April 8, 2008
I took a birthday trip to Napa Valley. It was fantastic – essentially a perfect trip.
April 2 I arrived at SFO. It took forever to get bags and get to rental car. A coworker loaned me her Tom Tom GPS, which was awesome. I went to Mumm Napa and sat on the terrace and had sparkling wine. I tasted several different sparkling wines. I was headed to the hotel, but then decided to make the most of the time before the wineries closed. But I had to get some food on my stomach. I stopped and got a sandwich at Soda Creek Canyon Store. A little store with a deli in the back. I then went to Domaine Chandon, which I ultimately would do each day of my time in Napa. I just love bubbly! At Domaine Chandon, I took the tour. My guide had been my pourer in the tasting room, Meredith. I thought Meredith was snooty or cold at first, but I ultimately decided she just doesn’t not have a dynamic personality. I finally checked into the hotel. Three of my wonderful girlfriends had sent me a basket of goodies – wine, sweets and a beautiful Napa Valley photo book. So sweet! The hotel was very nice. I inadvertently dozed a bit on my couch, then woke up and dined at Zuzu, a tapas restaurant. I was the last customer in the joint, but got to visit with the owner. The soup was fine, but the fried manchego was delish! What’s not to like about fried cheese, right? I slept (though stuck on Dallas time) and headed out at 10 the next morning for my tour via Napa Winery Shuttle and its driver, Karl.
There were 10 of us on the van in addition to Karl – two ladies from New Zealand, a couple celebrating the girls’ 21st birthday, a couple from Queens, a rather strange couple from which the guy used to live in Dallas (the girl was the creepy one), Veronique and me. Veronique had not intended to be traveling alone. Her ex-boyfriend originally was to come with her. They broke up. Then all her friends flaked out on the trip. We ended up palling around all day, which worked out great. Karl had lots of 2-for-1 tasting coupons, or various discounts for us. First we went to Sterling, the farthest north, almost to Calistoga. To get to the winery, you take a little 2-person gondola up the hillside. The view from the top is fantastic. The wines were not spectacular. But we really enjoyed one white. I had never heard of the varietal, and can’t recall it now. It started with an M. Then we went to V. Sattui, a winery that sells its wines only at its winery. Vittorio Sattui has built himself a castle on the hillside that can be seen across from Sterling. My friend Larry has been there for a charity event. Apparently it has a dungeon. Creepy. We tasted at V. Sattui before we ate, which may not have been a great idea. We definitely needed food on our stomachs by the time we ate. Then we got back on the van and went to Hagafen, a tiny winery that makes Kosher, organic wines. The wine guy was very cute. The wines were nothing special to me. Then we went to Black Stallion then Andretti Winery. Black Stallion is a new winery. The tasting room opened last fall. Andretti was a lot of fun, primarily because of the guy working the tasting room crowd. The winery is owned in part by Mario Andretti. It also had a cute gift shop. Their whites were very nice. I did not taste reds there. You definitely learn to pour out wines you don’t really like, because there are many more to be tasted. As a last stop, we went to Domaine Chandon. On this stop, I broke down and joined the club. Meredith assisted again. That was the last winery stop of the day.
I had a 7:30 dinner reservation with Larry that night. Earlier in the day, Larry sent me this sweet, neurotic email. Apparently he has started dating someone seriously and was concerned about expectations for the evening. That took the pressure off b/c I was kind of nervous too. I told him I had shaved my legs just in case, just to harass him. We had a great dinner and great conversation at Fume’ Bistro. My suspicion that everyone on the planet cheats is again confirmed.
April 4, 2008 was my 40th birthday. A distributer back home had hooked me up with some complimentary tours and tastings for two, so I asked Veronique to join me. We were at Markham at 10:30 a.m. Gregory in the tasting room was lots of fun to talk to, and we lost track of time a bit. We made it to Rutherford Hill about 10 minutes late, and caught up with the tour. We got to go in the caves – really neat. We really enjoyed the tasting there with Chris, and each bought some wine. I even liked and bought port! I called Chimney Rock and cancelled because we just could not make it. We were very hungry. But we stopped at Mumm to return my tiny size XL t-shirts and had another tasting. Then it was off to lunch at Domaine Chandon – and why not since I am a member and get a discount there. By this point, Meredith probably thinks I am a stalker. Then I HAD to get on the road.
I stopped and visited our new northern Cali office. Then drove into SF to see Michelle. She and I walked and took the train down to the Ferry Building where we had a fantastic dinner at The Slanted Door. Yum! It was very noisy, but very good. Riesling was the perfect match for the Vietnamese food.
The next day, she and I just had breakfast and went down to Chinatown and did some shopping. It’s always good and easy to spend time with Michelle. I got to the airport early. The worst think that happened the whole trip is that my flight was about 30 minutes delayed leaving SFO. Big deal, huh? Larry got me a funny book for my b’day and I almost finished it Saturday. I did finish it Sunday.
The weather was amazing the entire time. All in all, a wonderful trip. I had a meltdown around the beginning of the week. By the time of my trip I was fine and I am no longer freaked out by 40.
