posted 11-03-2010 10:38 AM            

Must be raining at your place too. Lots of time for the computer. However, I am going to have to get busy and work on our Chattanooga Daylilies 2011 catalog here pretty soon. Have some speaking engagements coming up that I need a catalog to distribute.

I spent more time planning this trip than any in the past. In the past, it was kind of a shotgun approach . . . "Have we been there? I don't think so. Let's do it." When asked what we do with all the time we spend in the Napa Valley, my wife responds, "We drive up the road and we drive down the road." That is okay, but then you get to stopping at all the same places. So, this time I said, "We are going to find some newer wineries for us plus some that are small." We did that.

posted 11-03-2010 07:52 AM            

Up the mountain a short distance we went. Our first stop was at Spring Mountain Winery. A little known fact, at least to me, is that Spring Mountain’s ‘73 Chardonnay finished 4th in the 1976 Paris tasting. We found their wines to be very approachable. The ‘08 Savignon Blanc was one of the best we have tasted on this trip. It had the clean citrus taste that I prefer. We enjoyed the ‘07 Pinot Noir very much. It was a little more bold than most Pinot’s we have tasted. The ‘06 Cab is bold with a nice long finish and 100% Cab. Two bottles of this Cab are following us home. The best of all we tasted was the ‘06 Elivette. A blend of 81% Cab, 7% Cab Franc , 7% Petit Verdot , and 5% Merlot. WOW! I would have loved to bring this one home but it was a little above my price point. However, it seems on every trip to the valley, my price point goes up.

On up the mountain to Robert Keenan. I remember this winery from several years ago because of their distinctive label. Most of the wines we tasted were very good, but the ‘06 Napa Valley Cab was excellent. Robert Parker rated this Cab at 90 points and it was every bit of that and at $45.00, it was an excellent buy. However, my favorite of the visit and the one following me home was the ‘07 Napa Valley Zin. At $34.00 per bottle, I wished that I had more room at home. It was easily one of the best Zins that I have tasted.

For lunch, we had picked up a picnic at Palisades Deli & Cafe in Calistoga and it was every bit as good as touted. Since it was so chilly outside, Keenan let us sit around the round table inside their tasting room for our lunch.

Our next stop was a Schweiger Vineyards. Schweiger is a family operation. The father does the vineyards, the son is the winemaker, and the daughter, Diana, is the tasting room manager. She guided us through a tasting of Savignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Cab, and their blend, Dedication. I just wish she would lay off the “my father this, and my father that.” We were given a special tasting of the 01 Merlot, which was tasting quite good, and it is the one following us home. Normally, Merlot is just not bold enough for us, but this one was special.

Clear up at the top of the mountain, was Pride Mountain Vineyards. This was one I remembered from several years ago. They were tasting three wines this day. The ‘09 Viognier was really not my cup of tea. The ‘08 Merlot, which is blended with 10% Cab was one of the better Merlot’s we tasted. However, the ‘07 Pride Mountain Cab is composed of 82% Cab, 12% Merlot and 6% Petit Verdot, was tasting excellent and was the one we purchased.

Starting back down the mountain, Guilliams Vineyards was our next stop. Again, this is a small family run operation. We even got to “punch down” some juice while we were here. I don’t find my Guilliams sheet, but we purchased the ‘05 Cab and at $45.00 per bottle, we thought it a very good buy.

We thought we had a 3:30 tasting appointment at Terra Valentine Winery, but when we arrived, we were told that their last appointment was at 2:30. Bummer!