Tuesday, August 28, 2007 – Santa Nella, CA

It’s been a busy few days since the last blog. Our friends from Torrance, CA, Harry and Carolyn, arrived early Sunday afternoon to the Vineyard RV Park in Vacaville, CA. We spent the afternoon catching up on our lives since we last met, then settled in for a BBQ steak feast under the eucalyptus trees.

Monday, we set out for the wine country – Napa Valley. It was less than 45 minutes to the south end of the valley. Our first stop was Signorello Winery on the Silverado Trail. If you’re not familiar with area, Napa Valley runs generally north / south with the Silverado Trail running up the east side and Highway 29 up the west side. The west side is the touristy route, with the Napa Valley towns built on the west side, including Calistoga, Yountville, St. Helena, Rutherford and Napa. Has it grown!

The east side along the Trail is more picturesque in many ways with nothing but vineyards and wineries with an occasional “palatial” estate built on the side of the hills with a spectacular view of the valley.

We visited Signorello Winery first because Harry and Carolyn know the parents of Ryan, the host and we thought he could give us some good tips on wineries and places to eat. We had supper with his mother – Suedhe – at Rutherford Grille. The Signorello wine was good and we each bought a couple of bottles.

Our next stop was the Bistro don Giovanni restaurant in St. Helena recommended by Ryan. In addition to an excellent lunch (you only have to ask Harry about the fig pizza), the restaurant had many “fun” sculptures. The photo of the metal man drinking was in front. The metal man corkscrew – shown with Harry and Carolyn – was by the entrance. There was a metal flying frog, among other whimsical sculptures, in the patio. The restaurant grounds were lush with fig trees, grape vines, herbs plots, and tomatoes; the patios, with pots of flowers and topiaries.

After lunch we visited Judd Hills winery, new since we last visited Napa, and private – recommended by Ryan. Our host there was a gentleman by the name of Pat. The photo is of Margaret and Pat trying to decide which wine to try next – while Carolyn looks on. No, we didn’t try all of those shown. In fact, the bottles displayed were created by various companies and individuals who purchased one or more barrels from Judd Hills’ winery and had wine bottled for their use. Some were for restaurants, others were for private collections. The labels ranged from serious to quite humorous. If anyone is interested in a wine “investment”, you can design your own label, buy the grapes and barrel(s) from Judd Hills and they will bottle it for you. A barrel of wine will make about 24 cases and costs roughly $9,000. Call if you’re interested!

Carolyn, Margaret and I found several of the Judd Hills’ wines to be excellent. Margaret and I especially liked their Petite Sirah and their estate Cabernet. We signed up for their wine club and will receive 3 bottles once a quarter. During our visit, we learned that Florida now allows direct wine shipment so we can buy direct if we choose. Only Tennessee, Kentucky, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and of course Utah, still have restrictions or bans on direct shipments. But Florida is now OK!

There were many more wineries than there used to be. The old favorites were still there: Sterling, looking less remote on its hilltop now surrounded with trees; Clos Pegase with its Egyptian theme exterior and beautiful sculptures; St. Supery; Rutherford; Heitz Cellars; Chandon… all beautiful. So little time! The other surprise was that grand old stone monastery of Christian Brothers is no longer a winery but houses the Culinary Institute.

Our last stop was the Mumm Napa champagne house where we sampled six different bubblies – three semi sweet and three dry. It was fun, but we didn’t buy anything there – we still prefer Moet de Chandon White Star! Carolyn and Harry chose a sweeter three to sample. It was fun.

After a hard day of tasting, we adjourned to the Rutherford Grille in Rutherford. Napa Valley has developed a number of “gourmet” restaurants since we last visited there in the late 90’s and the Rutherford Grille did not disappoint. I was surprised at the reasonable of the entrée pricing – I expected higher prices. Margaret had a rack of ribs, Carolyn had wild salmon, Harry had steak and enchilada (odd pairing) and I had wood roasted, sliced leg of lamb chipotle sauce and cucumber garnish. Everyone declared their selection to be excellent. Carolyn selected a bottle of Fog Dog Pinot Noir. Strange name, but quite good.

Harry and Carolyn left this a.m. heading for Grant’s Pass, OR, where Harry will participate in a skeet shooting competition. Harry is an avid skeet shooter and shared his knowledge and a look at his shotgun yesterday evening. Margaret could barely hold the gun it was so heavy.

We were going to spend another night in Vacaville to rest up from our hard day in the wine country. But the answer was, “No. We don’t have room for you tonight,” so we packed up and headed down I-5. We have two nights on the road before our reservations in Yorba Linda (close to our daughter’s home), so we’ll take it easy tomorrow and find a place that leaves an easy drive into LA on Thursday. I don’t want to arrive in rush hour, in the heat, after a hard day’s drive.

By the way -- at 3:00 today (here in Santa Nella), the thermometer on the RV Park office porch registered an even 100 degrees. It is supposed to be 105 or 108 on Thursday in LA! Oh, to be back in the northwest cool!