Day of Wine
We spent today touring a few wineries in the Napa Valley, taking Ari on his first formal wine tasting. We started the morning at The Olive Press in Oxbow Market, where we tasted about a dozen different local olive oils plus various vinegars. We bought a small bottle for Ari, two bottles for Amy and Greg, and a really delicious bottle of champagne vinegar. Unfortunately, we were too busy tasting to take any photos!
Our first official wine tasting was at Mumm Napa, famous for champagne-style sparkling wines. We had a wine-and-cheese tasting.
Ari particularly enjoyed the rosé wines, while Amy and Greg reminisced about how we had Mumm at our wedding. The cheese pairing was particularly good, and Amy enjoyed a grapefruit-rosemary mocktail. We also ordered some chocolate dipped caramels; they were exceptionally good, perhaps better than what Amy, Ari or Greg can make. The pours were quite generous, so after 5+ half-glasses of champagne, Ari and Greg were happy that Amy was the designated driver. Next, we drove to Calistoga, where we walked around and got some pastries at a local shop.
Our second tasting was at Grgich Hills, famous for the Judgment of Paris, where Miljenko "Mike" Grgich entered a white wine that shocked the French judges. Mike Grgich died about a year ago at the tender age of 100, and our host said that's a reminder that you can drink a little wine each day and still live a long life. We tasted a Sauvignon blanc, two Chardonnays, a special Croatian-style Zinfandel, and two Cabernets.
The Grgich Chardonnays were in the French-style rather than the California style, which pleased Greg. Ivo, who is Mike's nephew and the current winemaker, came to our table and chatted with us for about 15 minutes, telling us some stories of Mike and about the Regenerative Organic practices of the winery. Greg also learned that the "Hills" in Grgich Hills refers to the Hills family of Hills Brothers Coffee, not the hills around Napa Valley.
We finished the afternoon at Ashes & Diamonds, perhaps the newest winery in Napa. We were hosted by Leo Tovey, whom Amy and Greg haven't seen since his bar mitzvah 20+ years ago. After working as a sommelier in various restaurants, Leo is now the business manager of the winery, Ashes & Diamonds is trying to appeal to younger wine buyers. Their flavor profile is different than 'older' wineries: unusual and more drinkable. Probably not the kind of wine that someone would collect. Seems that the jury is out on whether they will succeed in reaching a new audience. But we liked the sparkling wine enough to buy a few bottles.
We're finishing the day at Bistro Jeanty, a French restaurant. Should be enough to fortify us for the drive to Malibu tomorrow. Hopefully Southern California will be a bit sunnier...
