The Hi5 team goes to wine country!

    We do a lot of hard work here at Hi5, so it is nice to be able to take a break from time to time and enjoy some time outside the office as a team.  Recently, we made the hour trek up to Sonoma Valley, which is the home of a vast array of vineyards.  A bus picked us up at 9:30 AM and we were on our way.  The card sharks showed their true colors in the games of Hearts and Texas hold 'em that started as soon as the bus was out of the city. 

    Our first stop, Sebastiani Winery, proved to be a great start to a great day.  We went through a brief lesson on pairing wines with cheeses -- a lesson that was quickly reinforced by the real thing!  Everyone had their opinions on their favorite wine or their favorite cheese, but one thing that we could all agree on was that they were well paired, and brought out the best in each.
 




   We headed on to Viansa for a quick tour followed by lunch.  Their wine cellar was beautiful and dark with several barrel-lined corridors branching off in various directions.  We emerged from the cellar and headed over to the wine bar for some tasting and then off to lunch.  The weather, lunch and company was wonderful and it was time to move on before we knew it.  On our way out however, some of the group managed to be lured into the "VIP room" where they were able to taste an array of higher-end wines...




    Our next stop, Domaine Carneros, is the home of some tasty sparkling wine.  After an informational video and a tour of their facilities, we were able to try some of their fine sparkling wines.  For everything you ever wanted to know about Champagne check out Wikipedia.  Only sparkling wine made in the Champagne region of France can actually be called "Champagne".  However, sparkling wine made in the same manner as Champagne has "méthode traditionnelle" written on the bottle.  Whatever you call it, it was good.

If you're ever in the Sonoma Valley, be sure to check out these hi5-recommended wineries!