Category: Wine, Beer, & Liquor

Previously … 

Saturday morning came far too soon … largely because we were getting up far too early. I’d arranged for us to go ballooning in Napa Valley this morning, just as we’d done on our last trip, 14 years ago. Margie was tickled pink.

Problem #1: We have to meet there at 5:30a. The locals said it was an hour and a half; Sheila suggested a bit over an hour. So that means we should leave, comfortably, at 4:15a. Problem: We set our alarm for 4:15, and left at 4:30. So we’re already running late. 

Problem #2: It’s a very dark and winding road from the Alexander Valley to Napa (CA 128). Making up speed is not easy, esp. not knowing fully where we’re going (though Sheila did, and we knew in general, but we certainly didn’t know the road).

Problem #3: The “fill ‘er up” light came on the dashboard as soon as I started the car. Less than an eighth of a tank. And, it being 4:30a, there’s certainly nothing open in Geyserville. Will there be something open in Calistoga … and will our heroes make it? Or will they run out of gas on a pitch-black mountain road, in the middle of the pre-dawn dark, missing their already-committed balloon ride and probably out of cell phone range to boot?

Short story — we (a) found gas at a blessed Arco station in Calistoga, and (b) made it to the Red Hen Cantina, where Napa Valley Balloons gathered up their passengers.

We had a very nice continental breakfast and briefing, then hopped into our vans to the launch point. It was a beeyooteeful day, not a cloud in the sky nor a patch of fog on the ground. We had a nice breeze in the sky once our balloon (one of three NVB was putting up that morning) took off, and we ended up sailing down from Yountsville down to the southern tip of Napa, on a baseball diamond by the tidal estuaries, able to see everything from the valley behind to the glitter-above-the-fog towers of San Francisco. Then, after the balloon was being put away by the chase crew, our pilot, Gabe, drove us back to the Cantina for mimosas and a nicely made breakfast buffet.

The whole experience — including optional photographer — was not cheap, and it was certainly not convenient, but it was very well done, and, once we were in the air, all the hassles of the early morning just melted away.

We headed out from the Cantina at 9:30a or so. Too early for pretty much any wineries on the Napa side to be open — and, truth be told, that wasn’t a huge loss to my mind. I like being able to go to someplace that’s interested in winemaking, go into a simple tasting room, chat with the wine maker (or maybe a family member of same) about the wines being poured, and make a connection. There’s a lot of that in Paso Robles, and over in Dry Creek Valley. Napa, on the other hand, is Vegas Vineyards, with each winery trying to outdo the other in the architectural magnificence and trendy artistry of their tasting rooms. I’d rather be paying a high price for the wine maker having taken out a loan to buy some new acreage, than to pay for marble-clad fountains and fine art on the walls.

But that’s just me.

So we scooted over to Calistoga, bought some coffee at the local coffee joint, and wandered a bit. Then we got in the car and headed over the hill on 128 toward the Alexander Valley.

Alexander Valley Vineyards , aptly named (actually the farm owned by Cyrus Alexander who gave his name to the valley), was the first place we stopped. They are most famous, perhaps, for their “Sin Zin,” but they also have an interesting tryptich of wines (Temptation, Sin, Redemption) that may not have been all that great, but made for a fun t-shirt. We picked up a couple of bottles for gifts. Wine tasting was free for some, a nominal fee for others, and the staff was very friendly and helpful. Recommended.

Sausal focuses on estate-grown Zins, and they have some very good stuff. Tasting staff was friendly, and they’re on our list to follow up on at a later date. 

We stopped at the B&B, unloaded wine, changed into shorts, and forged on back into Dry Creek, dodging bicycles at some big race going on everywhere we drove.

We had passed by Yoakim Bridge the day before, but stopped in today. Aside from having eclectic music, and serving meatballs with a yummy Zin sauce, they also have some very nice Zins. Chatted with the husband and wife owners (who were manning the counter), which, again, is just one of the coolest things about Dry Creek. Well recommended.

