Jim & Jamie’s Adventures In Napa

I was already in love with the food on our last visit.  Then Bettina Rouas, co-owner of Angele with her father (he helped to create Auberge du Soleil) invited some of us in the hospitality industry to come for a special dinner so the chef could showcase his food.  We started with crostini with a white bean puree, then were served two salads- an heirloom tomato salad with large chunks of pan-fried bread, and a second salad with layers of thinly sliced multi-colored melons and a light lemon vinaigrette.  The main course was cassoulet with large pieces of duck and sausage, and another course of paella with mussels, chorizo sausage, and shrimp.  Just when we thought we couldn’t eat anymore, out came the chocolate pot de creme, a plum tart, and their famous warm banana custard with a crumble topping.  At the end of the meal, it was just more proof that Angele is doing it right: from the outdoor patio seating on warm nights, to the great food, and the stellar service.   It was really great. Everything was paired with Hill Family wines that night.  Although I am not a fan of their chardonnay, I came to enjoy their cabernet sauvignon with the main courses immensely.  Ryan Hill, is the marketing director for his father’s winery, and he often pours at the winery in Yountville.  He was there to introduce their wines while we ate.  He has an engaging and amiable style of presenting the wines, and I would recommend spending time with him at the winery if you get a chance.  

Sitting on Washington Street in Yountville, Bistro Jeanty welcomes you to a taste of France.  We entered a small dining room decorated much like you would see in Paris at a cafe, and then walked out onto the side patio, a large area for dining outdoors.  The menu is very “french” with menu items that still make my mouth water: foie gras pate, beef tartare, tomato soup with pastry crust, and cassoulet.  We weren’t going to order dessert but the chocolate galette and the creme brulee were just too tempting to miss.   The portions here are very large on everything.  You may find that you want to share and not order individually.  We wanted to sample a little bit of everything, stating that we would take the left-overs home for lunch the next day.  The flavors were too good to set aside and, sadly, it meant we finished everything on our plates.  Which means, I suppose, that we’ll have to go back and try some other things.  For food in solid French fashion, Bistro Jeanty is the place to eat.

It is a small winery in the Stag’s Leap district that we had heard about from many guests and finally found an afternoon to sneak in for a tour and tasting.   The tour was just perfect, through the wine-making process where they process the grapes (we’re only weeks away from seeing it all in action), and out to the vineyard to view and talk about the grapes, and then into the cave where they store the wine.  Just that portion alone was wonderful, but then she led us into the tasting room (nothing elaborate) where everything we tasted was just yummy.  I hate wineries that produce good wines in every flavor.  It just forces me to buy more and that is always hard on my pocket book.  I have to admit, though, that later, when I open and drink that wine, that I am grateful that I bought what I did.  This place may be a small hillside winery and may not look like much from the outside, but their wines are just really tasty.  I do recommend that you pay them a visit.  When you do, make sure to bring along some lunch as they have a lovely little picnic area around the pond and stream that is very private and away from the crowds.  As they limit the number of people coming to the winery each day you can be sure to have a more personalized experience with them from start to finish.

Our friend, Gordon Larum, took us to a vineyard last week that is very private.  Set up on a hillside, you park the car and walk along a hillside path that is rocky and barren, through some scrub brush, and come out onto a two-tiered platform with tables and chairs under a wooden canopy, and look out onto the most spectacular view of Napa Valley.  There is no tasting room, no bathrooms (except the bushes and trees), no running water.  We could have stayed there all day.  When the winemaker, Peter, pulled out his wine he started with his ‘02 release, then worked us up through his ‘03, and then ‘04, describing his blend, the differences from year to year, and why he chose to change the blend proportions from year to year.  The wine is not inexpensive ($75/bottle on up), but it is really good.  When it was over he told us that he offers private dinners up there for $150 per person, or lunches, for $100 per person, with all the wine you can drink.  You can rent a port-o-potty for $75 that he will bring onto the property for the event if you want it.  It is a casual affair: jeans and tennis shoes, and yet it is a special place.  It is pretty amazing.  My one suggestion: hire a driver for the night.  You don’t want to be coming down the mountain after a dining/wine experience like that.  He is willing to allow us to book these events and we are glad to give you his name when you schedule and pay for the event.  That was our commitment to the winemaker who wants to keep this small and intimate and private.

