WEATHER: A hot furnace! 105+
We got an early start for our trip to Napa Valley. It is only 90 miles, but it takes at least 2 hours, through curvy rounds around vineyards, plus our 30-minute drive down the mountain from the farm. It was so fun to drive by famous wineries.
We met friends Jon and Sue, whom we had met at Great Basin National Park in May. They live near San Francisco and have been corresponding with us about meeting in Napa. So today is the day.
We met at Mondavi Winery. The grounds are beautiful. We had a tasting there, and watched the international tourists, including a tour bus of Chinese visitors.
Next stop was Cakebread Cellars. Much smaller. We had a private tasting in the back aging room.
Jon and Sue come here fairly often, and have their favorite wines and wineries. Next was Beaulieu Vinyeards, where Jon convinced us to buy a $53 bottle of wine (on sale!). Our pourer took us to the signature tasting room and gave us a free taste from a $165 bottle.
We visited Napa Valley about 20 years ago. It certainly has changed. Wineries and vineyards everywhere. Expensive tastings. Still a great experience.
Time for lunch. We went to the Napa Valley Olive Oil Company. It was like stepping into a deli in Tuscany. We bought a chunk of salami, chunks of cheese, crunchy Italian bread and olives. What a neat experience.
We took our picnic to the St. Helena city park and had a picnic in the shade. Today is a scorcher, about 105 degrees. The car's thermometer, sitting in the sun, read 109.
Two more wineries to go. We tried to pace ourselves, and split the tastings. We stopped at Duckhorn, where all the bottles were $75+. There were nice tables so we sat and talked a long time.
Our last winery was a small one called Z.D. It was nice, too.
We found our motel that I had reserved in the town of Napa. We relaxed in the room with the glorious air conditioning. We traded a lot of stories about camping.
For dinner, we found a really nice Spanish tapas restaurant in downtown Napa, next to the Napa River. It was very popular. Rather than wait an hour for a table, we opted to sit at a community table with two couples. We shared several small plates.....olives, mussels, paella, flat iron steak, and ceviche. All the flavors were superb. At our community table were two ladies from England. George had to "chat them up" as usual.
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