Talty is another place just like it (and right next door). The owner/winemaker was right there, just open, serving up his two still-in-stock Zins, and open to a casual chit-chat. Good stuff, well recommended.

Family Wineries is an odd beast, basically a show room for six Dry Creek small wineries that can’t afford (or can’t get their neighbors permission for) a showroom. The result is a bit of the country store amateur hour. The wines were, mostly, so-so; the counter pitch was friendly but a bit too salesly; the show room was full of other bits of food and drink and tschochkes. And there was not shade to park in anywhere to be seen (a grave sin that too many wineries commit). We bought some from the plethora they generously offered for tasting, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to go back. (Because of the sun and parking, we did not visit the other wineries in the same little complex.)

Ah, but for shade, and a place for a well-needed lunch break, there’s Dry Creek . One of the earliest major denizens of the valley (opening in 1972), they are always a solidly good, if rarely spectacular, winery — and they have very nice and shady grounds to picnic on. Tasting service was friendly and generous.

Quivira was someplace we visited last time around, and they have a rather striking HQ/tasting room. We were so-so on their wines then, but they’re one of the big new proponents of “biodynamics,” which looks to be a cross between Feng Shui and Homeopathy for viticulture. It hasn’t really made their wine much better (though it’s not bad). The tasting room help was friendly, slick, and pushing the wine club by the second sentence out of his mouth. 

The flip side to that was Teldeschi, which had a small little fluorescent-lit office in the side of the warehouse for tasting, a quirky guy doing the pourings, a fairly disorganized tasting list, and big, fruity, full-bodied wines of all types, including a Petite Sirah that Margie likes. Pigs were also seen flying overhead. We bought some bottles, and will be looking forward to trying them at home.

Wilson had a number of award-winning Zins. Reasonable tastings, good taste, friendly staff. Recommended.

I was beyond wined out at this point (we were a bit off our rhythm from the day before, and it had been a long day regardless), so we headed back to the B&B. It was a warm day, so we changed into our swim suits and hung out by the pool, dipping in to cool off (when we exited) and reading. I took a little nap. It was very slow, and very mellow, and just what the doctor ordered.

Had a nice chat with Cosette, the owner of the Hope-Merrill B&B, and realized something about here. Duh, she’s from New York. Which means she’s forthright about her opinions to the point of what some might consider off-putting or rudeness, she does what she can to run a good, successful business, and she’s concerned about you for your own good. She’s also source of a wealth of knowledge about the area, and we’re lucky to have had the chance to visit with her, and her husband, on this stay. Based on our experiences, esp. today, I highly recommend this place.

We headed out about 6:30p down to Healdsburg to eat at the Bear Republic again — this time to drink some of their homebrew beers. Food and drink was good, tasty, of good materials, and worth the trip — not to mention a lot more reasonable than a lot of other alternatives. Stuffed, we rolled home.

Where we spent the next hour or so running around doing preliminary packing and car loading. We check out tomorrow, immediately after breakfast, and hightail it down to Monterrey to meet up with the Ks and Katherine. Yay!

It’s been a lot of fun doing this trip, and some good together-time with Margie. Still, only a bit sorry to see it drawing to a close, as we shift into the next chapter of this little adventure. And more on how that’s going (I hope) tomorrow.

(It’s unclear what Wi-Fi I’ll actually have over the next week. You’ll know when I do.) 

Previously …

We slept great; we had the windows open because of the daytime heat, and the ceiling fan, but the evening cool snuck in and made things nice and comfortable.

Awoke slightly before the alarm when an IM came in (note to self: mute phone at night.)

Got up, and headed down for breakfast. The breakfast at Hope-Merrill House is a one-sitting affair at 9 a.m., but the food was plentiful and wonderful. We had about a dozen folks around the table, including a quartet of ladies from the Netherlands, a couple from Boston, and a couple from Ohio.

