Our picnic and bocce plans got rained out on Saturday. However, it certainly didn’t stop us from wine tasting!

My friend Sarah is a member at Testarossa, a winery in Los Gatos popular for its exquisite pinots, chardonnays, and the fact that it’s located in a 19th century Jesuit Novitiate. Cool cave, huh? I’ve been here three times now and with each visit, I like their wines more and more. Know what else is cool? Since Sarah’s a member all 4 of us tasted for FREE!

The sun was actually out when we arrived at Savannah Chanelle, but not too far into our (complimentary!) tasting the rain we’d left in Santa Clara caught up to us. Greatly enjoyed the cozy, rustic, cabin-y feel of the tasting room took on with the rain coming down outside, especially once the live music started! Usually performances are outside up at the villa, but with the rain they made room inside.

Later we popped into Wine Affairs on the Alameda for a quick drink and some baked brie and cranberries (compliments of Brian. Thanks Brian!) before walking a few store fronts down to Tee Nee Thai. Tee Nee Thai, it’s been too long!

Aside from their fantastic thai food, Tee Nee is known for their large selection of Belgian Beers. Sarah and the boys were intrigued by the beer special of the night, “Kwak.” It came in these funny glasses that looked more like test tubes. According to the Kwak website:

“In Napoleon’s time, Pauwel Kwak was a brewer and the owner of the De Hoorn inn (near Brussels). Mail coaches stopped there every day, but at that time coachmen were not allowed to leave their coach and horses,” “As a result, the inventive innkeeper had a special Kwak glass blown that could be hung on the coach. In this way, the coachman had his Kwak beer safely at hand… Once you get over the novelty of the glass, Kwak is a very fine Belgian beer. The color is a deep amber, with a creamy colored head. Kwak has a mellow, fruity and malty aroma with very little hops smell. There are some hints of fruit in the taste and aroma such as creamy bannana and liquorice.”

Cheers, guys!