Traipsing Through Napa - Day 2

We began our second day in Napa with another delicious breakfast from Chateau de Vie and an abundance of sunshine. We had a little bit of time to explore downtown St. Helena before our first winery appointment, so we happily drove up and down the streets oohing and ahhing over the beautiful homes and blooming gardens. This building, which was literally dripping with wisteria, caused us to drive by twice to gape at the beauty.

We made a quick stop into Dean and Deluca to pick up picnic supplies for the afternoon and grab an espresso. Wow. I had never been into a Dean and Deluca before (or as we jokingly call it, Dean and De-ruca). My previous experience was limited to browsing through their website while simultaneously drooling and gasping at the prices. In person it was a totally different and almost overwhelming experience to see real Jamon Iberico, piles of black truffles, and cheese for $40 a pound. I optimistically asked the man behind the counter if they offer any of the Jamon Iberico by the slice (thinking maybe I could afford one thin slice since an ounce costs about $12) and he said, "Oh no. But we do have a few men who come in here and buy two pounds a week to snack on." To snack on!?! Who are these people and what do they do for a living? Good heavens. We escaped shortly thereafter with our wallets still intact and a small picnic lunch for later in the day.

To reach the first winery stop we drove on a long windy road twisting through beautiful forests and climbing up from the valley floor until we reached the top of an area called Spring Mountain. Our drive ended behind the wooden gate of a small winery named Barnett Vineyards. Literally perched on the edge of the mountain, this winery boasts breathtaking views of the entire Napa Valley. Near the end of the tasting we were escorted up to a small deck on top of a knoll with unobstructed views. Sipping their best cabernet sauvigion and gazing out on the valley below our visit took on a dream like quality. I popped out my camera and turned it to "video" mode to try and capture the scene to share with you. My camera is not designed to do professional video so please pardon the grainy picture, and as for the commentary, well I was kind of at a loss for words but I did my best!

Note: If the video above not loading on your computer, you can visit this link to watch it: http://www.flickr.com/photos/61116197@N00/3445885375/

After soaking in the beauty of Barnett we got back in the car and drove just a few miles up the hill until we reached Pride Mountain Vineyards. Pride is a larger operation but they still maintain a friendly and welcoming atmosphere. The property is set in between rolling hills, with views down into a valley. A well situated picnic table was the perfect place to savor our lunch before heading into the caves for more tastings. The caves were dark and cool, branching out under the mountain in several different directions. We had a lot of fun exploring the caves, tasting different vintages and varieties that are still aging in the barrel.

Once we emerged back out into the sunshine we took one last look at the incredible view and wound our way down the mountain into the Valley for our last stop: Vincent Arroyo Winery. Turning onto a long gravel road, we drove through blooming trees and found a small barn-like building. A happy old black lab still wet from a recent bath ran up and greeted us as we walked into the tasting room. With no fanfare and a casual attitude, we were treated to the best wines of the trip. This understated (and under the radar) company is making incredible wines that are sold directly to customers- no middlemen, no distributors, no restaurants. We were very excited about these wines and thrilled to finally find what we hoped to discover in Napa- a wonderful boutique winery with reasonably priced wines. Sensing our excitement, the tasting guide took us back into the barrels to try more vintages that have yet to be released. As we hung out in the back room another black lab ran through, this one completely covered from nose to tail in a powdery dust. The tasting guide saw the dog, and said "Oh no, JJ!" Yep- it was the same dog! (Just goes to show you can't keep a dog clean no matter where you live!) Below is another slide show to share the photos of our tasting journeys on Day 2.

Finally after a day of winding roads, beautiful views, and delicious discoveries we headed back into St. Helena for dinner. Earlier in the morning we had passed the sign for Tra Vigne and were charmed by the exterior of the building. Online and travel guide reviews were mixed, so I was slightly hesitant to go in for dinner. We decided to give it a try despite the reviews and boy did that pay off. It was hands down the best meal of our trip!

An appetizer of fresh mozzerella drizzled with bright and lively olive oil spread onto char-grilled sourdough got the meal off to a great start. I enjoyed a terrific roasted duck over polenta and Mr. B ordered the dish that is now haunting us- Goat cheese ravioli in a sugo finto (fake meat sauce). The sauce was so meaty it tasted as if it were made with veal stock and beef marrow, yet there was not a trace of meat to be found. We queried the waitress and she shared that the sauce included black beech, porcini, portabello, and black truffle mushrooms slowly cooked with red wine. We were entranced. (Mr. B has been googling sugo finto for the past week to try and figure out how we can recreate this at home. As soon as we do I promise I'll share!)

After dinner we asked if it would be possible to meet the chef and thank him for our meal. The waitress disappeared for a moment and then came back and said, "The evening is at a slow point, would you like to come back into the kitchen?" Would we ever! So we immediately hopped up and headed back behind the wood fired pizza oven into the kitchen. Once in the kitchen we discovered that our incredible meal had been prepared not by the main chef (he was apparently on vacation in Italy, poor guy) but by Jack, the sous chef. Jack was incredibly friendly and pointed out the various stations around the kitchen sharing who did what and grinning when we told him how much we loved our meal. It was the perfect ending to a pretty much perfect day. Driving back to Chateau de Vie I had to again pinch myself to believe that such a wonderful place actually existed.