Thoughts of a Middle Aged Man

Four the last three years we have been making a pilgrimage to San Francisco this time of year. With the help of friends, we volunteer at the Zinfandel Advocates and Producers (ZAP) annual festival and sell wine and wine related knick knacks to over 15,000 zinfandel fans who taste the wine from nearly 400 different wineries. Funny thing is, Annette and I really are not fans of Zins. Its a long but fun day and in the morning you meet some interesting people from wineries and related trades who know the business of wine. In the afternoon, San Francisco’s wine fans pour into the facility after paying their $60 and its fun watching the crowd slowly get hammered until the final bell rings at 5pm. Its most entertaining.

The real reason we volunteer is a to attend a dinner on Friday hosted by some friends at McCormick & Kuleto’s. Our friends have a way of making friends with everyone they meet and therefore are treated like royalty where ever they go. Our Friday dinner was no exception. Nine of us, including my niece and her boyfriend were treated like rock stars for an evening. Complementary appetizers, along with visits from everyone from the entire restaurant management staff and the head chef, and wine provided by the person that coordinates the California State Fair wine judging, makes the evening stellar.

On Saturday, we broke from tradition of celebrating a job well done with our fellow volunteers and the group “Wild Women on Wine” and dined with my niece and her boyfriend again along with my son and his friend, who both attend a local college, at Farinas. Although it was chilly and has rained, we ate al fresco under heaters and enjoyed a fabulous Italian meal. We managed to slurp down our desert, just prior to the rain starting up again. It was a great way to finish off a great weekend, by treating some of the younger generation of our family to a fabulous meal. The restaurant comes very close to the type of places my wife and I ate during our trip to Italy.

So, on our flight home, my wife asked, so when is our next weekend trip?