If you have to live in the suburbs, the Picchetti Winery has something for everyone and you can’t beat it on Mother’s Day. Pack a picnic or just grab some food from a food truck in their historic range. Absolutely stunning weather welcomes volleyball, frisbee, or catch. They also have wonderful winding hiking trails behind the tasting room where you could go for miles passing beautiful canyon views around every turn.

If you’re so inclined, they also do wine tastings like most wineries. Apparently, this area has the climate and soils for a bounty of varietals. Picchetti’s first ever Brut rose sparkling wine with 56% Pinot Noir and 44% Chardonnay is a very dry crisp bubbly which I’m sure they designed for picnic pairing. Its strawberry mouthfeel is elegant without huge overwhelming fruit or sugar. Each bottle has beautiful gold painted lettering. No labels! Just the kind of classic touch you get from a family winery.

Picchetti Winery’s Chardonnay has lemon curd and creme brulee on the nose with body like a huge red wine. It’s big but not juicy big with apricot and honey thickness, probably from barrel fermenting and long (24 months) aging in oak. Picchetti’s Pinot Noir is a smoky rich California style with the fullness of rich ripe cherry and a hint of under-ripe plum. If you like blends, their Vino de Vicino, juice of the hood, has a bit of their thick rich Cabernet Sauvignon, what this hood is known for because of their limestone soils.

Merlot and Petite Verdot bring a good combo blanketed with elegant tannins. The Cabernet Sauvignon has dark black cherry with a hint of dark bitter chocolate. Did I say dark? If your meal has the dark rich flavors of slow cooked short ribs in a succulent sauce, prime rib au jus, or any red meat in a dark barbecue sauce, this is the wine for it!

More appellation adventures from my years being the California wine gypsy.