It is a small winery in the Stag’s Leap district and one of their Cabernet Sauvignon’s just received 95 points from the Wine Enthusiast.  Not that “points” should matter, but for some it does.  They are a small estate and they have a nice selection of Pinot, Cabernet’s, and a new wine called Rupert which we fell in love with at first sip.  Debi Cali is their General Manager, and she was our first contact at Baldacci (we met her at another winery years ago where she was GM, and followed her here when she moved).  Then we met Mike Knox, and then Jessica, and then Annie, and with each person we met our love affair with the winery grew.  Rolando, their winemaker, has produced some first-class wines; and he was doing for them what he had done for Stag’s Leap for many years.  They have a small cave where they make and store the wine, and that is always a great visit for our guests.  You do need an appointment to get in, and we are glad to make one for you.  They are not producing just first-class wine, but the personnel are first-class, too, and the small tasting room and outdoor patio make the experience just perfect for tasting here in the Napa Valley.

One of the great advantages of Napa is that the restaurants are within walking distance of the Inn.  Allegria is a lovely Italian restaurant built into an old bank, with a private room called The Vault (because it was!- but don’t ask to be sat there if you get claustrophobic or worry about the vault door shutting) that requires reservations in advance.  The other advantage of Allegria is that it is dog-friendly with an outdoor patio for canine lovers.  The food is good and the ambience is inviting.  They sent out a little appetizer of deep fried mozzarella with a tomato sauce that was just lovely (we have free appetizer cards available).  I ordered the beef carpaccio and was not disappointed.  It was a perfect beginning to my main course which was a soft polenta topped with portabello mushrooms and a lovely tomato sauce.  Jamie enjoyed the linguine with seafood, and my nephew and niece enjoyed the mussels and clams as an appetizer (indeed delicious, as I snuck a bite…or two…or maybe even three); and one of them asked for the pollo ripieno, a stuffed chicken breast, and the other wanted a pasta dish from the child’s menu but in adult portion and they were kind enough to accommodate (always a plus in my book).  We weren’t going to order dessert but couldn’t resist the homemade spumoni ice cream (yes, an absolute must if you go), the brownie pie (rich and delicious), and the tiramisu (I’ve never seen a piece so large).  We enjoyed a lovely Sequoia Grove Cabernet with dinner and all of us were happy and satisfied with the meal when we left.  

Walking into a cave that has been hand-dug by Chinese immigrants in the late 1800’s is just the beginning of your experience at Schramsberg Vineyards.  Looking at the pickaxe marks still etched into the wall gives you a greater appreciation for how far back the caves were dug with no technology, but just the backs and hands of human beings.  The property is beautiful and is soaked with history as you learn about these immigrants, the original owner and how he came to purchase the property, and how Jack London’s writing was influenced by the time he spent there.As you turn the corner you see a wall of bottles lying on their sides, stacked in perfect formation.  The real secret, though, is just how deep that wall of bottles is, and then to turn and look at all the walls surrounding you and realize just how much sparkling wine is sitting around you waiting to be opened.  In case of nuclear attack I know where I’m headed.  The tasting takes place in the cave and that is the other gift of this tour.  A sampling of various types of sparkling wine from low to mid to high range.  With each sip comes an explanation from the pourer of why the wine is made a particular way, what they were trying to achieve, and a listing of what foods would go well with each bottle.  After 90 minutes you will feel much better educated about “champagne” or “sparkling wine” as we call it here in the U.S. and have had an experience of cave tours like no other in the Valley.  Reservations are required.

I don’t often say that I like everything I tried, but this was an unusual place.  A world-class winemaker producing wines that are reasonably priced.  Now, that is the real surprise of this place.  I won’t drop his name- you’ll have to discover it for yourself; but he is consultant to many wineries here in the Napa Valley because he is one of the few who has produced a 100-point wine out of Napa.  We were encouraged to visit by a friend of ours and finally made our way to this small, unassuming winery with a very small and intimate tasting room.  The pourer, Jim, was just delightful and very informative, and let us also taste the winemaker’s son’s wine.  To be honest, the son has a ways to go, but is making some nice wine; just not as lovely as his father.  Anyway, if you are looking for an unassuming place to drink some really nice wine that is affordable and unpretentious, then this is the place for you.  If you are looking for splash, and pizzazz, and a major tour, please go elsewhere.  The winemaker’s son also produces wine out of Saddleback under a different label.  His wine was good but, in our opinion, not as good as his father’s wine- and, it was more expensive!  And in today’s times, less expensive is good especially when the flavor in your mouth is popping.  By the way, they have some tables and umbrellas outdoors for picnics, and I would highly recommend this as a place to enjoy your lunch.  As with any winery it is common courtesy to buy a bottle of wine when using the picnic grounds.

