Napa Valley

Those of you who have been keeping up with us on Instagram know that Eric and I managed to sneak in another week of vacation this year.  Despite the amount of traveling we do abroad, neither of us had ever been to the West Coast!  We packed up and jetted across county last week, spending the first four nights in Napa Valley, and the second four nights in San Francisco.

I know a lot of you travel-junkie readers want detailed information (and I want my own record for next time!), so I'm going to break this trip down into two posts for us. We'll start with our top picks for Napa.

First up, the wine.

(everyone's favorite part)

Tied for #1 spot: Frog's Leap & Domaine Carneros

Frog's Leap was recommended to us by Chelsea (affectionately referred to in our home as, "Walter's Mom"), and I owe her a million thanks.  We started out our wine tasting with Frog's Leap on the first day, and it was the BEST experience ever.  First, their main building and surrounding gardens and vineyards are just gorgeous.  Think wide-planked floors, roll away doors, open air, large porch, and outdoor seating. Plus, the weather that we had last week was just PERFECTION. Sunny and high in the mid-70's. Perfect for shorts and a cardigan, which is basically my ideal casual outfit.

I've had Frog's Leap wine before (and loved it), so tasting at the winery didn't disappoint.  We ended up walking away with a Rose that isn't distributed elsewhere, and we also tried a Petit Syrah that was amazing. Frog's Leap is certified organic, and in my opinion, you can really tell when tasting the wine.

For us, the small details make the difference.  Everything was so nicely done, yet understated, and not over the top. The staff was beyond friendly at the winery - upon our request, they recommended a fantastic restaurant for lunch, printed out the menu for us, and (wait for it) even highlighted their favorites for us!  I really liked the small, intentional details. For example, they used local products from Napa Soap Company in their restrooms. Swoon.  We finished up our tasting and then strolled their grounds and rocked in their wooden rocking chairs with a glass of Rose. Such a relaxing way to start the trip.

Frog's Leap was probably the best overall experience that we had in Napa. It may not be on the large, paid-advertisement maps that you pick up at your hotel, but trust me, you do not want to miss this one.

Also tied in first place (just very different) is Domaine Carneros. They WILL be on your large maps, but definitely don't disappoint.  We paid to take a tour here because they produce sparkling wine - something I love, but know nothing about. The staff at a winery can either make or break the experience, so luckily, our tour guide (Mike) was fantastic.

 The winery itself was just so pretty, but the sparkling wines were just as good.  We didn't take as many photos here.  Those of you who know me know that a) I love anything sparkling, and b) My inner nerd loves a good tour.  Combine those two, and I was pretty much in the zone and sans camera the majority of the time.

However, this might give you some indication of how much we liked it. The day after we toured Domaine Carneros, Eric found out that he got a big promotion at work. A promotion that has been much, though probably unnecessarily, stressed about, and that is very well deserved.  (He won't brag, but as his wife, I sure will!) It was so fun to find out on vacation because we were really able to celebrate! First stop? BACK to Domaine Carneros for a bottle of bubbly on their lovely terrace, despite all the other lovely wineries nearby that we hadn't visited yet. And Mike ended up being our server again!  We snagged a bottle of their organic brut to bring home.  Sorry for no link - it's only available there!

2. Beringer

Kait recommended doing the tour at Beringer a while back, and it was so fun!  Take the image/taste/price of the Beringer bottles on the shelves at your local Walmart, and just chunk them away.  Visiting the actual winery was a whole different experience.

First, the tour was great, and very informational.  We did some pairings here, and also got to taste from the barrel, so some different experiences than we had at other wineries. Second, it's worth visiting just to see the place. I mean, it is gorgeous.

What put Beringer at number 2? The wine was great, but not oh-my-gosh-the-best-I've-ever-had, and the ticket price is a bit high for the tour.  If you're visiting on more of a tight budget, skip the tour, and just do just a tasting on your own. Bring your own picnic and enjoy the gorgeous grounds.  Next time we're here, that's what we'll probably do.

