Napa Valley Winery Trip

Prior to the SCCM meeting in San Francisco Paul, Jim, Doug, and I took a trip to Napa Valley, California. We only had about four hours for touring and tasting, but we were able to get in 6 different wineries prior to 6pm. We spent most of our time in the Oakville, Rutherford, and St. Helena areas, visiting the Robert Mondavi, Grgich Hills, Rutherford Hill, ZD, Beaulieu Vineyard (BV), Esquisse Winery, Sequoia Grove, and Peju Wineries. Most of the wineries give 3-5 tastings for around $5. Mondavi only gave us one glass for $5, so we were out of there quickly. Search this website before you go and plan your day around winery closing times, etc to maximize the fun. Most wineries are open from 10am-5pm. We tried many wines that day, but our favorite by far was the Boone's Farm Strawberry Hill (Just Kidding!)....really my favorite wine of the day was the 2001 Cabernet Sauvignon by Grgich Hills. I tasted a lot of good wines after that one, but after the second wine tasting my senses steadily declined and it became hard to differentiate between different tastes. The most unique tasting wine I had was at the Esquisse Winery. It was a wine called the Malbec. An article said the following about the Malbec: Malbec is one of the traditional blending grapes of Bordeaux, but it's better known now as Argentina's hottest wine. We'd guess many people wouldn't much like this, to be honest, and it's hard to describe in a way that sounds attractive, but we'll remember this wine long after we've forgotten most. It's like meat juice and mint, medium-bodied, with a strong hint of cinnamon and very earthy tastes that simply demand another sip to try to place it somewhere on a taste map. It's quite different. As Dottie said, "It sort of tickles my brain." The winery said it made only 60 cases of this, and we felt lucky to have it.
Thankfully the ride home was uneventful.....We were glad that Doug brought his spare liver with him so we could navigate our way back to San Francisco. When we got back to San Francisco we stopped at the Beach Chalet brewery for dinner. The had some good microbrews, two of which I tried: The Riptide Red and the Presidio Indian Pale Ale. They had some good food too.
Not a bad Saturday.....