Fall Hopland Passport 2011- 1) McNab Ridge

Nov 26, 2011 by Diane Davis

As the rain fell and the temperatures dropped the week before Hopland Fall Passport 2011, the nerves were frayed in the Davis house. No, the rain wouldn’t stop the semi-annual trek over the hill, it could take the edge off the fun.

Friday, October 21^st, the pre-Hopland Fall Passport Festivities began, they were as much to celebrate the turn in the weather as they were to celebrate the events of the next day. Cheers all around and another Passport begins.

Hopland Passport begins officially at 11 am. The seasoned guests know arriving at 10 am is not only generally acceptable, it is part of a crucial strategy if you really plan to visit 16 wineries in two day and to enjoy the experience that each winery creates. We were a bit late, we arrived at 10:30. I have to preface this narrative with the fact that they just don’t pour a sad glass of wine in Hopland. They are all different and everyone will fall in love with enough wines to bust their budget, so the adventure really just is to find those favorite wines.

1) McNab Ridge

The theme for McNab Ridge Winery was McNab Monsters. Denise is not only upbeat and right down bubbly, she knows how to throw a party. You can always cound on steller food and lots of yummy dips. Every staff member was professional attired in a monster costume, from the vampy vampire, the flirty zombie to the creepy monster busting out of bodies, zombies, witches and Denise, the den mother as an evil cat. The score at McNab was the case of Margarites’s Vineyard Merlot for $72. As always, they were pouring a full flight of their Coro Mendocino (Coro Link) and many other wines. My favorite wine that McNab Ridge makes is a chocolate desert wine they call Allure. Allure is the most sexy and seductive wine that anyone has ever created, and now I just have to quit talking about it and go get a glass while I finish writing.  In the meantime, enjoy the images from McNab Ridge.