Wine, Vino, and some Alcoholic Grape Juice

French Oak, Wine Caves, and a Rapping Wine Server.

I've toured 4 amazing wine regions in Australia, traveled through the New Zealand Marlborough region, been on a Sideways tour in Santa Ynez Valley, tasted at some wineries in Temecula, and have even been to a wedding in the Willamette Valley of Oregon. With all of this cork popping, sniffing, pouring, and swirling, the one place I hadn't been to was the famous Napa Valley. My parents, being avid wine connoisseurs themselves, planned a trip up to Napa for 3 days. Needless to say, it didn't require much convincing and I agreed to pick them up at the San Francisco Airport to be their personal wine tasting chauffeur. I booked a very nice hotel called The Meritage Resort, which was right on the south side of the city of Napa. The resort had it's own wine cave, spa, restaurant, and shuttles into town. We had dinner at a nice local Mexican restaurant called El Potrillo. After this tasty meal, we played a quick game of cards and then headed off to bed. Tomorrow was going to be a long day of drinking. With over 300 wineries in the Napa Valley area, we weren't going to have any trouble finding a glass.


Day 1: The Wine Bus Tour

We ate a quick breakfast at our resort and waited for out shuttle to pick us up. Today we were going to be traveling around on a Platypus Wine Tour. Today was our day to fully indulge at the 4 various vineyards. Although the $10 tasting fees weren't included, for $75, the transportation and lunch was well worth not driving tipsy. Driving after wine tasting is never a good idea, so this was the easiest and safest way to do it. The wine company was going to take us to 4 vineyards today depending on the location of the group, the schedules, and just what was good this time of year. Our guide, Valerie, was energetic, informative, and fun. We picked up more people to a total of 12 and crammed into this limo-van type vehicle that probably would have been more comfortable with only 10. Platypus specialized in the smaller, family owned vineyards, which was exactly what we were looking for. Our first stop was Casa Nuestra. Their small tasting room was filled with Elvis memorabilia, wine awards, wine merchandise, and a friendly staff. Their wines were all excellent, and you'll have to forgive me as I didn't take notes, so nothing too specific will be listed on this blog. They had an outside fenced off area for some goats, that my dad quickly found out had a liking for fallen acorns. One of the three friendly family dogs ran around the property, which could even been seen featured on one of their wine labels. A neat old rusty labeling machine lay outside letting visitors know, although they were small, they'd been there since 1979.

Our next stop was at Arger-Martucci Vineyards. This pleasant family property included many autumn colored trees around a patio and pool, where we ate lunch. There was a small kitchen and wine making facility, which was all surrounded by the wonderful grape vineyards and some olive trees. We were privately served by one of there tasters and given a full run down of their wines. The highlight of there selection was an amazing red blend called Odyssey. We even had a wine paired with dark chocolate Hersey kisses, "bite, sip, bite" I think was the order we were supposed to follow. After a nice sized turkey sandwich, pasta salad, and assorted dessert lunch, we were off to our next vineyard. So far, we were definitely not regretting our decision to use this company and take a guided tour.

Our 3rd stop was at a very nice hillside vineyard called Baldacci. Here we took a very interesting and informative tour through a wine cave. The storage of wine underground offers the benefits of energy efficiency and optimum use of limited land area. The humid conditions make it an ideal location for the lack of evaporation for their barrel storage. One thing we learned while down there, was that different oak barrels are toasted or charred on the inside in different degrees. They can be ordered as light, medium, or heavily toasted. This flame charred technique gives certain wines their oak or spicy flavor and in some instances even removes color. This type of barrel and the duration of storage during fermentation is all up to the winemaker's prerogative and experimentation to achieve the perfect wine.

After a quick stop at a coffee shop to awaken everyone from their mid afternoon food comas, and the contributing glasses of wine, we headed to our 4th and final winery. Jessup Cellars, is a small tasting room centrally located in the city of Yountville. Although I got a little preoccupied with taking photos here, I did enjoy the wines but don't really remember anything special. After the wine, my father and I wandered over to the neighboring photo gallery and saw some amazing pieces by a man named Brian Oglesbee. These unique photos were taken underwater in special lit tanks topped with hundreds of bubbles making crazy reflections and patterns. This Aquatique series was definitely something that got me thinking about my own photography and what I wanted to focus on in the future. After walking around the gallery and talking to the owner, we got back on the bus and headed back to our hotel.

That night we ate at a wonderful restaurant called Fumé. This place had a great atmosphere with a well stocked bar in the front. They even had an outside fire pit for warming up or tasting another glass of wine as well as a great menu with some excellent selections. With a delicious salad and artichoke appetizer, we sat and talked about our favorite vineyards and wines of the day until our meals arrived. I had a perfectly seasoned fish dish with a very interesting spinach like vegetable side. We unfortunately watched our Colorado Rockies lose on TV in the bar, but still enjoyed our dinner. I would definitely recommend this place as the service was great, the food was tasty, and the environment was friendly.


Day 2: Our Own Drunken Tour

Today, we started light and drove ourselves to a well known international known vineyard called Domain Chandon. As you drive up into their property, you pass sculptures, rock gardens, fountains and ponds, all among a forest of trees and vineyards. This is definitely not your typical vineyard as we walked up towards their entrance through a mushroom statue rock garden. Through their salon of merchandise, past a row of bottles and large group beginning their $30 tour, we headed into the tasting room to grab our first glass of sparkling wine for the morning. Domain Chandon is famous for their French counterpart Moet et Chandon, one of the world's largest Champagne producers. As we tasted and sniffed, we agreed that this a good idea to start here with something light and fruity. The Blanc de Noirs, Rosé, and the Reserve Pinot Brut's were a good start to a long day of drinking. All had their good qualities, even their flagship étoile Brut was nice, but I was still craving more, less bubbly wines.