 3. Roche Winery

Again, this is another winery that probably won't be on your big tourist maps.  It's actually in Sonoma, and we stumbled upon it by accident when we had time to kill before a dinner reservation.  I have no photos because I forgot my camera that afteroon. Whoopsie!

However, the wine was excellent, the staff extraordinarily friendly, and the tastings were both casual and inexpensive.  I think we tasted 12 to 15 wines for $5. And then the bartender ended up giving us BOTH of our tastings for $5.  I have no idea why it was this cheap because in my opinion, they could be charging a lot more. We must have stayed there chatting for at least an hour and a half.  Very enjoyable, and very good wine. Plus, we tasted from the barrel here as well.  This winery is quite small and family owned, but you're guaranteed to enjoy your experience here.

4. Hess Collection

If you're into art, Hess Collection is a must see for you.  There is an impressive private art collection on the second floor that is free to view.  It was enjoyable, but I know nothing about fine art, so my observations were limited.  A Napa local recommended this winery to us at dinner the night before, and we always, always take locals up on tips.  However, it's a bit of a drive out to this tasting room, and I'm not sure we'd come back again.  The wines just weren't our personal favorite.  However, with that being said, you might love them.  Wine tasting is such an individual rating sort of thing.  The facilities, art collection, and pricing were great, so keep this one in mind at least.

5. Acacia Vineyard

Alexa recommended this winery to us, as it was one of her favorites when she honeymooned there!  Based on the quality of the wine - I can see why.  The pinot noirs were probably our favorite of the trip. This was the same afternoon that I forgot my camera, so sorry, no photos of this one!  All that being said, you might be wondering why this one ended up at the bottom of my Top 5 list.  Again, staff can make or break an experience.  And this is a "whole experience" kind of list.  The wine at Acacia was fantastic - definitely did not disappoint.  But the lady who served us was....a bit strange.  And instead of telling us about their wines, she just poured and told us about some of her favorite recipes. None of which sounded all that appetizing.  It was an odd experience. 

That being said, the wine really was good.  We tried a couple of whites, and a trio of pinot noirs - which was really fun!  If you're visiting just for the quality of the wine alone, this one might be higher up on the list. But from a "whole experience" point of view, we were happy to taste and move on.

Napa Best Eats

We did a LOT of eating on this trip. Here are our top picks in the Napa Valley area.

I'm not ranking them because I can't pick, and they're all so different. 

Basically, you should go to every single one.

Carpe Diem
Also recommended to us by Alexa (thank you!!), Carpe Diem had fantastic food. Not overly expensive, a good beer/wine selection, and high-quality, fresh food. They had a bit of an eclectic menu, which we enjoyed.  I actually ended up with an Ostrich Burger, topped with a poached duck egg. I ate every. single. last. bite. And it was delicious.

Have you ever dipped french fries in poached duck egg? I highly recommend it. You'll want to make a reservation for this place.

Bistro Sabor

This place was very small, and quite inexpensive, but one of my favorite meals of the entire trip. It is El Salvadoran, with a bit of flair.  Eric tried the pupusas, and I tried a taco plate. Both were amazing - excellent quality, excellent flavor.  The owner was working the cash register (love that), and the staff was quite friendly.

The Thomas

I'm linking to the cocktails menu at The Thomas because that's all we tried. They were PACKED though, and the food looked amazing.  I'm thinking a full dinner here is on our agenda for next time.  If you look at their cocktail list, you'll see why I had trouble making a selection.  I ended up going with the Red Pepper Daisy, which was a tequila cocktail made with red pepper juice. It was nothing short of amazing.  I could have sat at the bar and watched the bartender all night long - his bartending was a CRAFT, and nothing short of. Yes, the cocktails are pricey, and yes, they are worth every penny. Every single penny.