As breakfast wound down, Cosette, the hostess, came in and gave us our wine-tasting touring lecture, which can be summed up as, “Don’t go to the large, flashy, big-name places you can get at your local supermarket. Go to the small, interested, interesting, limited bottling-size places that care about their craft and that you can’t find anywhere else.” It took about an hour of (interesting) conversation for that lesson to be completed, but it was a worthwhile one.

Fortunately, the majority of places we’d already penciled in to visit were on her short list of good places to go, so obviously we were in sync.

And so we set out.

Unti is listed as open by appointment only, which seems to be winery for “We really don’t want to pay someone to stand in the tasting room waiting for folks to show up, but if you’re interested we’d be glad to have you visit.” Margie, bless ‘er, took point on calling a few places up for appointments, which was quite nice of her, and got us to some good places.

I can summarize Unti by saying it’s like Tablas Creek, wine-wise, while still being small and non-commercial (if clearly dedicated to their wines and to presenting them well). Lots of GSMs and other yummies, and while we didn’t join their wine club (on my short list), we did buy some bottles. Tasting was, I believe, complementary, and the staff was friendly and helpful. And, as I said, very tasty wine. Highly recommended.

Dutcher Crossing was our next stop, back up toward the top of Dry Creek Canyon (just a hop away from glamorous Ferrari-Carrano). Tasting was either complementary or a nominal fee. It’s a new tasting room, with a nice view. Wines were nice but undistinguished; I think we bought a bottle of something. The tasting lady was very pleasant — and, in fact, moved out there from Centennial a few months ago (she stared at me when I gave my zip code, which sparked the conversation).

Heading back down the valley, David Coffaro specializes in Zin and had some decent bottles — though the pricing was much more reasonable with an end-of-vintage 40% off sale going on. They do some interesting things with Tannat there, though the tasting was marred slightly by a coffee roasting incident. Tasting was a nominal fee, I believe, and the tasting help was politely convivial.

We crossed the valley and drove up to Bella , which is recommended in some books and pooh-poohed in others. They have a fairly unique tasting room inside of their cellaring cave in a hillside, but the whole thing felt like it was more show than go. Tasting was the normal $5/person, and we slipped away amidst a demanding crowd of limousined young ladies.

Preston is an old school tourist winery, to wit it has a large grounds for picnics, food for sale in the store, and decent if not spectacular wines. We bought a couple of bottles, then broke out the food and had lunch. Recommended as a place for it.

At Bear Republic for lunch the previous day, I’d had an excellent Monga Zin, which a bit of research indicated was from Carol Shelton . She’s down in Santa Rosa, and we called for an appointment, getting down there (thanks, Sheila) at almost precisely 2 p.m. It was in a light industrial warehouse complex in a residential area, with generic drywalled office, lobby, etc. 

I had very mixed feelings about Carol Shelton. On the one hand, the color scheme — all purples and pinks and etc. — felt vaguely too bright and Amwayish, and the sort of Cult of Personality around Carol (an independent winemaker who does stuff with harvests from around the state, and is frequently referenced as being the “most award-winning winemaker in California”) felt cloying and suspicious. On the flip side (a) we met Carol and chatted with her and she seemed charming and genuine (as were the other folks there), and (b) the wine was just darned good, mostly Zins, but some others, too. So net-net, we bought wine and (ahem) joined the cult.

We had seen Harvest Moon dessert wines on the menu the previous night, and it was on our way to the next “real” stop, so we pulled in there. And, damn, it was another fine windery, in the rural outskirts of Santa Rosa, and while their desserts were good, they had some excellent Zins. I didn’t trust myself enough to join yet another wine club, but we bought some wine and I made a note to consider that in the future after tasting it again. We had a free coupon for a tasting (normally $5, more for the reserve list), and they were generous with pouring comparisons between the two and multiple vintages. The winemaker signed our bottles, and everyone was friendly and helpful despite the large crowds.

