More than 20 LCOC members, family and friends journeyed to the beautiful Sebastiani Winery in Sonoma on a gorgeous late summer day for the annual “Mike Cunningham” Wine Country Picnic, Wine Tasting and Tour. Mike, an active and popular LCOC member passed away a few years ago. The September 9 picnic—always a staple social event for the northern part of our region— was first named for him in 2013 and was organized this year by Jim Finley and John Kiszla. They did an outstanding job, not only handling the arrangements with the winery but also registration and preparation of some really tasty picnic fare.
More upscale than the usual burgers and dogs, the picnic featured delicious wines, marinated roast tri-tip, grilled chicken breast, cole slaw, and more, plus their unique baked peanut squares and brownie desserts. Yum!
Besides the opportunity to renew acquaintances with old friends and meet new ones, the picnic also allowed members to sample some wonderful Sebastiani wines including a new 2014 Sonoma Valley Cherryblock Cabernet Sauvignon just being released that day. The tour showed visitors some tiny antique wine presses as well as the huge barrels now used at the winery. It told how production dropped from a high of 8 million cases down to 600,000 today, as the winery transformed from a high volume to a higher quality producer. Everyone got to keep their Sebastiani wine tasting glass. Grape harvesting also was in progress and trucks coming from the vineyard were in clear view of our secluded shaded picnic location.
Moderate temperatures encouraged some members to drive their classic Lincolns to the event and there was some built-in “tire kicking” time prior to the tour and picnic. Following dessert, a California history trivia quiz organized by Jim proved to be a mind-bending, but fun diversion for all, especially after sampling the wine. We can’t wait for next year’s encore.
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