Pebble Beach Golf 2020: Spanish Bay Inn, Piper, Roy’s Restaurant and More

Recently we had the pleasure to return to Pebble Beach and celebrate our birthdays at ‘Gods Home of Golf’ Pebble Beach. We have a rich memory bank of experiences at this special place.  AT&T’s, US Opens, US Amateur and playing Pebble Beach is one of the greatest experiences in golf.

We always stay at Spanish Bay and enjoy the entire experience. General Manager, Rod Schinnerer runs a ‘first class’ operation.  The oceanfront Inn features world class service, pool, spa, tennis and restaurants.  We especially enjoy sitting by the fire pits on the oceanfront patio bar watching the piper play ‘Amazing Grace’ every night at sunset. Our son MJ is also a great photographer and captured a world class picture of the ‘piper‘ playing a few years ago.

This ‘piper’ experience never gets old and is a great way to relax before going to dinner at famous Roy’s restaurant.  Roy’s is one of our favorite restaurants and offers a variety of sushi creations and steaks from their open kitchen overlooking the ocean.  Last year our favorite chef Thomas Keller was enjoying dinner next to our table. He is also an avid golfer and plays in the AT&T Pro Am.

If you are staying at the Inn, you can also play golf at some of the ‘best’ courses in the world.  Spanish Bay has a challenging links course and for special occasions you can also play Spyglass Hill or famous Pebble Beach. If you are a NCGA member, you can get a great rate at nearby Poppy Hills.  Pebble Beach recently held the US Open and US Amateur.
It is a special experience of ultimate beauty and ‘rich‘ history that ‘every’ avid golfer should do one time.

The new Tiger Woods designed and former Peter Hay short course is slated to open in 2021. It will feature some challenging holes including a copy hole of famous par 3, number 7, on the Pebble Beach course.

After your day playing Pebble Beach, we highly recommend going to the legendary Tap Room.

The Tap Room is rated as one of the most famous 19th holes in the world. You never know what famous people you may see there. The food is great and it is a fun place to discuss your ‘great‘ golf shots and ‘missed‘ putts. Enjoying an ice-cold Guinness or glass of your favorite wine, Kobe burgers and coconut cake is a fabulous ending to your Pebble Beach golf experience.

To conclude your Pebble Beach experience, we recommend that you visit the charming town of nearby Carmel.  It has a variety of restaurants, inns, art galleries and full of happy people from all over the world smiling and walking their dogs.

We especially enjoy ‘Katy’s Place’ for breakfast which features the famous sportscaster and local resident Jim Nantz ‘Augusta Special’ as well as a variety of other sensational selections.

In conclusion, Pebble Beach is a ‘must do’ bucket list experience. We look forward to returning soon.

For more information and to make reservations go to:

https://www.pebblebeach.com/accommodations/the-inn-at-spanish-bay/ 

Raymond Vineyards and John Legend Making Great Wine

Recently, we had the pleasure of visiting Raymond Vineyards in St. Helena.  The late Roy Raymond Sr., who founded the winery in the 70’s with his sons, has a long history in Napa Valley dating back multiple generations to the 1930’s. In 2009, Raymond sold the winery to the well-regarded Boisset Family from Burgundy, France. Jean-Charles Boisset, president of Boisset Family Estates, owns several prominent wineries in the Napa/Sonoma region including California’s oldest winery, Buena Vista and Pinot Noir producer, De Loach Vineyards (both in Sonoma County). Jean-Charles is also married to one of California’s most recognizable winery families – the Gallo family. His wife is Gina Gallo and they own the home that Robert & Margrit Mondavi used to live in. Under his vision, Raymond has become a leading producer of luxury fine wines earning “Winery of the Year” honors from Wine Enthusiast magazine.

In 2015, Raymond partnered with Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Golden Globe singer John Legend to create LVE=Legend Vineyard Exclusive collection of wines. John Legend’s friendship with Jean-Charles led him to become devoted to the art of winemaking. Raymond now makes 6 wines under the LVE label.

Our knowledgeable and energetic hosts were Ryan and Tasting Room Manager, Bill Farmer.  We enjoyed listening to the rich history of this winery as we sampled a variety of ‘reds’ outside in their heavenly and spacious gardens due to the Covid 19 rules.

Raymond has a great selection of white wines, but our preference led us to taste the vast collection of red wines. We did try the Chardonnay($45) which had tastes of caramelized butter and almond with a hint of citrus zest on this sensational sun splashed summer day.

We were especially impressed with the 2016 LVE(Legend Vineyard Exclusive)red blend($50), 2015 Merlot($40) and 2015 Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon ($108).

We took all of these wines with us back to our home in Danville. We also joined their wine club and look forward to their parties, dinners and sharing this ‘great’ juice with our wine lover friends.

For lunch, we enjoyed deviled eggs and St. Louis barbecued ribs at Farmstead Restaurant with their cheese biscuits. We could never finish without ordering their famous beignets with warm bourbon caramel sauce which is a ‘must do’’ for dessert.

Napa rocks and the vines look very healthy. According to Bill Farmer from Raymond Vineyards, this year is shaping up to be another great vintage

.For more information and to make an appointment go to: https://raymondvineyards.com/