some special swiss guests

We were lucky enough to have Stefan's dad and stepmom in town this past weekend.  Since anytime we spend a day with them in Switzerland, we get a perfectly-planned-out itinerary of top-notch activities (case in point), we tried to give them an equally-jam-packed set of days while they were here.

We started the weekend off with a Thursday evening dinner of steaks, salad and wine at our place.  Nonno (grandfather in Italian) was all about holding little Samantha every second he could.

So much so that he refused to take a break to quench his thirst.  Luckily, his sweet wife Edith stepped in to help him.

Edith also took over while Nonno headed out to grill with Stefan - Samantha was in heaven!

On Friday, we did a trip up to Healdsburg.  After a stroll around the adorable town square, we started with coffee at the SHED - a market, cafe and community gathering spot focused on local farming and seasonally prepared foods.

While we sipped on our fancy cappucinos al fresco...

...Nonno gave Samantha a tour of the shop.

She had her eye on some expensive, locally hand-crafted frying pans, but we had to put our foot down.

We then headed to Bella Wine Caves for a picnic lunch and some wine tasting.  (Obviously.)

Again, Nonno and Samantha were inseparable - exploring the grounds together while the rest of the crew wined and dined. 

Nonno finally took a break to enjoy his prosciutto sandwich while Samantha chilled on our picnic blanket.  She was feeling pretty liberated to be in short sleeves after always being bundled up in our chilly San Francisco climate!

Next up was Rafanelli - one of our favorite off-the-beaten-path spots that we hadn't been to in ages.  

This family-owned, Zin-and-Cab powerhouse is by appointment only, 

limits how many bottles you can buy (or else they'd be out in a day), and

has a wineclub waiting list of 1000s.  

Thankfully, we have put in our time on the waitlist and are in the wineclub allowing us to score a coveted 2pm tasting with their very busy in-harvest staff.

As we sipped on their divine wines, they gave our special Swiss guests and us a private tour of the place.

Again, Nonno opted to hold Samantha rather than a glass of the region's fine nectar.  

Rafanelli is one of the few places in wine country that still does things the old-fashioned way: 

Rather than use machines, they do all their grape-squashing by hand!

Another incredible thing about Rafanelli is that while they have some of the best wines in the Valley and could raise their prices tenfold, they opt to keep them almost completely flat year to year.

While their bottles are not quite as inexpensive as they were back in 1984...

...you can get some of the best wines imaginable for under $50, which - if you know Sonoma - is an incredibly good deal.  

While we didn't take any bottles with us this time around (we still have a few cases at home in need of some special occasions), we had a fabulous time sampling their vintages and exploring their gorgeous grounds.  Samantha especially!

More details from the weekend to come!

xoxo

KK