After trading contact info with their Tasting Room Manager a couple years ago, Matanzas Creek Winery in Santa Rosa’s Bennett Valley invited me to provide music for a wine club event.  Wine club members would be visiting the tasting room to pick up their latest shipment and also try the latest release of  “Journey”, a series of estate labels that run for between $50 to $100 a bottle.

Matanzas was looking for a “Journey” theme to the music, so I pulled together as many songs I could find that either had the word “Journey” in the title or had to do with traveling.  What resulted was a somewhat eclectic set list, including Enya, the Eagles, and U2.  I also made sure to include a couple of songs by San Francisco’s own “Journey”, the band.

The event was a blast.  Matanzas Creek has a beautiful, spacious tasting room and an outdoor patio that overlooks their unique Lavender fields.  I set up inside, and played for about two and a half hours.  Afterwards I had a chance to enjoy a glass of Journey Sauvingnon Blanc and chat with the tasting room staff.  It was a great night, and hopefully just the beginning of my collaboration with Matanzas Creek.  I hope to return in summer of 2014.