Heading to the homeland mid month.

Short, low key kinda trip though.

It looks like Schramsburg, Shafer and dinner at Pierre Jeanty's are the only planned events at this moment. Oh, and at least one visit to Taylor's Refresher.

I have a few words for you.

TERRA
TERRA
TERRA
TERRA
TERRA
TERRA
TERRA
TERRA
TERRA
TERRA
TERRA
TERRA
TERRA
TERRA
TERRA
TERRA

I went there years ago. Pretty good.
It is a bit further North than we'd like. We might have a little wine at dinner and we would rather be closer to home.

Terra was on the radar screen though.

Pere Jeanty is one of Philippe Jeanty's restaurants.

Read about ithere.

I have never eaten here but one of my favorite restaurants in the whole Napa Valley (probably in my top 20 favorite restaurants) isBistro Jeanty. I'd go there. It is just down the street from Pere.

Just a peice of advice like everyone else will probably give to you saying you should go somewhere other than where you really want to go.

davidn... would it be fair to say that, in Yountville, just about everything is just down the street from everything else?

Thanks.

I will pass the info along to my crazy friends. I have one vote among the group. It is not necessarily the deciding vote (although it should be)

This one looks good though.

Back here in the Old Republic of Texas.
Great time in Napa but a very short visit. Tried to make the most of iot though.
Details later. Just getting caught up.

Looking forward to hearing about your trip. I like to live vicariously through the wine country trips of others!!!

Sounds like you've got a good plan WDOT. I'll second davidn's suggestion of Bistro Jeanty. If you get a chance, go to Martini House. It's my favorite Napa restaurant so far. It's in St. Helena.

Budman,

Are you saying that Yountville is small? A fellow came into my restaurant way out in New Bern, North Carolina a couple of months ago. He was a resident of Yountville, so I told him I'd be staying there in a month's time. He told me to look for a big chocolate lab. If this dog was tied-up in front of a bar, he'd be inside. Upon my arrival in Yountville, it took me 21 minutes to find him.

Well, the trip was rather short, but, as always, enjoyable, relaxing and a good change of pace.

I drove over to Napa from Reno on Tuesday afternoon. There was a slight dusting of snow as I drove across the Donner Pass. Really a very pretty drive and it takes approximately 3 hours from Reno's airport to Napa.

When I arrived, I met my friends at Bell Wine Cellars on Highway 29. They are a fairly small operation. This was just a quick, unplanned stop simply used as a meeting place before adjourning to the hacienda. We tasted through their wines as well as my friends barrels of Chardonnay that were being stored at Bell.

Wines at Bell:
2004 Viognier
2004 Sauvignon Blanc
2004 Rose
2004 Syrah
2002 Claret
2001 Clone 6


Off to the house. Got settled in, prepare some food and begin a cellar raid.
Cellar raid included:
1999 Penfolds 138
1987 Jordan Cab
1989 Robert Mondavi Reserve
1987 Saddleback Cab
1997 Riboli
1999 Fermor Estate (Margaret River)
1998 Ruhl Merlot (my friend's family's wine)
2000 Ruhl Merlot


More later....wine tours started on Wednesday am.

WDoT... how was the 87 Jordan. The last bottle I had (2 years ago) was way over the hill.

Actually, none of these would have rolled your socks up and down.
The Jordan was ok, as was the Mondavi.
A surprizingly tastey wine was the Fermoy Estate. We figured it to be a starter, throw away wine, and it was quite good.

Again, nothing spectacular.

Wednesday's fare was better.

My first full day in Napa started much as the evening before. Rain.
It is fairly late in the season to get this amount of rain and wind.

We made a stop at Frank Family Vineyards. We sat in Dennis' office and enjoyed some of their very nice wines over about a 40 minute time period. We were rushed a bit as we had an 11:30 appointment. The wines we tasted through were all reds. Their Chardonnay had been sold out already.
2002 Sangiovese
2000 Cabernet
2000 Reserve Cabernet
2001 Reserve Cabernet
2000 Zin
2000 Winston Hill
I have always enjoyed Frank Family's wines and this year was no exception. I did not pick up any this go around (wine budget=$0), but the wines were all very good, priced right (between $38-$65 for Cabs) and for the most part, very drinkable right now. Their Zin has always impressed me and it was very good this time as well.

Oh my gosh, it is running late! Off to Schramburg just up the road....

Given the volume of rain, we opted to not tour the grounds of the property. However, our tour guide gave us a nice run through the caves and generally did a good job explaining the process. I thought Chandon does a better educational tour, but this one was enjoyable enough. Off to the tasting.

The tasting was certainly more formal than most I have seen recently. Sit down affair, glasses all lined out in very specific order. Red still wine poured to breath a bit. My my.

