While the vast majority of my adventures involve hiking or backpacking out into the wilderness to see some of the most beautiful and interesting places on the face of the planet, that is only one of my great passions. Another involves the study and enjoyment of vino, and there is no greater place in the US to do immerse oneself in that world than Napa Valley. The calm serenity of the rolling hillsides, the slow, matter-of-fact manner of the people, the aromas and tastes of some of the best wine on Earth all make this an outstanding place to visit.This is my third or fourth trip to Napa over the years, but each time it gets better and better.
My wife and I left shortly after I got home from work on Friday night and made the drive over the hill, stopping for dinner along the way. We arrived at our hotel in American Canyon in time to get a good night's rest before getting up early Saturday morning to hit the wineries. I had put together a list of a few places I wanted to visit on this trip, but also left a fair amount of room in the schedule to try and find some treasures.
We started the day at Beringer's in St. Helena. I've always enjoyed their Chardonnay, and my found took a liking to their newly released zin. We grabbed a bottle of that and one of their desert wines called Nightingale before departing.
Our second stop was Grgich, a favorite of some of our good friends and a winery known for their semi-organic methods. Instead of just doing a tasting here, we decided to enjoy a cheese platter and their wine catalog on their guest patio. This truly is the life . . . good food, great wine, and my beautiful wife at my side, as we take some leisure and enjoy this beautiful day. As we taste the various offerings, the waiter shows great enthusiasm for the wine and we get into some discussion about the lineage of zinfandel and plavac mali. Okay, I'm a bit of wine geek, but the mix of history, science, and this nectar of the gods is an irresistible confluence to me. Looking at the clock, it's time to head to lunch.
Knowing how crazy it can be to get a table at this time of year in the valley, I planned ahead and made reservations for most of our meals. For lunch today, we dined at Mustard's Grill, a local favorite. I had a Moroccan-style quail dish, while wife had the catfish. All of it was outstanding, especially the asparagus and crab egg-drop soup we started with . . . yum!
After lunch, we headed to Whitehall Lane for a reserve tasting of some absolutely outstanding cabernet sauvingon. Their 2006 and 2010 were marvelous, but we both fell in love with the '08 and had to adopt a bottle, even at a hefty price tag.
Our next stop was Sequoia Grove, which turned out to be quite an interactive experience. Our server at the tasting bar, Tom, was very knowledgeable and kept pouring well beyond the tasting we paid for. Interestingly, some actual giant sequoias were planted about a century ago just outside the building and they seem to be thriving. The wines here are very nice, especially the cabernet franc, which is probably one of the best showings of that variety I have had. We pick up a few bottles and head back to the hotel to take a rest before dinner.
After a nice little nap, we rise for dinner and head back into Napa to dine at Morimoto's, of Iron Chef fame. This will be my third visit to one of his restaurants and yet again, his cuisine held up to his reputation. We enjoyed some oh toro nigiri and a toro tartar as an appetizer before getting into our entrees. Surf and turf for me, while she had a seafood concoction, both of which were just magical. Having had quite a day, we decided to head back to the hotel and get some rest.
Rising even earlier Sunday morning, we took a leisurely drive up the valley toward Calistoga and Chateau Montelena, who's Chardonnay won the 1976 Judgement of Paris, and was one of the main reasons the world starting taking Napa Valley serious as a producer of world-class wines. After winding up the mountainside, we arrive at the tasting room and are treated to a barrage of their best offerings. The chardonnay is very Chablis-like in style; light and fruity, with the slightest hit of oak. As this is the wine that changed the wine-world forever, we had to kidnap a bottle for a wine cooler. As we had some time before our lunch reservation, we decided to stop at Old Faithful of California, which is small geyser just down the road from the winery. Far from the size of it's namesake in Wyoming that we visited last year, this little geyser is very energetic and seems to erupt every five or so minutes. The caretaker invited us to return in the evening and enjoy a picnic. We may not get to that on this trip, but it may be something for our next trip.
For lunch, we drove back into Calistoga proper and found a creek-side table at Calistoga Inn Restaurant & Brewery. We enjoy this beautiful setting, while sharing a smoked trout and goat cheese pizza and some various side dishes. Wow . . . that pizza is amazing!!!
Our last planned stop for the day is our favorite place in Napa, Castello di Amorosa, the replica 13th century Italian castle. A tour of the amazing facility (which we do every time we visit) and a barrel tasting of the yet-to-be-released 2012 Il Barone (cabernet sauvignon), and we head down to the tasting room for some liquid gold (Il Passito) and other offerings. Love this place. Finally, the day starting to crest, we make our way back to the jeep and begin the long drive home. What a wonderful weekend and what a wonderful woman to spend it with.
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