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Published: July 25th 2009
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In an effort to take full advantage of our adventure, we headed to Napa and Sonoma crossing possibly the worst road in California, Mountain View Road. Arriving safely at the Good Nite Inn (hey, we are poor grad students) 20 minutes outside of Sonoma, we were afforded a pool day and a chance to remedy our cycling clothes/farmer tan. The next day, bright and early at 11am, we headed to Napa Valley, CA to see what destiny had in store for us. We had decided to cycle in Sonoma not Napa due to the crowds and less than ideal roads. Napa, for those who have not yet had the chance to visit, is the Disney of Wine Country. Very very touristy and very little about the wine. Eric being a wino (wine snob) was greatly disappointed in everything but the grape juice. Caleb and Alex had a great day of learning about wines to truly appreciate the following day in Sonoma.
The day began with an impromptu visit at Stags Leap with the conclusion that one should skip it if possible on future visits. The next stop: ZD vineyards would have been the ideal beginning stop as they walked us
through the tasting and different varietals. Above average wines but nothing worth purchasing knowing that the heat in the Fit would be a gamble at best. The third stop of the day was Mumm's of Napa. Eric decided the trio should experience the bubblier side of life and ordered a full tasting (12 varietals of sparkling white, with the heavy emphasis by the server of the SAME EXACT, his tone almost deafening, method of wine making as champagne but not in France). Most were very tasty, and for some unknown reason improved with drinking of more wine.
The final two visits of the day included the small, yet very crowded V. Sattui (because they are direct to consumer vineyard only) and V. Sattui's new castle vineyard, Castello Di Amorosa. V. Sattui was simply a tasting room but yielded 2 purchases of wine and according to Caleb, one very good cheese. Purchased were a 2007 Muscat and a non-vintage, due to vertical blending Madeira. For non-sweet wine drinkers, two dessert-ish wines were very surprising first purchases. The castle was an incredible tour, including a barrel tasting, and Eric purchased (after debasing Rose wine all trip) a Rose, the 2008 Fantasia)
due as he said, its unique compliment and structure for a Rose.
Lunch the first day, and dinner Napa Day were provided by Mommy Shiroma's generous gift of Gift Cards at Chili's and Outback and was greatly appreciated.
Sonoma day was an incredible day! The trio decided after great thought and weighing of the options to not bike (mostly due to heat and wine) in Sonoma and simply enjoy the experience. Sonoma is how wine country should be! A quick stop in the visitor center provided a map and a few coupons for free tastings at coincidentally the vineyards the team had picked. The first stop of the day was at St. Francis vineyards, known for their bigger reds, especially their Zinfandels. Each of the team members started with a different flight of the tastings: Eric did the Zinfandels, Caleb the Classic Tasting (the stuff you can get at Total Wine), and Alex finished with Reserves. The wines of note include the entire Reserve Zin list, and Alex thoroughly enjoyed the Petite Syrah Reserve, however, none of the wines inspired purchase. The second and possibly the most serendipitous stop of the day was VJB, at the recommendation of the manager at St. Francis. The members were afforded tastings of some great Italian varietals, including a Barbosa and a Sangiovesse. They also had a great Cabernet and an excellent White Port, although the manager insisted Eric wait until next year to purchase the cab because it would be a better vintage. The manager also warned against buying too much wine (while reminding us that they shipped anywhere in the US) because it was so hot outside. As we are quick studies, we asked the manager at VJB which stops should finish our day. He recommended Imagery, Arrowood (which was already on our list), and to end at Jacuzzi. Imagery was a nice tasting room with many choices, but nothing show stopping. Also it was the only vineyard that charged us for our tasting that day. Arrowood was a great experience. Minimal crowd and a very attentive manager (we were given names of managers by previously visited managers at other vineyards to ask for) made a great experience with more than the normal canned responses to our tasting questions. We were also given the industry discount as we had discussed our FnB jobs as we were talking about selling points for each of the wines and pairings. We purchased the 2005 Alary Chardonnay and the 2004 Saralee vineyard Syrah from the Russian River Valley. Our final stop of the day was the newly finished castle in Sonoma constructed by the Jacuzzi family. The Jacuzzi family, as one might have guessed, acquired their fortune by designing the first jetted tub, known as a Jacuzzi tub. Lagrein 2006 and Nero D'Avola 2007 rounded out the wine purchases as well as two EVOs pressed on site, the Lime and Blood Orange EVO.
We had a great time in Napa and Sonoma, but found Sonoma to be a better experience due to less crowd and more engaged winemakers. If you are ever in the area, you should stop by the visitors center for your map, grab a few coupons for free tastings, and make sure you ask each winemaker where they would recommend you visit. This proved to be the best way for us to really experience the area and get insider information. Next stop, San Francisco for the Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Midnight Premier!
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