Laetitia Winery: Sunny Sipping & Tasting.

I've been away all weekend... Up the coast, past Santa Barbara and near San Luis Obispo... In a small little beach town called Pismo Beach.

It was a celebration weekend, which necessitated many delicious bottles of wine... And even a trip to the very vineyard of the wine we were drinking the most...

Laetitia Winery.

I've gotten quite at home near rows and rows of vines in the past year and a half. (I've been to over 25 in the past 18 months, all around the world.) And the Central Coast of California is a beautiful place to encounter them... The beach is nearby. And you have mountains close too.

Everything is fairly dry lately because of the lack of rain. But for wine marking, this can be a good thing. It means a more flavorful grape and an early harvest.

We packed a picnic lunch to have at the vineyard, and I got to get up close with the vines.  The wrinkled leaves, and these...

Clusters that are wrinkling as well, and (I am assuming) very ready to pick.

The 2015 harvest is going to be a delicious one, I'll wager.

As we ate our lunch, we sipped a tasting of sparkling wines...

Perfect for celebrating a major birthday (which we were) and for sitting out in the Summer Sun.

Though, I was driving. So my sips were very, very small. And many of my pours were tossed.

Then we did a sampling of Pinot Noirs...

My favorite varietal. I brought home six bottles from the vineyard. And as soon as I got home this evening, after a four and a half hour drive, I opened one of those bottles for a sip.

It will make for some tasty dreams this evening.