Gott's Roadside Grill

 This place was also recommended to us by a local, and it was the perfect type of lunch to have after a long sweaty hike when we were starving.  We visited the location in St. Helena, and sat outside in the shade to eat.  The sweet potato fries were my favorite, but I appreciated the menu option to order fresh, raw veggies.  I just stole some of Eric's fries.  Eric appreciated the cans of PBR on the menu to go with his burger.

Giugni & Son Grocery

It is very possible that you will want to pick up a picnic to go during your time in Napa.  Most of the wineries have picnic grounds, and it's so nice to sit outside and enjoy the view while you eat.  This little hole in the wall shop had the best sandwiches I think I've ever had, and that is no exaggeration. You can pick up drinks, a sandwich, chips, and old fashioned candy. Darling little place, but limited seating, so you might actually be better off getting it to go. They have too many options to count, and you build your own.  My favorite part was the jalapeno cheddar bread and the "Giugni Sauce".

The Kitchen Door

We stumbled across this little place while browsing Oxbow Public Market, and I seriously have NO IDEA why we didn't see it as a top pick on Yelp or in any guidebooks or travel blogs.  This was one of my top two favorite meals of the ENTIRE trip (again, not ranking these restaurants here...all too different).   The atmosphere of the place was fantastic - we sat outside on the (dog-friendly) patio, watched the sun set over the hills, and enjoyed the outdoor fireplace.  Eric had korean short ribs with bacon fried rice (you read that right...BACON), and I had the roasted chicken with peppercorn gravy and corn on the cobb. Another eclectic menu, but the quality of the food could not be beat.  We shared a s'more with homemade marshamallow for dessert and easily could have eaten a second. Easily.

Napa Valley Coffee Roasting Company

Starbucks ain't got nothin on this coffee.

Eric also ordered a cinnamon latte, which was like heaven in a cup.  And this place has a red, perfect, chippy paint screen door.

Enough said. 

The Extra Bits

• There are a variety of "wine finder" apps that will ordinarily get you some sort of discount or two-for-one tastings. Just search your phone's app store, and you will find them.  Most require you to check in on Facebook or something of the sort, but on average, they save you $10 to $15. Worth it.
• We were a little nervous about going to Napa during "high tourist" season, but we never felt like it was crowded ANYWHERE.  Maybe it's because there are so many wineries that people spread out, I don't know.  The only other thing I could think was that we went the LAST week of August, which is when a lot of schools start back. So maybe parents stayed home to get the babies off to a good start that week, I have no idea.  The point is to not let "tourist season" scare you off.  I would definitely go back this time of year again.  The grapes were on the vine, there was lots of harvesting activity, and the weather could not have been more perfect.
• You don't actually save a ton of money by buying wine in Napa unless you are buying entire cases, and we honestly didn't find one we loved enough to do that.  We just tend to like variety.  We bought wines that were not distributed that we could only get at the winery. Otherwise, you will come out cheaper buying them off the shelves at a store. No fun, I know.
• I happened to find a delightful little souvenir in Sonoma. An impulse purchase, which I rarely make. A giant cow painting. Her name is Abigail. She had to be shrink wrapped for protection and had to fly in-cabin with us back home, tucked down beside the seat, which entertained Eric to no bounds. Worth it. I love her. 

• We stayed at the Embassy Suites in Napa. It's very nice and was just remodeled - no complaints. You can't beat free, which is what Hiltons are for us these days with travel points. I think next time we might stay in St. Helena just because we thought it was a super cute little town, and there were a lot of restaurants there that we wanted to try.
• This doesn't necessarily belong at the bottom of the list because it was one of our favorite things that we did. But we spent one morning hiking at Robert Louis Stevenson State Park.  It was cool enough to need long sleeves for the first half of the hike, and it was lovely.  The hike was maybe 5 or 6 miles round trip, so nothing too strenuous.  It was nice to enjoy the views and the quiet and the cool weather though. Funny enough, I hiked the entire thing with my purse because there were signs at the beginning of the trail about recent break-ins and I had a favorite purse that was an anniversary gift from Italy with me that I refused to leave in a rental car. If you need a break from tasting wine and eating (I definitely did), this might be a good way to break it up and spend a morning or two. 

