbelievable. We dined at the home of the head winemaker of Kendall Jackson, drank 20-year-old wines stored in the barn of the Teldeschi winery, and heard the owners of Goldschmidt winery cracking jokes as we tasted their wines under a golden California sun. The reality is most people in the world never have the inside access that Eric provided us on this tour, thanks to his 20 years of working in the industry.
Lastly, we were impressed with those attending the tour. The group loved music and wine. They were there to have fun. There was hardly a downbeat during the entire week. We’d be happy to repeat this tour at any time … and we are.
Join Mindi, Eric, and Taste Vacations for a Tuscany Wine & Music Adventure this November 1 – 5 and a reprise of our Sonoma Wine & Music Adventure next April 24 – 28. (Note the two photos we used here were courtesy of JazzIz Magazine, which created an awesome and detailed account of the week.)
