Registering ... 
Loading... 
Imagine, if you will, gazing from a helicopter at the beautiful, grapevine covered valleys of Dry Creek and Sonoma, CA, followed by a gentle landing on a tree-shaded hill. A white-uniformed and toque-sporting master chef waits with a gourmet meal he has prepared for you, an experience enhanced by wines that perfectly marry to each dish served.
That is the pièce de résistance, the ultimate moment in the ultimate California wine tour arranged and created by Kelley Anne Dove, a delightful, energetic woman who bills herself as a personal wine concierge.
“ People on a SIPS tour do not stand at the public tasting bars. They meet with wine makers or owners in private cellars or private tasting rooms. We get into wineries that the public cannot visit. Everything is exclusive and private.”
Her organization, SIPS: Wine Events And Personal Concierge, organizes individualized tours of California wine country. Given a couple of days (or less), Dove can create the tour of your dreams, taking customers deep behind the scenes of the wine industry.
Kelley told me, “People on a SIPS tour do not stand at the public tasting bars. They meet with wine makers or owners in private cellars or private tasting rooms. We get into wineries that the public cannot visit. Everything is exclusive and private.”
I observed a typical SIPS weekend, which included a vertical tasting of Hawke Winery’s 2007, 2003 and 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon; an aroma seminar; one din- ner in the caves of the Rafanelli Winery and another at the Passalacqua Winery; and a luncheon and tasting of wines, three tapanades, olives and figs in the shaded patio beside the quaint Jimtown Store near Healdsburg.
One customer, Janine Liddle of Penn Valley, CA, made a special effort to get my attention so she could compliment SIPS, which is capitalized because it looks good graphically. “Anyone can visit the big wineries. We’re a group of friends spending this special weekend visiting the tiny wineries.” (Some of the men played golf one afternoon, skipping the aroma seminar, but joining their wives for dinner.)
Photo courtesy of SIPS Wine Tours
Then I learned more about the winery helicopter experience. Kelley said, “A winery owner usually goes along on the flight and gives a wine-growing tuto- rial. When the helicopter drops the participants on a hill at the top of a vineyard overlooking the vines, Mateo Granados, the chef at Cyrus Restaurant, prob- ably the most prominent and opulent restaurant in Sonoma County, is cooking eight courses for them. He also does an amazing job of bringing wine and food together, explaining what he does and why. He’s truly an artist at what he does. And my patrons are there simply to be spoiled rotten.”
The cost, depending on what the customer wants to do, is $300 to $1300 per person for all expenses, including hotel, limousine and all events. Kelley meets the customer at the hotel, resort or bed & breakfast, makes sure that they are attended to, picks them up in the morning and shepherds them through the day.
To have Kelley create your wine country tour, call 707 433 1229 or go to: www.sipswineevents.com.