It was actually RAINING condensation in this photo, which was crazy cool.

So that's our list of loves and likes in Napa Valley! As always, feel free to email me if you have specific questions or want more detail. Happy to help with your travel plans! And for free at that ;)

A MAJOR thanks to all of the aforementioned ladies who pointed us to some truly amazing places on this trip!

I'll be back later this week with a San Francisco post - hope you all have a lovely Monday!

Happy Monday!

We celebrated a birthday this weekend at our house...

This basset dad turned another year older on Sunday! Naturally, we stretched the celebrating out all weekend long.

On Friday, Eric and I had dinner alone at The Block and Grinder, a new butcher shop and boutique restaurant in Charlotte.  Holy. Delicious.  Local, organic, farm to table...and all meat is cut and ground in-house. Everything was delicious, but the meat really stole the show. Read: coffee crusted venison and seared magret duck in a cherry/brandy sauce.  And those were just the entrees - we actually were sold from the cocktails and appetizers (goat cheese and prosciutto deviled eggs, along with pork belly over cornbread pancakes).  I love a restaurant with unique craft cocktails. I'm not a big drinker, so I like my one or two of the night to vary a bit from the norm.  I can now say that it's my new mission to try every craft cocktail on the menu at this restaurant, but the ones I tried  Friday were so good, it will be hard not to order repeats.  As if things could get any better, the service was also incredible. If you are in the area...this is a must try. This place is set for big business.

On the left is the Mezcal Mule, and on the right, Eric's Gin Basil Smash.

Saturday, Eric wanted to do some hiking, so we set out for South Mountains State Park, and had a FANTASTIC time.

Note who carried the backpack. In my defense, I offered to help...but was declined.

Any hike that includes a waterfall and meandering mountain streams rises to the top of the list in my book.  The Gulf beaches where we came from are beautiful, but in my opinion (not even taking into account the glorious accompanying sound effects) you really just can't beat this...

or this...

or this...

or, for that matter, several miles of this, for one killer glute workout with a view.

These guys, who climbed over a fence and were jumping off of the slippery rocks at the base of the waterfall (into shallow water at that), are simply living proof that idiots do exist everywhere you go.

For those of you wondering where little Pierre was in all of this, the answer is at home. On the couch. Sleeping. His tiny basset legs never would have covered the distance, or height, that we covered on Saturday.

Although... the thought of carrying him with me in one of those toddler backpack things did cross my mind.   Upon further research, I found that these actually exist for dogs. And no, I'm not joking. I am, however, joking about literally carrying Pierre on my back...I wouldn't get too far with those chunky paws weighing me down.

Source

We ended the hike on a leisurely note - refreshing tired feet and legs in chilly, knee-deep mountain water. Let me just go ahead and make it clear that I have all intentions of coming back to this park and spending much, much longer lounging on one of those large rocks in the middle of the stream.

Saturday night we met some friends at another event at the US Whitewater Center for a bit, and I attempted to get a group photo of all of the dogs present.  Please see how extraordinarily well that went below, even with the promise of treats.

Luckily, Keri managed to get a semi-decent one of the girls in attendance at least. Pierre was pulling on his leash, so all the ones Eric took turned out extra blurry.  Remember when I said we needed to work on real life distractions? Yeah.

Sunday was Eric's actual birthday, but it turned out to be a pretty lazy day for us.  After church, I made his favorite enchiladas for lunch, and then we managed to get out to do some neighborhood hopping to prepare for the upcoming house search.

I'm spending my morning today getting ahead on a few things at home, while self-admittedly listening to a live-feed of the George Zimmerman trial.  Now, hear me people, hear me: I am not commenting on the merits of the case itself. I'm not a juror, therefore I don't have all of the evidence in front of me, therefore I don't know enough to run my mouth about what the verdict should be. Neither does the media, despite what they may try to convince you of.  (I could count at least 10 claims made out by the media to be fact that were actually disproved, by both sides, in court this morning.)