Scherrer had been recommended by Margie’s Uncle Joel, and while they don’t have a tasting room per se they were having an open house this weekend, so we called up, got ourselves invited, and showed up. They’re just north of Sebastopol, and we followed small signs around back to their winery/warehouse.

They had some bottles out, and were doing some barrel tastings, too. It was end of the day, so the catered food for the open house was past its prime, but the wine was quite nice, with both of their Zins (and, I thought, their Cab) quite drinkable. Couldn’t bring myself to pony up the (bargain) price of $240 on a wine-future for a case of one of the as-yet-unreleased Zins, but we did buy a few bottles, and I promised Margie I would get her a bottle of the barreled stuff when released, so we’ll see.

Driving back up to the B&B, we were pretty wined out, but Armida had cropped up favorably in a few conversations, painting it as a fun-loving place that made great wine, and so when we drove past, we decided to hop in.

Big mistake, in retrospect. Evidently, the place has changed in the past few years, and the commercial glitz has gone way up, along with the prices. They have a complementary list of 7 and reserve ($10) list of five, and we drank tastes from both. Neither list was bad, but neither had anything we felt was particularly noteworthy except for one reserve Zin that was quite bgood, but not $85/bottle good. Nor was their signature “Poizin” (get it) wine worth $60-90/bottle, no matter how good it was (and they weren’t tasting it).

Though there’s a nice view, they seemed more interested in high markup, gimmicky fun, and selling tschochkes than actually making good wine. Evidently that’s not always been the case, which is a shame.

So that’s a lot of wineries, yet we didn’t feel particularly sloshed or out of it even after we got back to the inn. Our secret?

1. Share a tasting. Though in some cases we did separate ones, usually we shared a class, which cuts consumption in half.
2. After you have a taste, if you’re not so in love with it that you need another sip, toss it. That’s what the dump buckets are there for. Proper wine tasters actually don’t even swallow, which is a higher standard than I can live to, but dumping the excess is a good idea.
3. Eat. Drink water. Keep snacks in the car and chow down as you go. That can dramatically slow the rate of alcohol absorption (though not stop it), which keeps you on a more even keel
4. Take breaks. Eat lunch. Take a walk. Include some long drives between stops.

Nine places was probably (esp. with Armida) too many, but that was also spread out over 7 hours of tasting. Worked okay for us.

We also had a wine tasting back at the inn. Hope-Merrill sometimes invites local wineries to do tastings on the weekends; in this case, though, they drew on their own supply. They have a very keen “wine making” program that people can sign up for — stay a couple of days in the fall, making wine on the equipment they have here, then come back in the spring for wine tasting, mixing, and bottling, and go home with a case of your own. Looks like fun …

Anyway, they pulled out some bottles of stuff they’ve done for the residents back in the garden, and we chatted about the local wine industry, wine making, etc.

Margie and I had planned on a less formal dinner down in Healdsburg, but a couple was going to cancel their reservations for Santi , an Italian place here in Geyserville, so we took them instead.

Yum. Excellent Italian cuisine, which I would stack up against any other restaurant in the area or back home. Great wine list, and a menu you can use for everything from a full 4-5 course dinner to “just” something relatively simple. I had a delightfully spiced chicken minestrone, and an excellent osso bucco. Margie’s meal was even more sophisticated and well done. We split a split of Scherrer Zin, and it was … well, more than we needed, but quite good.

Back to the hotel now. We have an early morning of it, for reasons that will be clear once I post pictures …

Previously …

Woke up to the sounds of cable cars, too, which isn’t altogether a bad thing. A good eight hours sleep, and we were ready … well, to do a lot of packing, juggling around suitcase contents, then heading out the door and to the car.

Getting out of the city was a small challenge, as Sheila had problems getting a lock on enough satellites to figure out where she (and thus we) were, and the signs to the 101 actually were all driving us toward 101 South, which might have been the Way to San Jose … but we were trying to go North, Miss Tessmacher.