Anyone who has been to Napa knows that out of the 400+ wineries, many of them are listed as Private, which often means you cannot access them……unless, of course, you know someone…or someone who knows someone else.  We have some of those connections in the valley, connections that would allow guests to have access to very private and exclusive tastings not offered to anyone unless you are “in the know”.  We often don’t publicize the fact because the prices on some of these private wines can be $75 to $150 and up, and the expectation of the winemaker is that the individuals coming to the winery are on a “wine-buying” trip and are serious about buying a case or more of wine from them.  Most of these wineries only produce one thousand cases or less, which means there is very little to go around.  There are “cult wineries” that have started like this- Screaming Eagle, for one.  It was a small private winery and in 1992 it received 100 points from Robert Parker- high praise indeed.  With that rating came higher prices, and a waiting list for the wine.  It doesn’t matter that the original winemaker is gone; the cult-following is there.  Look for anything on a menu with Screaming Eagle and you can see upwards of $1500 or more for a single bottle of wine.  Today there is a waiting list to be put on the wine club members list, a wait of up to 3 years, we’re told.  Anyway, other private wineries are producing great wines and some of them are providing really unique experiences.  One place we visited (and you can too, for the right price of course) was up on Diamond Mountain.  We took a dirt road, parked, and then walked through some sagebrush to a 3-tier platform that had the most magnificent view of Napa Valley.  One section was covered with a trellis, with a table and chairs set up for formal wine tasting.  This winemaker only produces one wine, but he had 3 different years for us to taste and purchase.  It was a fascinating exercise in how wine changes over the years, and to speak to him about why he made it different each year and what he was trying to achieve; this was the real bonus.  Not to mention the VIEWS!  Then he told us that he is willing to do private lunches and dinners at the vineyard with the following stipulations: you have to hire a driver to take you there and back home (dinner drivers run about $100 for the evening).  I can understand why, as you are able to drink as much wine as you like, meander through the 13 acres of vines, or to just stare and gawk at the VIEWS.  Did I tell you about the VIEWS?  Okay, so that is really what you are paying for.  The other stipulation is that you wear comfortable walking or hiking shoes as you have to walk on this trail approximately 50 yards to get to the platform.  This is not a place dressing up; this is meant for casual dress for dinner.   Also, your bathroom (which is extra if you want it) is an outhouse that he will put on the property.  He also has plenty of lanterns and lighting for night events so you won’t get lost getting back to your driver.  For $125 per person for lunch, or $150 per person for dinner, you get wonderful VIEWS, as much wine as you want to drink (the wine is about $70/bottle), and a gourmet meal (beef wellington was the last meal he served).  He is willing to do it for 2 people up to 12 people, exclusively for The Inn On First.  If you want to go, all you have to do is ask.  We’ll be glad to set you up.

We sometimes refer to this restaurant as our home away from home.  It is one of those restaurants we frequent often, and if we cannot sit and have a meal, we’ll order out.  The flavors here continue to entice our palates and we have yet to walk away disappointed.  My personal favorite is the Osso Bucco on sweet potato fries, with the meat falling right off the bone.  I still enjoy the seafood gumbo and the duck jambalaya, and now their ‘tweener (1/2 gumbo and 1/2 jambalaya). This last time they offered us the Super ‘tweener, with a large duck leg on top, and Matt, the chef, joked that he wanted to improve that with a Jumbo ‘tweener that would add a crab cake on top of the duck leg.  We split the Osso Bucco and Super ‘tweener and with each bite I felt as though my mouth was at a wild dance party where the spices become the music which cause my body to jump with pleasure.  And who can forget the deep-fried butterscotch pudding with a green apple salad and vanilla vinaigrette and a scoop of green apple sorbet.  That was perfect.  I give you fair warning, though: going to any other restaurant after this one is like attending the ballet after a night of dancing to rock and roll.  You need to be prepared for more subtle flavors and nuanced dishes.  If you think every restaurant is going to offer what Bleaux Magnolia has to offer, you will be disappointed.  For us, this is another “not to be missed” restaurant in Napa.