We started Saturday from Sly Park at 1 PM with a small caravan including
myself in the lead, with Pete and Beth in their car, Tom and Suzanne behind
them and the Shattucs in the rear (so we thought). It turned out that Bill and
Dan tried to leave the campground via a 4-wheel drive road in a two-wheel
drive truck. Several miles down the road we noticed they were not with us.
(That was the sideways portion). All was not lost, after they extricated
themselves, they were able to stop at a store and get the garlic bread for the
evening dinner.

Unable to stop and wait, we continued on to Fiddletown, approximately 45
minutes from Sly Park. There we met Peg and Mike Bellamy who have a
beautiful house on 10 acres of property overlooking the vineyards in
Fiddletown. They are amateur wine makers who are producing professional
grade wines. They started with an amateur winemaking club in Sacramento
in the late 80’s and progressed from making a few bottles as an experiment
to making a few cases for consumption. They have won awards in their
division at the California State Fair, Orange County Fair and Amador County
Fair to name a few.

They are attempting to capitalize on this talent and start up their own winery.
Mike is the wine maker and Peg is the taster and record keeper. They were
gracious enough to put on a wine tasting demonstration, complete with
cheese, crackers and other appetizers. We started our tasting with a
sauvignon blanc that was grown in the area. It was excellent and was the
only white wine on the list. This area is known for its old vine zinfandels and I
told the group that they would not be disappointed. He has several zins that
showed the quality of the grape and area along with his expertise of
blending. They were all great. The surprise at the end was the pouring of his
late harvest zin and his delicious zin port. Each was served with a chocolate
brownie. Pete’s comment said it all.” This knocks my socks off”.

As the wine and food pleased our palates, the hosts pleased our intellects.
Peg and Mike said they truly enjoyed hosting the club members at their
home and I informed them that the club truly enjoyed their hospitality.

By Roger Hatin
Sideways Wine Trip
FOSTER CITY ROD AND GUN CLUB