A Trip to the Wine Country
Although I have been here numerous times I am
fascinated by this area on every visit. Located about an hour
north of San Francisco, this beautiful area with soft rolling hills
houses countless wineries and breweries.
Best known are Napa and the Napa Valley, but in fact the whole wine country
stretches from Russian River
at the Pacific Coast to Colano County, just North East of San Francisco.
We focused on Napa and Sonoma
Valley this time - so that we have enough reason to come back.
The guest house of the Beringer Vineyards,
which hosts a couple of wine tasting rooms and of course
a big shop with merchandise. My favourite of their wines is the 2001 Founder's
Estate Chardonnay.
Check this perfect geometry out. I bet the workers were
supposed to stay sober until this job was done.
Next the Niebaum-Coppola winery, another winery with style
that at the same time outputs
wine
in huge volumes. I don't know anything about their wines,
but the fact that Francis Ford Coppola
bought a stake in this winery makes it interesting. Plus, they have a very
nice restaurant in Palo Alto.
This is the wine
train passing through. The idea of slowly riding this train through
Napa Valley
while getting buzzed on good wine is tantalizing. Definitely something
that I have to try.
More champagne anyone? *g* Mumm produces quite some nice
sparkling wines, and they don't overcharge
you for tasting. You just need to get off the main street onto the Silverado
Trail to find their winery.
This is my all time favourite - the Sequoia Grove Winery,
not only for the wine but also for the guys
behind
the counter, where you will find not only the charming employees but also
the really nice owners. If you
want to have a good time, try their full selection and stay close to the
counter - you will find employees
of other wineries visiting, too. And if you want to have THE red wine for
next Christmas, get a bottle or
two of their 97 or 99 Cabernet-Sauvignon. It is out of this world.
And, as the day comes to an end, this is one of the outstanding places
to have dinner before going home.
The 'Tra Vigne' is
located on the main street between Yountville and Napa and features a very
tasty, though
never-changing menu and a huge wine list. If only I could help the feeling
that there is
some snottyness
in the air...
All we could do after this was to return to the Spa and jump into the hot
mineral bath, which finished us off.