I took a birthday trip to Napa Valley. It was fantastic – essentially a perfect trip.
April 2 I arrived at SFO. It took forever to get bags and get to rental car. A coworker loaned me her Tom Tom GPS, which was awesome. I went to Mumm Napa and sat on the terrace and had sparkling wine. I tasted several different sparkling wines. I was headed to the hotel, but then decided to make the most of the time before the wineries closed. But I had to get some food on my stomach. I stopped and got a sandwich at Soda Creek Canyon Store. A little store with a deli in the back. I then went to Domaine Chandon, which I ultimately would do each day of my time in Napa. I just love bubbly! At Domaine Chandon, I took the tour. My guide had been my pourer in the tasting room, Meredith. I thought Meredith was snooty or cold at first, but I ultimately decided she just doesn’t not have a dynamic personality. I finally checked into the hotel. Three of my wonderful girlfriends had sent me a basket of goodies – wine, sweets and a beautiful Napa Valley photo book. So sweet! The hotel was very nice. I inadvertently dozed a bit on my couch, then woke up and dined at Zuzu, a tapas restaurant. I was the last customer in the joint, but got to visit with the owner. The soup was fine, but the fried manchego was delish! What’s not to like about fried cheese, right? I slept (though stuck on Dallas time) and headed out at 10 the next morning for my tour via Napa Winery Shuttle and its driver, Karl.
There were 10 of us on the van in addition to Karl – two ladies from New Zealand, a couple celebrating the girls’ 21st birthday, a couple from Queens, a rather strange couple from which the guy used to live in Dallas (the girl was the creepy one), Veronique and me. Veronique had not intended to be traveling alone. Her ex-boyfriend originally was to come with her. They broke up. Then all her friends flaked out on the trip. We ended up palling around all day, which worked out great. Karl had lots of 2-for-1 tasting coupons, or various discounts for us. First we went to Sterling, the farthest north, almost to Calistoga. To get to the winery, you take a little 2-person gondola up the hillside. The view from the top is fantastic. The wines were not spectacular. But we really enjoyed one white. I had never heard of the varietal, and can’t recall it now. It started with an M. Then we went to V. Sattui, a winery that sells its wines only at its winery. Vittorio Sattui has built himself a castle on the hillside that can be seen across from Sterling. My friend Larry has been there for a charity event. Apparently it has a dungeon. Creepy. We tasted at V. Sattui before we ate, which may not have been a great idea. We definitely needed food on our stomachs by the time we ate. Then we got back on the van and went to Hagafen, a tiny winery that makes Kosher, organic wines. The wine guy was very cute. The wines were nothing special to me. Then we went to Black Stallion then Andretti Winery. Black Stallion is a new winery. The tasting room opened last fall. Andretti was a lot of fun, primarily because of the guy working the tasting room crowd. The winery is owned in part by Mario Andretti. It also had a cute gift shop. Their whites were very nice. I did not taste reds there. You definitely learn to pour out wines you don’t really like, because there are many more to be tasted. As a last stop, we went to Domaine Chandon. On this stop, I broke down and joined the club. Meredith assisted again. That was the last winery stop of the day.
I had a 7:30 dinner reservation with Larry that night. Earlier in the day, Larry sent me this sweet, neurotic email. Apparently he has started dating someone seriously and was concerned about expectations for the evening. That took the pressure off b/c I was kind of nervous too. I told him I had shaved my legs just in case, just to harass him. We had a great dinner and great conversation at Fume’ Bistro. My suspicion that everyone on the planet cheats is again confirmed.
April 4, 2008 was my 40th birthday. A distributer back home had hooked me up with some complimentary tours and tastings for two, so I asked Veronique to join me. We were at Markham at 10:30 a.m. Gregory in the tasting room was lots of fun to talk to, and we lost track of time a bit. We made it to Rutherford Hill about 10 minutes late, and caught up with the tour. We got to go in the caves – really neat. We really enjoyed the tasting there with Chris, and each bought some wine. I even liked and bought port! I called Chimney Rock and cancelled because we just could not make it. We were very hungry. But we stopped at Mumm to return my tiny size XL t-shirts and had another tasting. Then it was off to lunch at Domaine Chandon – and why not since I am a member and get a discount there. By this point, Meredith probably thinks I am a stalker. Then I HAD to get on the road.
I stopped and visited our new northern Cali office. Then drove into SF to see Michelle. She and I walked and took the train down to the Ferry Building where we had a fantastic dinner at The Slanted Door. Yum! It was very noisy, but very good. Riesling was the perfect match for the Vietnamese food.
The next day, she and I just had breakfast and went down to Chinatown and did some shopping. It’s always good and easy to spend time with Michelle. I got to the airport early. The worst think that happened the whole trip is that my flight was about 30 minutes delayed leaving SFO. Big deal, huh? Larry got me a funny book for my b’day and I almost finished it Saturday. I did finish it Sunday.
The weather was amazing the entire time. All in all, a wonderful trip. I had a meltdown around the beginning of the week. By the time of my trip I was fine and I am no longer freaked out by 40.
No comments:
Post a Comment