Napa 4 With a surprise visitor

We both went to breakfast, although it was just scrambled eggs today. Then we went for a short walk around the Bale Grist Mill, which once we found the start of the trail was a really nice walk through some undeveloped land just a couple miles north of our hotel. 

Our first wine stop was Honeig winery, our best find of the trip. Our guide, Edgar, took us in a golf cart tour of their vineyard. They have a lot of similarities to David Hill and it was really interesting to see how they do things. We had a nice Sauv Blanc during the vineyard tour; many wineries here heavily oak their Sauv Blanc in a style sometimes called fume blanc. Sometimes it works, sometimes not so much – it worked very well here. After the tour we went inside and did a nice tasting of mostly Cabs, which were delicious, and a late harvest Sauv Blanc & a port-style Cab, all very good. Edgar had a lot of good things to say about Hoenig. “It’s the last winery I’ll ever work for” is what he told us, which for a second I thought meant he was done working at wineries, but he clarified that he planned to work there until he retired. Like Black Stallion, they purchase almost all of their fruit; unlike Black Stallion they are laser focused on Sauv Blanc and Cab.

Next stop was Gott’s roadside (AKA Taylor’s Refresher) for burgers for lunch. When we drove by yesterday it was jammed – we hit it just right, arriving just before the crowds. The burgers are very yummy. And then it was time for our last winery stop, Rombauer. Yes, the same as the Joy of Cooking Rombauers, although they just sold to Gallo. They’re known for their oaky, buttery chardonnays and big jammy zinfandels. Their wines are still oaky, buttery, and jammy, but the trend towards “restrained and elegant” that has swept through Napa Valley like a plague (if I wanted restrained and elegant I’d stay in Pinot Noir country – I want a big old honkin’ red) has even gotten to Rombauer. Still, pretty good stuff – we came away with a couple of bottles of zin and a cab. I was really excited to go to Rombauer to see if my strong memory of their tasting room was accurate. It was inconclusive, but it’s probably a strong memory of somewhere else, which makes the copy of Joy of Cooking on a shelf over the windows at the place I remember a little hard to explain.

Back to our hotel for a short rest and then down to Napa for a Surprise Visit with the Bro! We went for a walk at Kennedy Park near the river and had ice cream at Foster’s, and talked. It is good to have a brother who will drive over an hour just to walk and talk and have ice cream.

After we sent Ben on his way we drove back up the valley for a more relaxing in our wonderful hotel room, and then it was time for our food adventure at Press.  You'll need to read the next blog to find out what happened there!