satori stories 2012

What's Up at the Winery?

Field Trip to San Francisco!

Happy Taster. Here's T. eyeball-ing our tasting table at the "awards tasting" for the Gold Medal winners of the 2012 SF Chronicle International Wine Tasting Competition ... that took place Saturday at Fort Mason. Several hundred wineries. Many thousands of tasters. Great wines!

Taster's Choice. Adorah and AhNanDa serving up our winners

with laughter and smiles from 2 to 5 PM.

It's All in the Blend. The 09 Joyous (right), Gold Medal, chats amicably with its main component, the 09 Blue Hand Cab, Silver Medal. (Not pictured: 09 Merlot of the Violet Flame, Gold Medal, and 09 Zen-Zin, Silver Medal)

Festive. A cluster of balloons tries unsuccessfully to liberate itself through one of the giant windows in the old covered pier at Fort Mason.

Happy Campers. What's not to like on a beautiful, warm, sunny day in February

in SF with superb wines and everyone in a springtime kick-up-your-heels mood?

As one notable winemaker was heard to say:

"This doesn't suck."

The Party's Over? After several hours of intensive tasting and laughter,

Team Satori trudges past a statue of Phil Burton,

longtime SF congressman, on their way back to the motel.

Home Away From Home. Satori Cellars lies at the intersection of New Avenue and Buena Vista Avenue in Gilroy, so what better spot in SF to weather a night "off campus?" And, it is only a 5-minute walk (stumble?) from Fort Mason.

Room with a View. Well, actually, it's the rooftop garden of the Buena Vista Motel, overlooking the Golden Gate at Sunset.

Sunbathers. T. and Adorah and Apollo, backs to the Setting Sun,

eyes to a vision of What's Up Next.

Hotline. AuRoRa and AhNanDa, sporting the latest in Ponchos and Throws, look on as Carol accepts a congratulatory phone call from the President.

Choose One. This is either a photo of Jerry Garcia atop a Haight-Ashbury rooftop (from the inside cover of an old GD album) or a winemaker alone with his thoughts.