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[beancurdturtle]

It's not English stuff, but I did a weekend vacation to Napa Valley for wine tasting. I would have made some notes myself anyway for the memory, so I'll share the info with you.

My friend and I have been talking about a weekend escape to Napa Valley California for a wine tasting for nearly two years now. Well finally we made it happen.

I started the weekend with my plane stuck at the gate for 3 hours for a "security incident." 3 hours - and my flight was less than 50 minutes. Well, I made it up to San Jose California from Orange County California late, after 10:30pm. So my friend and I just chatted until the wee hours of the morning - then crashed.

The next morning we drove from San Jose to a resort in Napa Valley. We were picked up at 10:00am by the guide for the chauffeured tour, and off we went. Though my friend started the day thinking her favorite wines were Chardonnay (whites) and Pinot Noir, she ended the day with a much better understanding of wine appreciation - and a preference for Cabernet Sauvignon. While I already know my preference for Old Vine Zinfandel and big Cabernet Sauvignon wines.


The first stop was at the Andretti Family Winery:
http://www.andrettiwinery.com/

We split 2 tastings of 4 wines each, so we were able to taste all 8 of the Andretti wines.

Andretti 2005 Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc
2005 Andretti Napa Valley Chardonnay
Andretti 2005 Napa Valley Sangiovese
2004 Andretti Napa Valley Merlot
2004 Andretti Napa Valley Zinfandel-Primitivo Blend
Andretti 2003 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
Andretti 2004 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
Andretti 2005 Pinot Noir

All the wines were pretty good, but the standout for both of us was the 2004 Andretti Napa Valley Zinfandel-Primitivo Blend. It is really well done, complex, and well balanced - it is likely to age really well. I picked up two bottles of the Zinfandel-Primitivo Blend.


The next stop was at Reynolds Family Winery:
http://www.reynoldsfamilywinery.com/wines.html

We had a great tour of this winery by one of the family. we tried several wines, and the tour guide used a "wine thief" to give us a taste from un-blended barrels of a 2005 Cab and an un-blended 2003 Cab. In addition to the two thieved wines, we tasted all seven of the available wines.

Reynolds Family Napa Valley 2005 Chardonnay
Reynolds Family Stag's Leap District 2003 Merlot
Reynolds Family Napa Valley 2003 Persistence Blend
Reynolds Family Napa Valley 2003 Estate Select Cabernet Sauvignon
Reynolds Family Stag's Leap District 2003 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon
Reynolds Family 2003 Los Carneros Pinot Noir
Reynolds Family Russian River Valley Pinot Noir

At the end of a very enjoyable tour and tasting, my friend bought a half bottle each of the Persistence Blend and the 2003 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon. Both were the best in my opinion as well. But I just picked up one of the 2003 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon - I already had two bottles of a great blend. The 2003 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon is big and lush, with soft tannins. I doubt I'll be able to resist drinking it, but if I can it will age well for a few more years.


Stop number three was Clos du Val:
http://www.closduval.com/

Clos du Val is long known for doing Cabernet Sauvignon right. And there's no doubt they deliver after the tasting. We tried all five of the wines listed below.

2003 Carneros Chardonnay
2004 Carneros Pinot Noir
2003 Napa Valley Merlot
2003 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
2002 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

The Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Merlot were all respectable, though not standouts in my mind. The 2002 Cab was not well balanced, too high on the tannins. The 2003 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon was a very pleasant surprise - I picked up 2 bottles even though I'm a Zin fan.


Then it was about 12:30pm time to cross the valley to V. Sattui Winery:
http://www.vsattui.com/

Sattui has a really nice deli, a picnic area, a complimentary wine tasting bar, and a reserve tasting room ($25 for 6 wines). We picked up two really good sandwiches, a tomato and buffalo mozzarella salad, and some beautiful fire roasted and marinated artichoke hearts from Italy - picnic time. Then we went to the reserve tasting room. We actually ended up tasting seven wines for free, and buying 4 bottles - three for me and one for my friend.

2002 Prestige Cuv�e
2004 Carneros Chardonnay
2003 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
2004 Preston Vineyard Cabernet
2004 Howell Mountain Zinfandel
Madeira
1999 Port

My friend bought a bottle of the 2003 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. I bought a 2002 Prestige Cuv�e, sparkling wine for New Year's Eve; a 2004 Howell Mountain Zinfandel, a big beautiful Zin; and a lovely 1999 Port. I'll cellar the Port for a while before cracking it open. You can only buy Sattui direct from the winery (and their darn good wines), and the lunch was delicious. it's a great place to stop.


The last stop was at Domaine Chandon:
http://www.chandon.com/default.html

Now I have to admit, I was a little apprehensive about this stop. I'm not a fan of m�thode traditionnelle sparkling wines - except for celebrations - and Chandon doesn't do big red wines like I favor. But the tour was interesting, the tasting was six wines (3 sparkling and 3 still) and a brandy.

�toile Brut 2002
�toile Ros� 2001
Chandon Vintage Brut 1996
Domaine Chandon Chardonnay
Domaine Chandon Pinot Noir
Chandon Russian River Pinot Noir
Chandon Napa Valley Brandy

The sparkling wines were good if you like that kind of stuff. The still wines were respectable, well balanced and drinkable - but nothing got my attention. Well, at least until I tasted the Brandy. The brandy was very nice, great aroma, very smooth, and terrific taste of the grape - they only distilled brandy one year and only allowed purchasing one bottle. I bought one.

That concluded the wine tasting part of the trip. so we went back to the resort, and took a nice long afternoon nap. Then we woke at 7:00pm to freshen up and head to dinner.


Dinner was at Pilar Restaurant in downtown Napa:
http://www.pilarnapa.com/

I read up on Pilar before the trip and was impressed. The menu is interesting - and the review complaining about "small portions" didn't scare me. I prefer quantity over quality any time.

I had Mushroom Toast chanterelle, hen of the woods, blue oyster mushrooms on a fresh goat cheese crostini for starters. A Duck Breast with baby potatoes, grilled baby onions, and rutabaga for my Entr�e. I ended with coffee and vanilla bean Creme Brul�e.

My friend had a fresh green dinner salad for starters. Her Entr�e was a seared halibut and baby vegetables. And desert was a huckleberry crumble with a little vanilla ice cream.

Everything was cooked perfectly and the service was great. The portions were Euro sized, not huge American portions, but substantial enough we were both very well sated.

Back at the resort, we hung out a bit, then went to sleep. We slept in late, had a buffet breakfast, and drove towards the coast to Sausalito. Sausalito was nice for a stroll through a few galleries and a bit of lunch. Then a drive over the Golden Gate Bridge back to San Jose Airport, and the weekend was done.

A short flight, a couple hundred miles driving, and about $400 invested in wine - maybe I'm strange, but I think that's my kind of weekend. Now if I win the lottery I can do it every weekend.

Here's a few pics from my phone, and some of the wine in the case I took on the plane (some is shipped separately)...

My friend sitting in the "Stone Mushroom Garden" at Domain Chandon:


Me on the street in Sausalito:


Crossing the Golden Gate from the north:


Wine and Spirits home first (they were on the plane with me):










That's the end of my report!
_________________
Daniel

�Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.�
--Dr. Seuss

[simplyblessedwithlove]

A short flight, a couple hundred miles driving, and about $400 invested in wine - maybe I'm strange, but I think that's my kind of weekend. Now if I win the lottery I can do it every weekend.

No, you're not strange. Napa wine is one of the best wine in the world right now.
_________________
Len T.