Art & Wine

Wine tasting at the Hess Collection.
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Sunday, August 6

Sunday morning we pack up and pile into the Subaru for the approximately 2 hour drive to Napa.

Our first stop is The Hess Collection where art and wine are combined beautifully. Touring the gallery is free, but a four wine tasting is $10. We decide to share the tastings because the day is young and we fear falling down drunk and going broke.

Kim walks into Domaine Chandon.
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Trefethen Vineyards is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is the Napa’s only wooden, gravity flow winery. Kim and I have fond memories of a buttery Escol Chardonnay that the winery no longer makes. The Estate Chardonnay is crisper, probably steel fermented. We shared another $10 tasting of 4 wines. We were the only ones there, so the hostess gave us an extra tasting of the Estate Cabernet Franc that we liked enough to buy.

Barbara, our hostess at Cakebread.
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From here we head over to the Silverado Trail to visit Clos Du Val for French style offerings at a $5 tasting fee. It was amazing to see what happens when you open up a Cab in a decanter.

Our friend Brian used to work at Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars and years ago we got an amazing behind-the-scenes tour. No tour this year, but the wines are still very very good.

Mom at V. Sattui.
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We take the Yountville Cross to see if we can check in at the Napa Valley Lodge. It’s too early so we head across the street for a yummy lunch at the Napa Valley Grille. After lunch, our room still isn’t ready, so we drive to Domaine Chandon for champagne tasting.

On the terrace at Sterling.
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After the champagne, we’re done for the day and return to the Napa Valley Lodge to spend the rest of the afternoon hanging out at the pool.

Monday, August 7

After complimentary champagne breakfast at our hotel, we head north on HWY 29. Our first stop is Cakebread Cellars where a nice woman named Barbara takes on a private tasting tour ($10 plus the glass). Normally you’d have to have a reservation to do this, but we are there early enough, and a limo has failed to show, so we get a short tour of the grounds and winery and taste 5 wines amid the barrels. Mom, without her glasses, thinks the rich buttery Reserve Chardonnay is only $32, but when she purchases it, she discovers it’s really $52. It’s well worth the price though, and we enjoy it later that evening before dinner.

Next we visit V. Sattui Winery, more for the gourmet deli and grounds, than the wines. Six tastes for $5, but most of the wines are too sweet for my palate. The deli is awesome however, and we stock up on yummy gourmet goodies for a picnic lunch.

The only winery mom had on her must-see list was Sterling Vineyards for the tram ride to the top. The $15 weekday/$20 weekend tour includes the aerial tram ride, self-paced self guided tour and five wine tastings served while seated at your own table on a deck overlooking the valley. (Get a $5 off coupon on the website.)

Across the street is Clos Pegase which has an amazing collection of modern sculpture. We had our picnic lunch on a grassy spot near the parking lot here. Not the ideal location, but we were hungry.

Ali recommended Summers Villa Andriana Vineyardin Calistoga. They are known for their Charbo, which is already sold out, but we really liked the Chardonnay. This small winery had a bocce court in the back and a great view of the Old Faithful Geyser, one of only three in the world. We should have had our picnic here.

On the drive back down to our hotel we stopped in downtown Calistoga and took a walk around.

After lounging by the pool at our hotel again, we dressed for our 7:45PM dinner reservation at Bouchon. Thomas Keller, the master chef behind the French Laundry (which was closed during our visit, not that we could have gotten a reservation), teamed up with his brother to open this more casual French brasserie. The food was delicious. We all had one of the specials, the monk fish - the poor man’s lobster.