Tim and Lynda's Travels: Vino

Monday, September 23, 2013

We left first thing this morning for Mariposa Grove to take a tram to see the sequoias. Unfortunately, there did not seem to be enough people for the tram to leave plus it was 46 degrees and we would be going up another 1000 feet and we both had on shorts. So we decided to skip the tram. There were several fine specimens of sequoias in Mariposa Grove so its not like we didn’t see any. We did have an interesting discussion with the young woman in the gift shop about a recent mountain lion sighting in the area. From Mariposa Grove we drove to Yosemite Village. On the way we again saw breathtaking views of the Yosemite Valley. In the valley we marveled at the iconic El Capitan. It is a granite monolith over 3000 feet in height. There are actually people who attempt to climb El Capitan. Tim could not find any information that would indicate that John Phillip Sousa’s famous march, “El Capitan,” was written as a tribute to this rock formation. The only other disappointment was Yosemite Falls. Yosemite Falls is the tallest waterfall in North America and one of the 10^th tallest in the world. The problem was that there was no water falling down it. Maybe they forgot to turn it on this morning. Actually, in the spring when all the snow melts, water is gushing over the fall. By September there is no water, It begs the question: can a water fall be called a water fall if there is no water falling over it? The rest of the day was spent traveling from Yosemite to Napa Valley. Our hotel is actually in Fairfield, about 12 miles from Napa. We drove to Napa just to look around and were excited seeing the vineyards. We are looking forward to tomorrow.

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

This morning brought a change in plans. We are both pooped. Believe it or not, dear friends, this traveling and blogging is hard work. San Francisco has been dropped from the itinerary. Instead we are going to stay an extra day in Napa. We need to find a laundromat to do some laundry and Lynda needs a pedicure. We arrived in the town of Napa about 11:30 and had lunch at a restaurant called “The Pear.” Lynda had seen it on some program on the Food Network. We had a wonderful lunch of soup and salad accompanied by excellent local wine. Sterling Vineyard was the first winery we visited. From the parking lot we took a gondola several hundred feet up a hill to the winery. There we went on a self guided tour that included stops to taste 5 different wines that were presently in production. Actually the wines we tasted were previous vintages of the wines being produced now. In one area we saw containers that were full of green grapes. In another area we watched workers scooping the “must” of crushed red grapes from the bottom of huge metal containers. We also saw several rooms with small and large oak barrels containing wine that was being aged. Videos and story boards gave us much information on all aspects of the production of wine. The views from the patio of the winery on the hill were excellent. After leaving Sterling Vineyard we stopped at the Beringer Brothers Vineyard and the Robert Mondavi Vineyard. At Beringers we wanted to just walk around the grounds. Unfortunately, by the time we got to Mondavi Vineyards, they were closed. We will be back in Napa Valley tomorrow to revisit the Mondavi Vineyard and experience several others.

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

It was off again to Napa Valley to taste more wine. It is dirty work but someone must do it. Besides, our loyal blog followers expect a thorough report on all the places we visit. Our first stop was the Mumm Winery, makers of sparkling wine. It was too early in the morning to start tasting, we do have standards, such as they are, so we visited the gift shop and bought a few souveniers and gifts. We saw some cute champagne flutes specifically for the bride and groom at a wedding reception that Lynda thought we should buy. Saner heads prevailed. We journeyed on through lovely countryside filled with vineyards and wineries, some of which we had actually heard of. Our next destination was the Sattui Winery. This had been recommended to us as an excellent winery and a good place for a picnic lunch. The Sattui Winery has won many awards in Napa Valley, both for the winery and for individual wines. However, it does not sell wine anywhere except in the winery and on the internet. There was a wonderful deli off of the tasting area. Before making purchases for a picnic we sampled a wine and bought a bottle. We enjoyed a wonderful picnic of salads, cheese and an excellent wine. After our lunch we returned to the tasting room and bought a case of the wine we had just had for lunch to bring home with us . Because we purchased a case of wine we were automatically silver club members of the Sattui Winery. The most important perk was a free wine tasting that we immediately took advantage of. Between the two of us we sampled two different chardonnays and two different cabernet sauvignons. We impressed ourselves with our ability to distinguish between two wines of the same variety. The wines we sampled were excellent but very expensive. The only additional bottle we bought was a Madeira that we will save for special occasions. While wandering around the winery we also had the chance to see a machine in operation that removes the grapes from the stems. Very interesting.

From the Sattui Winery we traveled a short distance to the Peju Winery. This was another stop to see the grounds. There were lovely sculptures on well manicured lawns with beautiful flower borders. Inside we visited an interesting art gallery. The tasting room had a very impressive stained glass window. We don’t know if the wine is any good but the grounds and building were impressive. Our final wine stop was the Robert Mondavi Winery. Tim’s brother, Steve, has met Robert Mondavi and was able to purchase some bottles of a special cabernet sauvignon, giving Tim one of the bottles. Tim wanted to get a picture of the winery for Steve and also visited the gift shop. The staff in the Mondavi Winery were considerably more reserved then in the other wineries we visited.

Our last stop of the day was the Oxbow Farmers’ market in Napa. We purchased some pate and cornichons to have with the left over crackers, cheese and wine that we had at lunch. We will have a quiet, light meal in our room tonight. All in all, we recommend the Napa Valley experience - take a couple of days and just sample a few of the 450 wineries in this one valley. Cheers!