Day 3: Three perfect days in Napa and Sonoma Valley

This is Day 3 of our recent wine tour to the Napa and Sonoma wine regions. Napa Valley can get a little crowded on the weekends, so we like to head over to nearby Sonoma Valley which features a lot of great wineries, more reasonable prices, and fewer people. Gotta love that combination!

Wine

Valley of the Moon. Our first stop of the day was terrific. Their tasting room is a two-fer: you can taste Valley of the Moon wines and Lake Sonoma Winery wines. It's interesting to compare and contrast the two styles. Linda, our host, played along and poured several of the varietals side-by-side, so we could blind taste them and try to guess which was which based on the descriptions. Lots of fun! The stand-outs for us were the super refreshing 2008 'So Co' Pinot Blanc that was very crisp and would go well with lighter foods. We also enjoyed their 2007 'So Co' Sangiovese. Sangiovese is a very versatile red wine, and this one had a nice oaky finish that will allow it to go well with pasta. Finally, we really enjoyed the Lake Sonoma Winery 2007 Dry Creek Zinfandel which has 94% Zinfandel and 6% Petite Syrah to give it some bigger tannins and a little complexity.

Benziger. Plan a trip here if words like "organic" and "biodynamic" ring your bell. You may also want to try Benziger if words like "really good Pinot Noir" and "big, big Cab" resonate with you. Either way, they make good wine. Our favorites were their 2007 Giusti Vineyard Pinot Noir which had deep fruit and a very Pinot earthy finish. Their 2006 Gordenker Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon was a BIG cab that hits you with lots of fruit (without being too jammy or showing too much alcohol) and smooths out on the finish. Their 2006 Port was made from late harvest Syrah and Petite Syrah and has a nice balance: not too sweet and not too tawny (think caramel).

Artesa. There's a lot to love about Artesa, from their sweeping vistas, to their beautiful tasting room, to their outstanding wine. Even with a large Saturday afternoon crowd, our wine host, Marie, was very attentive and informative. We particularly enjoyed their 2005 Tempranillo and their 2005 Cabernet Franc. Tempranillo tastes like a Spanish cousin to Sangiovese, though a bit bolder. It is a well-balanced red without too much fruit or too much tannin, and would go well with a variety of richer foods. The Cabernet Franc has a lot of deep fruit on the mouth and finishes softly (for a Cab Franc). Yum.

Food

We found an awesome place for lunch called Sage Fine Food and Provisions. This is really just a fancy deli that has tasty sandwiches made with fresh ingredients and a variety of salads. It's directly across the street from Gloria Ferrer (which we did not enjoy - it's really a wine bar rather than a tasting room). Dinner was at Brix in Napa. The ideal time to go to Brix is in the Spring or Summer, when you can stroll through their vegetable garden while you wait for your meal to be served. It's a different experience in the winter, but the food is outstanding California Bistro fare and the service is always very professional and attentive.

Day 2: Three Perfect Days in Napa and Sonoma Valley

This is Day 2 of our recent wine tour to the Napa and Sonoma wine regions.

Wine

One our second day of tasting we made our way a bit North towards St. Helena and Calistoga before heading back into Napa. Here are the highlights.

Cade. This is a sister winery to Plumpjack and they also make very good Cabernet Sauvignon. The tasting is $10 per person, which was a steal considering the exceptionally good wine, the scenic view from the hills above Napa Valley, and the beautiful, modern tasting room. We both enjoy softer, drier Sauvignon Blancs rather than the acidic, citrusy style, and their 2008 Sauvignon Blanc was right on the mark for us. Their 2006 Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon was a classic Cab with dense, complex fruit on the mouth and wonderful soft tannins that will go nicely with food.

Cuvaison. We had to visit Cuvaison because they consistently make some of our favorite wines, their Pinot Noir was the winner of our recent 'Pinot-palooza' challenge, and they have a new tasting room in Calistoga to boot. Let's just say we started the day as members of only one wine club (Wattle Creek) and are now members of two. Here are our highlights from Cuvaison:

• 2008 S Block Chardonnay. We recently drank the 2006 version and 2008 really holds up with a nice balance of buttery oak and light acidity.
• 2007 Diablo Syrah. This is a very balanced Syrah that has a rather earthy taste throughout.
• 2007 Block F5 Pinot Noir. This may just be the Pinot to take the next Pinot-palooza title. Nice, delicate fruit and an earthy finish that works before, during, and after food.
• 2006 Brandlin Vineyard Zinfandel. Strong fruit upfront (and butterscotch?!) with a subtle pepper finish. This will be versatile with a lot of food -- a great pick to bring to a restaurant.
• 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon. Big fruit, big tannins, sticks to your teeth without blasting you with alcohol. Yum.

Foile a Deux. Their wine is all very drinkable, and their 'Menage a Trois' table wines are an outstanding buy. Their Menage a Trois red lists for $12, but we've seen it for as low as $6.99 a bottle. It makes for a great mid-week wine to go with all sorts of dinner.

Robert Biale Vineyards. The previous night we hung out in Silos Jazz Club for some wine and jazz. Keith, the manager, has a good eye for local wine and he introduced us to Robert Biale's "Black Chicken" Zinfandel. As the story goes, "Black Chicken" was code for Zinfandel during Prohibition when Aldo Biale took orders over their party line and didn't want the neighbors to know he was selling alcohol. It's a fun story and a fun wine. (Be sure to make an appointment if you visit.) They also feature other great Zins and a few other varietals.

Dinner
Barbeque and wine go together like peas in a pod, and the Bounty Hunter in downtown Napa does it right. It's a bit funky - their small room is part restaurant, part wine bar, and part wine shop all in one space, but it works. Come prepared to make some new friends, taste some wine, and have some awesome BBQ. (Their beer can chicken is quite the sight to see -- the whole bird comes out sitting on a beer can.)

Pinot-palooza

Last weekend, we hosted a dinner party, all about Pinot's. We started the night with an '06 Chalone Pinot Blanc (Chalone Appellation) ~ delicate yet crisp ~ a nice way to start a night of pinots.

Before dinner, we did a blind tasting of four pinots we purchased in our '09 travels:

'06 Wattle Creek (Yorkville Highlands)
'06 Cuvaison (Carneros, Napa Valley)
'06 Sokol Blosser (Dundee Hills, OR)
'04 Chateau Souverain (Russian River Valley)

After enjoying a few tastes with a selection of soft cheeses, we each selected our favorites. No surprises that the Cuvaison and Sokol Blosser were at the top of everyone's list, followed by Wattle Creek, and a distant 4th was Souverain. The Cuvaison was very smooth, easy to drink, with well balanced flavors. The Sokol Blosser had similar characteristics, with a more 'earthy' taste than the fruitier Cuvaison. Wattle Creek was quite enjoyable as well. The Souverain, while a solid wine, just didn't measure up to the others.

Dinner was a very pinot-friendly menu: beef brisket, roasted root vegetables, and mixed wild mushroom rice. We all enjoyed the rest of the wine with dinner and noted how the characteristics of each wine seemed to change a bit when paired with the meal. The Souverain Pinot Noir even rose to the top of one of our guest's lists!
After the meal, we finished the night with an '08 Erath Sweet Harvest Pinot Blanc (Dundee Hills, OR) ~ super delicious ~ sweet (but not too sweet), with an almost smokey finish. A definite repeat purchase!

A fun night ~ and a great way to clear out some inventory!