Our favorite sign in Napa Valley
Saturday, March 6, was the first day of our tasting tour. This day was quite special as it was Chuck’s birthday and the reason we were in Napa Valley celebrating. Probably the most often photographed sign in the valley is pictured above. Here are some pictures of several of our favorite welcoming sights.
Mustard flowers blooming in the vineyards.
So off to the day’s tastings. First stop was Truchard in Carnernos. We had met Anthony Truchard at several wine dinners at Trattoria Cafe Napoli here in Ft. Myers, and Anthony said that Truchard should be our very first stop. And so we took him up on the offer. Carneros is an AVA in both Napa and Sonoma Counties. It is just south and east of Napa. We met Tony Truchard just as we arrived, and he graciously agreed to have Chuck’s birthday picture taken with him. The tasting, tour and wine caves were very special since we had already met the family and now heard the stories of how they came to Carneros and grew grapes. The Truchards sell many of their grapes to other winemakers, but thank goodness now make their own as well. The cab, merlot and roussane were some of our favorites. JoAnn Truchard gave Chuck a bottle of cab for his birthday. That is a great way to start the day!
Entrance to Truchard wine cave.
Chuck and Linda at Truchard
Next stop in Carneros……..Etude. We had the entire tasting room to ourselves, and we certainly enjoyed the excellent reserve tasting wines. The Heirloom Estate Pinot Noirs and “GBR” Grace Benoit Ranch Estate Reds were some of our picks of the visit.
Guess you can tell where we are!
Chuck and Linda at Etude
By this time we had worked up an appetite tasting, so we headed back into Napa to the River Terrace Inn to try their lunch. Lunch was served outside by the fire pit. After all, it was quite cool for us Floridians! We sat next to the Napa River while we enjoyed some wonderful red bell pepper bisque.
Walking trail by the Napa River just outside our Inn.
We had a 2 PM tasting appointment at Robert Craig’s new downtown Napa tasting room, so thought we had better hurry off and find it. Much to our surprise, we discovered that we could have walked right next door along the river and arrived at their tasting room. There was another party there, but we still had the undivided attention of our host. Robert Craig wines are receiving very high ratings. Robert Parker scored the 06s and 07s between 92 and 96 points. It was really difficult to choose a favorite between the Howell Mt, Mt. Veeder, Spring Mt and the Affinity cabs. We would have been happy with all or even just one of them!
Robert Craig tasting room is located in an office complex right along the Napa River.
The time had now come to prepare for the long awaited birthday dinner. Reservations had been made several months ago for Bottega in Yountville, the newest creation of Michael Chiarello. Bottega and Napa Style are located in the 140 year old Groezinger Winery complex. Bottega was really bustling as after all, it was Saturday night in Yountville. You can’t go wrong with Bouchon and AdHoc just across the street. And let us not forget the French Laundry. But all we can do is read about it! Dinner at Bottega was good – we selected the smoked and braised short ribs. The big disappointment of the evening was that Michael was on the line cooking that night – so we were told – and much too busy to wander through the dining room greeting us. Rumor had it that on most nights, you could meet him as he talked with all of his customers. Maybe another time. So now we just have to be content to be a fan of Michael’s on Facebook!
That's the Bottega sign hiding the front of Bouchon across the street.
The perfect way to end your 65th birthday – three terrific Napa wineries and Bottega! Hard to believe that tomorrow could be any better. Guess we will just have to wait and see.