Eventually we got ourselves onto Van Buren, then Lombard, and the 101, thence to the Golden Gate Bridge. Much snapping of pictures (by Margie).

We made use of Sheila (who had finally gotten her morning coffee and uplink) to find a Trader Joe’s along the way to find some snackies for the car (a must while wine tasting), and the fixings for some picnic lunches the next few days.

We stopped in Healdsburg on the way up. This burg has turned into a proto-Napa, but it’s still small enough to find some friendly places and be able to walk around without getting run over by BMWs. We ended up having lunch at the Bear Republic Brewpub, which had a dozen home-brewed beers I wanted to try (though I decided on a glass of the very tasty Monga Zin, instead), a lot of tasty sandwiches/burgers, a good lunch trade, and mediocre service. (Well Recommended.) 

We headed up to Geyserville (pronounced by Sarah, Sheila’s British cousin, with a “Jee” initial syllable), where our B&B is. Alas, check-in is 3:30 p.m., and it was only about Noon …

… so we headed off to taste wine. Huzzah!

First stop (and ironic for being in a Zinfandel area) was Silver Oak‘s Alexander Valley tasting room . Been many years since we’d been there, and Silver Oak Cab remains sort of our “gold standard” wine (check for it on wine lists, note the price, buy something cheaper except for a very special occasion).  

Tastings were $10 — but you keep the very nice glass — for two wines. Both were tasty, need a few more years in the cellar, and are good for another 15-20. We didn’t buy any (you can buy it pretty much anywhere), but it was a nice first stop. Service was cordial. Recommended if you like that sort of thing.

Ridge in Lytton Springs was also highly recommended to us. They do mostly Zins, but with a few others, and in general they tasted very well (we bought a few bottles, some of which we’ll be using to pay back folks who have been helping us this trip). Tastings are free for two wines, $5 for another five or six, and worth it. Service was friendly, if brisk. Well recommended.

Trentadue was recommended largely for its ports. The regular tasting of 4-5 wines is free; tastings of the ports are $5, and tastings of their signature wines are $5. Service was friendly and helpful and generous.  Trentadue’s regular wines are inexpensive, and not bad for quaffing, but not worth going out of the way. They had a fabulous Viognier white port, a tasty Petit Syrah port, and a gimmicky Cocoa-infused port. Someone’s getting at least one bottle of the Viognier.

Pedroncelli was a place we went to (very close to what was our B&B then) when Margie and I vacationed up here some (cough) 14 years ago. It remains sort of a simple, old school winery, specializing in Zins, along with a very nice port made from actual Portuguese-stock grapes. Hard to go too wrong there. The tasting was complementary, and the service at the end of the day was engagingly friendly.

We returned to our B&B at about 5. Hope-Merrill House is a lovely old house along the main (only) drag in Geyserville, green and quiet and quite pretty. Service so far has been cordial and helpful. We’re in a very nice, and pretty large, room (the Bradbury), lacking only a dresser to make it complete. They have free Wi-Fi, and a nice swimming pool in back, and plenty of areas to sit in or wander around. There’s a bit of road noise from the 101 a ways away, but overall quite nice. It feels very comfortable, and I think we’re going to enjoy staying here.

We relaxed for an hour or two before heading down to Healdsburg for dinner at Manzanita. Sort of a Mediterranean Modern restaurant, the wine list was good (the cocktail list, which we didn’t indulge in, was wonderfully retro), the menu had many yummy suggestions, and the actual food was quite tasty. Margie had a sole dish, something she doesn’t order very often, and cleaned off the plate. I had a wild boar ragout, which was actually a boar t-bone with a wonderful gravy with truffles and mushrooms and tomatoes in it. Mmmm. Service was helpful and friendly, if not quite outstanding. We skipped dessert because we were stuffed. Well recommended.

Then back to the B&B, and, eventually, to sleep …