Road Trip: Live a little more

Everyone always talks about Napa and Sonoma when discussing California’s wine country, but quiet little Livermore is not only home to 55 wineries, it also is the home of California chardonnay. Seems Charles Wetmore brought to his Livermore estate from France a chardonnay vine, cultivated it, and its grapes produced what we now know and drink as California chardonnay. Wente’s 1883 vineyard and chateau is just one of the enchanting wineries in this northern California town, marked by rolling hills, Tuscan-style homes, gracious downtown streets, and a happy vibe.

AOPA will host its second 2019 fly-in at Livermore Municipal Airport (LVK). Join us June 21 and 22 for another fine weekend of flying, camaraderie, education, and enjoyment.

Livermore is in eastern Alameda County—about an hour’s drive east from San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose—in the Tri-Valley, which consists of the Amador, Livermore, and San Ramon valleys. As California’s oldest wine-growing region, Livermore is a world-class wine destination, but is also famous for the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, a premier nuclear and security research center, and for Sandia National Laboratories, which grew from the Manhattan Project.

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