Hi Eve,
We had a fantastic time in the Napa area this past week.
We started out driving north of Santa Rosa to Healdsburg and spent 2 nights there. Wonderful wineries very close by, and small cozy ones, not as many of the large commercial types that are in Napa Valley.
We went to several new wineries, Limerick Lane to satisfy the Irish in me, Armida simply because his ad was so comical. And the wines were great, especially Poizon, which can be purchased in a wooden coffin, style box, and then of course they have a small bottle to go with it called Antidote. We also bought a fancy etched bottle of Poizon.
We also went to Longboard, La Crema, Korbel (for some wonderful dark pink Champagne) and Benziger for their great Pinot Noir, and their wonderful gift shop, St. Francis, Gary Farrell, C. Donatiello. Then we drove 15 miles to Armstrong Woods and saw 600 year-old redwoods, a fantastic voyage.
We headed to Napa on Friday morning, stopping at Truett Hurst, Ferrari-Carano (fantastic place, a real castle and bought a 5 L bottle of Merlot), Chateau Montelena (from Bottle Shock) Folie a Dieu, V. Sattui (bought futures), Mondavi, Peju, and St. Supery.
Our final full day was Valentines Day which we started out at Del Dotto Caves (the newer one) for the tour which was $50 (barrel tasting) the gentleman you gave me the name of was leaving for out of the country on Saturday, so we had a guide named Ed, very nice lad.
Then we tasted at Martini, Beringer, the Culinary Institute, Franciscan, Alpha & Omega, and Black Stallion. We tried Silver Oak but they were not open. (They are NEVER open when I try to go there and I love their cab.)
As far as meals we found a good eatery: Healdsburg Bar and Grill in Healdsburg of course, Murphy’s in Sonoma and Trancas Steakhouse in Napa.
We have now added several cases of wines to our inventory – now almost at 450 bottles, but this time stayed with the more reasonably priced ones.
The trip was really great and we saw some fantastic new wineries and visited many of our old favorites.
Didn’t get a chance to get to Sterling or to stop by Opus One this trip, oh well, next year here we come!
That’s it for my Napa update, and I’m sure I’ve forgotten something.
Susie Q
