posted 09-03-2011 07:34 AM            

If you are looking for GREAT sit down breakfasts, go to Cafe Sarafornia on the strip in downtown Calistoga. Almost anything you want, they serve. They are also open for lunch but closed for dinner.

Hi Carjeff,

We took the "Bottle Shock" tour and enjoyed it. I think when we took it it was $40. For that you got the tour, an autographed copy of the movie (The real Bo Barrett)and a split of their Chard. Plus, if I remember correctly, you were poured a glass of their chard to carry around with you. What I thought was kind of tacky, they charged an additional tasting fee to taste their reds. I was not too thrilled with them and thought I had much better reds at other wineries. We did enjoy the tour, however.

Hey, Bigsemi,

It is always exciting to start another year in education. You have all the hope in the world for your stucents. Hope your wrestling team has lots of success.

posted 09-01-2011 10:57 AM            

We haven't finalized our itinerary yet. We were originally going to be staying in Calistoga Sat and Sun nights, then heading to the Lodge at Sonoma on Mon night, but may be staying at the Lodge all 3 nights. We will split the time between Sonoma and Napa.
Chateau Montelena and Joseph Phelps are on our list at the moment, but not sure when/if we will visit them. I tentatively was going to start with Montelena on Sun morning (possibly their Bottle Shock tour), and make our way back down the valley. I was then going to do Yountville on Tues, but nothing has been planned yet. We will probably have dinner a night or 2 somewhere on Sonoma Square, then a night or 2 in Yountville/Napa.

posted 09-01-2011 08:38 AM            

We get to San Francisco on Nov. 11 for a conference. We head to Napa Valley on Sunday afternoon and I'm currently planning on two days in Napa Valley (14th & 15th) then moving over to Sonoma County for the night of the 15th, touring around through the 17th, with our flight home on the 18th.

So far I'm thinking of the following order for Monday: Vincent Arroyo, Harris Estate, lunch and tasting at Chateau Montelena, Diamond Terrace, Joseph Phelps, Cliff Lede, then Napa Style in Yountville for a Chiarello tasting, and then dinner in Yountville. We met Vincent Arroyo in June at a wine and food pairing here in Texas, and he was such a nice man - so down to earth and charming. We liked his wines so want to go by and see the winery. We are members at Chateau Montelena and love to reserve one of the little islands for a picnic. Joseph Phelps and Cliff Lede we haven't been to, but I keep trying to get there! Chiarello is a favorite, plus there are so many great restaurants there, I figured it would be a good place to end up.

Tuesday I'm going to try to get to the other wineries that Hawkeye has found that have Thomas Brown as the wine maker (Harris Estate, Diamond Terrace and Chiarello on Monday are all his). That would be Thomas Brown's Black Sears and Outpost for Tuesday, then we will probably stop by Biale and maybe up Spring Mountain for a taste or two and then down the other side into Sonoma County.