Despite frequent moves, we’ve slept well each night. Today we are awake about 7 AM to somewhat overcast skies. We are sure, though, that that will not interfere with the day’s itinerary of wine tasting for 4 or 5 hours! I went down to retrieve morning coffee in the beautiful dining room – tin ceilings unlike any I’ve seen, with the tin tiling featuring patterns and painted designs, extending down the walls a ways. The coffee has the slightest hint of perhaps almond and is delicious. I take some back to the room for Larry who is completing his morning ablutions. We love this old house with bulls eye cornices, gorgeous wood trim, chair rails actually not chair height but about eye level or higher and serving as display areas for various items. Built-ins so lovely. And I sit then, looking out the bay window at roses blooming along the white iron fences in front. As I sit and wait for Larry to be ready for breakfast, I take up and read a book placed there by the hosts, Mustard, Journey to Love by Jessel Miller. Sweet. I’ll need to read the subsequent books by the author.
Breakfast includes pitchers of water infused with lemons or with limes, a wide organic tea selection, yogurt, homemade granola, broiled grapefruit garnished with grapes and mint leaf. As Lar cannot eat grapefruit, they happily substituted a fresh fruit cup. Next we are served a frittata with dried tomatoes and artichoke hearts, homemade morning sunrise muffins and strawberry butter.
We were soon picked up by Carl, our wine tour guide and off we went. We were joined by a young couple, Justin and Rebecca from Salinas. I had had some concerns about tasting so much wine – wasn’t sure if I could hold my own yet still be discerning, so I had just a bit of trepidation. Carl reminded me of Doug Heffernan (King of Queens) with a terrific sense of humor, a vast knowledge of the area, and he seems to know all the right people!
We visited about 5 vineyards – my record keeping got careless as the day went on (!) and I discovered I do actually have a fairly decent palate for tasting, and no one, including me, got anywhere near “tipsy.” We began tasting at Frank Family Vineyards – we were not particularly impressed with any of their offerings, we did buy one bottle of chardonnay, and I felt this was the most pretentious of the stops.
At V. Sattui Winery (see videos and a terrific site showing the place which is really cool at http://www.vsattui.com/ ) we had Justin choose a special dessert to celebrate his 31st birthday which was that day, and he chose a tiramisu to share. V. Sattui has a rather overwhelming shop for buying pairings as well as other things including sandwiches. We bought sandwiches and beverages and sat outside chatting over a picnic lunch. After lunch we discovered that we didn’t have to compete with the hoards of tasters inside, but instead, we had access to the members-only cellar where we tasted some truly great wines, including a special $125 bottle! Rebecca was especially fond of their Gamay Rouge and when we tasted it, we found out why! We bought two bottles. Sattui was established 125 years ago by Vittorio Sattui, an Italian immigrant. They have a family tradition of making small lots of fine premium wines which have earned major awards in national competitions. They are located in St. Helena, CA and sell only direct to consumers.
On to the Sterling Vineyard which was a beautiful experience. (http://www.sterlingvineyards.com/OurWinery/PhotoGallery.aspx for spectacular photos). They have a cable tram in which you ride up the mountain over the vineyards, trees, and a spectacular view! The air is redolent with grape-pine-fresh and for once I have less fear than awe riding on one of those wobbly cars! They have a self guiding tour with stops along the way to sample various types of wines. We ordered about a case or more from Sterling.
Then to Hagafen Cellars, Napa. Quoting from their brochure: “ Hagafen Cellars brings together the elements of “Old Napa” style so often missing from today’s world of wine: a respect for lineage, knowledge of age-old customs for the crafting of wine, and superior releases that reveal a depth of character and a hallmark of place. Wine should be about passion and celebrating the good things of life with relatives and friends.” Owned and operated by Irit and Ernie Weir, the winery was founded in 1979 and the first commercially released vintage was harvested in 1980. In the ensuing years, they have slowly grown from a small partnership producing wine with grapes from Winery Lake Vineyard, then owned by Rene DeRosa, to a well established and respected winery. Since 1980, their wines have been served on numerous occasions at the White House to visiting foreign dignitaries. They take care to interfere as little as possible with the soil, creating a balance that minimizes the chemical and erosion impact via the use of modern farming techniques while maintaining the age-old wisdom of balance and the traditional values of conservation and land stewardship. A little place, one receives special, personal attention and it is with a feeling of peace and oneness with the land that the winery welcomes you. Beautiful gardens are mulched with grape seeds, and I have to think that the “green-ness” of this vineyard can be felt when you visit.
Mario Andretti’s was the last vineyard on our tour. We liked that stop very much, the employees were very down-to-earth, and the wines are good. More ordering!
On the way back to the BandB we got a tour through Carl (Doug)’s neighborhood where points of interest were named – most of which are written in illegible notes in my journal…..so you won’t hear them here! I do recall that they included some extremely highly thought of restaurants known by the chic across the world. Sorry…just didn’t get it down.
We arrived back at our home-away-from-home at about 5:15 PM – that’s about 7 hours of wine tasting. Fortunately, the Phillies game (World Series) was still on, so Lar sat himself in front of the TV in the gathering room and for dinner we imbibed in the wine and cheese and crackers, and then some tea and a sinful chocolate cake laid out in the dining room. We shared some time with a couple from Cape Town South Africa who own a vineyard there. I tried to remember the name, but all I recall is that it had been taken from a long Afrikaans name and shortened. No idea. Perhaps, when doing a wine tour it would be best to take along a tape recorder…not a pad and pen! They were nice people and the wife stumbled upon the fact that we have a dear friend in Cape Town so she spent a good deal of time convincing Lar that we do, actually, need to go there. It was funny, she sounded so much like Pat (friend in So. Africa) and she was using very much the same arguments Pat does. Who knows, that might make a good journal some day. (hint, Lar).
Thursday 5 Nov
Although I was fully expecting a morning headache, I felt great when I awoke. Breakfast featured granola, yogurt, fresh pineapple, and peach-and-cream cheese French toast and coffee. Then we packed up the car and were off to Buffalos to send some of the wine we had purchased, along with a box of clothing we would not need in Hawaii. We bought some stamps for our postcards, got them mailed and we were on the road – 29 South, under foreboding skies of grey storm clouds.
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