Our tour guide began pouring the bubbly. His first pour was a near miss and he explained this as being turned around a bit. Those males in the group realized that what turned him around was one fair lass with a low cut blouse that was, well, quite bubbly herself. After he collected himself so to speak, he resumed pouring the sparkling and all was in order.
1999 Tete Cuvee
1998 Reserve
NV Onerencia
2002 J. Davies Cabernet

All of these were quite good, the Reserve was excellant. While our group is not a huge fan of Champagne/Sparkling wines, these were certainly enjoyable drinks and I would never hesitate to serve them to any guest. My particular favorite was the Reserve, but the Cuvee is apparently the wine that is getting very high accolades. The Cab was good, but nothing overly exciting. It came in at $65 per. Pass.

Small commercial. They do have a wine club and it does seem to be a good deal. Most of their wines are sold directly from the winery and it might be a good option for anyone wishing to secure their wines. They offer a library selection with each shipment which seemed like a good thing. Again, wine budget being low, I passed, but did take a sign up form for future reference.

Ooops. Duty calls. More later....

OK
Done with the bubbly. Off to the serious wine.

We had a bit more than an hour or so before we had to be at Shafer. Well, not wishing to bother with unimportant things like food, we headed to Darioush. Since the drive to Shafer took about 30 minutes, this tasting was a drive-by sort of event. Clearly no time for a tour, although the winery was now finished unlike last year when I visited. So we ran through a few of their wines quickly.
2003 Chardonnay ($41)
2001 Red Table Wine($38)
1999 Caravan ($24)
2002 Signature Cabernet ($68)

The wines were generally good, but nothing exceptional. I felt that the Red Table Wine was a very good wine considering the price. Value for value, it was better than the Estate. Again, no buys here.

Oh oh. 10 minutes to get to Shafer. Gotta hurry.

We arrived at Shafer as the rain was subsiding. It was still a bit cool and windy. Jeff, our tour guide, got us started on the porch as we opted, once again, to pass on the vineyard tour. It was very interesting to learn about the organic/natural approach Shafer is now taking on their processes. Jeff got into the whole story about Amigo Bob and the transition from a winery using fertilizers, chemicals, etc. to a much friendlier, more natural approach.

As we sat down to taste the wines, John Shafer came out to visit for a bit. Despite being "retired" John does come to the office each day and does attempt to spend time with his guests. He is a fine fellow and was very cordial to everyone. He did not share any wine with us, but it was thoughtful to come visit.

The lineup:
2003 Red Shoulder Ranch Chardonnay
Nice wine, not up to the 2001 or 2002 imho. WDoT says 88pts.

1993 Merlot
This was bordering on over-the-hill. It was ok, but would have been better drunk a few years back. WDoT says 86pts. Would rather have had the current vintage quite honestly.

2002 Firebreak
Very nice wine. Good fruit, deep color and just the right amount of spiciness. WDoT says 90pts. Took one of these home.

2002 Cabernet
Again, a very nice wine. The Shafer Cab is my "house wine" when I entertain customers. Always good, not outrageously priced and always a crowd pleaser. WDoT says 90+pts.

2001 Relentless
Big, brawny, peppery, everything you'd want. This one really went over well with my little group. WDoT says 91-92pts.

2000 Hillside Select
This is the second time I have had this wine, the first being at this same tasting last year. We'd hoped they pop a 2001, but no joy there. This is a nice wine, seems a bit more closed than last year, but will be a wonderful drinking wine over time. WDoT says 90+, but would love to re-visit in a year or two.

2003 Shafer Port
Very nice, bordering on too sweet however. I did not realize that this was all HSS fruit as well as the same fruit used to make the fortifying Brandy. They are sticklers for doing things right. This is a take home each time I go. WDoT says 89-90pts. Just too sweet, but it'll hit the spot on a late evening for a dessert wine. OH! I mean a sweet wine, right davidn?



Next stop was Duckhorn and the one day journey was quickly coming to a close.

Stopped at Duckhorn and then ventured to Merryvale.

I must have had a very enjoyable time....I lost my notes.

Actually, as memory serves me, there was nothing overly special at either place. The wines were good, just no show stoppers.

My favorite at Duckhorn was actually their Parraduxx.

We ventured off to dinner at Pierre Jeanty. We had not eaten anything since our catchall egg, meat and mystery items enjoyed (???) that morning. Despite being famished, we adjourned, yes, to the bar. After a ridiculous amount of time chatting at the bar, we moved to our table. Finally. This was not due to the fault of the restaurant, but my crazy friends.

Our waiter was a very interesting fellow. While bordering on being a bit too familiar with us, I guess he figured that most of our group was, well casual about things, he joined in the festivities.

Food was very good. Our waiter actually ordered for several people and they were pleased with their surprize dinner. I was just so happy to actually get something to eat, anything would have been gourmet by that time.

After the meal was over and we were the last people in the restaurant, we ventured across the street to a small bar. By this time I was not interested in any more alcohol and was about pooped. My group had a round of beers (yuk!) and we headed to the hacienda.

Up the next morning, breakfast at a very small Mexican restaurant and off to Reno. It was still raining.

It was a very nice, though quite abbreviated, trip. We all had a good time, got to spend time with friends too seldom seen, and of course had a few nice wines.