Sunday in Napa, a little cooler weather but the sun was shining. Our first tasting was at one of my clubs, Miner Family Winery. We started in the club room with the wine tasting and cheese pairings. Miner has some unique touches, they serve their wines in the appropriate Riedel stemless glasses based on the type of wine we are drinking. We enjoyed the Viognier, Wild Yeast Chardonnay, Gary’s Pinot Noir, Stagecoach Merlot, Oakville Cabernet and the 2015 Oracle. After enjoying our wines and cheese, we took a tour of the winery including going through the caves. We actually were able to do a barrel tasting in the caves. It’s always fun when I can share these experiences with friends. Becky’s birthday celebrations continued.
Next stop, Duckhorn Vineyards, I was under a mistaken impression that Becky loved Merlot and kept that in mind when I designed our tasting schedule. Well she is actually a Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir girl, but Duckhorn was a great tasting. We did the cheese plate to go with the wines, it’s a nice touch to pair with the wine. We had some great wines and a lovely experience on the wrap around porch at the winery.
Becky’s sisters were in the Bay area and they came up to Napa to join us. We went back to Yountville for another tasting at Jessup Cellars. It’s always fun to visit my friends at Jessup.
Our final stop of the day of tasting was at JCB Tasting Salon, it was my least favorite tasting of the weekend. We went there for sparkling wine. The vibe in the room was very young, but it was crowded and loud. Even though we had a reservation, it was good we lost people along the way to other activities, because they could not have accommodated a group of 8 even with a reservation. It was just Becky, Marie and me.
We had dinner at my favorite restaurant in Yountville, Bottega. The food is consistently good with excellent service. It was the perfect place to celebrate Becky’s birthday (again).