After a stop in their mandatory merchandising scene, we headed off to our 1PM reservation that I had made earlier in the week at Cakebread Cellars. Cakebread Cellars is the maker of my favorite Chardonnay, one that a friend of mine introduced me to many years ago. Since then, I've always wanted to tour the vineyard and try their other wines. So here we were, reservations and all, signing up for the small personalized tour, holding our introductory glass of Pinot Grigio and waiting for our guide to appear. Our guide took us into a back dining room with a large table and small wine bar off to the side. With each new wine variety, he also gave us recipes and pairing advice. This truly was a great idea making a 45 minute tour into a dining room setting, in small groups, with recipes, and all accompanied by great wines. I have to admit, the pours were a little large as I started to feel like lunch needed to come sooner then later.

With another restaurant recommendation by my trusted Napa dining guru Allison, we headed off to the Rutherford Grill. With a moderate wait, we sat outside in the sun near their patio where diners were enjoying their meals away from the indoor chaos. When we were finally seated, we ordered an appetizer that sounded unique, even for Napa Valley. It was fresh homemade potato chips topped with melted chunks of Blue Cheese. While I sit here writing about it, I have a sudden urge to go find blue cheese in my house and melt some on a pile of Lays potato chips. However, I am missing the necessary accoutremon to fulfill this craving, so I'll move on to my meal. I got the BBQ ribs. Why? Well because they sounded good, were definitely good, and were definitely HUGE! These things could have fed a family of 4. And of course, I finished them off myself due to historical love for BBQ ribs and proceeded to suggest more wine to wash it down. With this hint, we headed out from this delightful recommendation and marked it on my "need to dine again" list. If you're in Rutherford, north of Napa, don't hesitate to try it, but be prepared to wait a bit.

Thinking we could never top the Cakebread Cellars, we headed to a nearby vineyard with interesting sycamore trees arched over the entire length of the road. Peju was a winery that I hadn't heard of, but with over 300 wineries in the area, that's not surprising. We walked through the garden and interesting sculptures and ran into a host inviting us to come inside as they were getting ready to start a new tasting session. Here, they do them in organized groups, instead of just wandering up to a bar and jumping in the middle of the lineup. So we headed through yet another pro shop of wine accessories, t-shirts, and wine blended sauces and headed into a surprising large side attachment. A high ceiling in this "tasting tower" like room had two wine bars opposite of each other. We slid up to the bar and were greeted by Alan, an older man with white hair, tie, and more enthusiasm for wine them most vineyards have grapes. This was definitely the most entertaining wine experience I've ever had. And guess what, the wine was also amazing! While Alan rhymed with his white wines and rapped with the reds, he plugged merchandise and shot off information about the vineyard, proving that he was a veteran of this place. If you're going to Napa, don't miss this winery. It is now my mother's favorite due to the environment, the quality of the wine, and the entertainment. If you'd like to see Alan in action, click here, he was recorded on Wino Wednesday's on 103.1FM and the video is posted to YouTube.

Our next to last stop was Diamond Oaks Winery. This winery sat on top of a hill towards Sonoma and had a nice large tasting room that was luckily very empty when we arrived. My parents had once been here before when it was the Mondavi's La Famiglia Winery. As the day was coming to a close, we all decided just to split one tasting. The highlight at this place was a Cabernet Sauvignon that I had to purchase and take home to try with a nice, big, juicy steak. Driving over the hills and into Sonoma for a quick look, we happened upon a winery that seemed like it had a little more then just wine. B.R. Cohn Winery was surrounded by vineyards, olive trees, and persimmon trees. This old plantation style vineyard even had an old Woodie surf wagon, apparently preserved by it's car loving owner. Browsing the gift shop, I picked up a Herb, Balsamic & Olive Oil dipping sauce, finally getting something other then wine. We quickly walked through the tasting room but did not taste. Our wine buds were pretty exhausted by this point, so we jumped in the car and headed out of the wine country under a pleasantly fulfilled sunset.


End Notes: Wine Hangovers?

We visited familiar wineries we loved and fell in love with new ones. With more wine knowledge in our brains and red stained tongues in out mouths, I can see why this is the top rated wine region of the United States. The diversity of wines, wineries, and wine tasters is apparent. For any wine lover who might be driving through the region, I send you these finals thoughts. 1. Take a wine bus tour, they're easy and safe. 2. Go to some wineries that you've heard of and love while still trying some new ones, you never know what you'll find. 3. Listen, ask questions, and don't feel obligated to purchase any wines at any vineyard. Just because you're there and tasting wines, doesn't mean you should be buying a bad wine out of some hidden courtesy. 4. If you really enjoy a winery and all the wines they have to offer, join a wine club. In the end, if you're buying a lot of wine from them, you'll save money.

I hope you enjoyed my wine ramblings and photos from someone who used to drink Franzia out of the box. With 10 out of 300 wineries visited, future trips are a must.


I dropped my parents off at the San Francisco Airport and waited for my friend Jay to arrive. With a long Halloween weekend, Jay and I were going to be typical tourists of San Francisco and see all the things I don't remember from when I was 10. UP NEXT: The City by the Bay

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