However, I can comment on the lawyering that I watched live, for myself. I mean, opening statements contained two firsts for me today, which is (mildly) exciting. First, the F-bomb was dropped within the first sentence of the prosecution's opening statement; granted, it was used in terms of a quote made by the defendant (and was quite effective, in my opinion). Second, a knock-knock joke was used in the first sentence of the defense's (and was quite INeffective, in my opinion).  Maybe it's just me, but a knock-knock joke used in the opening statement of a MURDER trial, to an all female jury, doesn't seem like the best judgment call to me. Insensitive much? The defense seems to be a bit unorganized and rambling to me thus far, but it could be part of an overall strategy. Time will tell.

I can only hope that your Monday morning has been just as wild and exciting as mine (smile). I'll be back later this week with some new favorite recipes that we've tried recently, as well as an update on Pierre's obedience training. Have a happy day!

Because One Post on the Cinque Terre Wasn't Enough

Unfortunately, two out of the four hikes between the five villages were closed due to rockslides and landslides.  However, the two hikes that we did do were the lengthier/more challenging of the four, so we felt like we still got the full experience.

After our beach lingering, we went on to do the hike from Vernazza into Corniglia. Note the steel netting above me...after seeing the size of some of the boulders it caught and reading news stories like this, I was pretty thankful for it.

View back toward Vernazza...the little beach we were on is bottom center.

This hike wasn't nearly as intense as the first one we did - many more areas that were level and we were able to take in much more of the view because we didn't have to worry about stable footing the whole time.  The natural, unadulterated, raw beauty of the Cinque Terre amazed us...the photos really just can't even begin to do it justice.

It was incredible to us that all along these hikes between villages, there were homes - some that were even higher up the trail than we were.  I mean, I can't imagine having to go down these trails with bags of groceries, but these people have called the Cinque Terre home for generations upon generations.

Approaching Corniglia

The only bit of trail "running" that I did was here, ahead of Eric to get this shot.

Corniglia was a cute little town, and I did pop into the market to get some fresh strawberries, but we didn't spend as much time here as we did in the other villages. Word from the wise - I would not recommend staying in Corniglia unless you are prepared a) to climb up 400 stairs (literal number) from the train station every time you come back "home", or b) to wait 15 to 20 minutes each time for a bus to take you to the top of the hill.  Cute town, but I would recommend visiting as opposed to staying here.

We were pretty tired by this point in the day, so we went back to shower and then took a train back into Vernazza for aperitivo and dinner that night at Trattoria da Sandro, upon a recommendation from Aspiring Kennedy in this post.

Aperitivo in Italy is sort of like our happy hour, but restaurants serve small snacks for free (or included in the price of your drink is probably more accurate) to go along with your cocktail.  These range from small bits of pizza or bread/topping, to a bowl of chips and nuts/olives.  We picked a spot right on the harbor in Vernazza and had prosecco and spritz before our dinner. You pay a little more to sit right on the water, but hey, it's vacation right? A spritz is our favorite to order in Italy, and everyone drinks them.  Basically, we just try to fit in and pretend like we live there as much as possible, ha!  But...I think my poor Italian might just give me away.  A spritz is prosecco, aperol (sometimes campari), and a splash of soda water, garnished with an orange slice.  I love anything sparkling, so these are right up my alley.

Around 8:30 or so we headed to dinner.  We learned our first time in Italy a few years ago that 8:00 is the absolute earliest you want to head to dinner unless you want to be completely alone in the restaurant.  Apertifs help hold us over until then.  Trattoria da Sandro is right outside the train station in Vernazza, literally.  Ordinarily, we would avoid it, as the location indicates a tourist trap.  But since Aspiring Kennedy had recommended it (and has never failed us on her restaurant recommendations in Europe thus far), we decided to give it a go. And oh my, I am so glad we did. Both the food and the service were phenomenal, and like most places in the Cinque Terre, it's family run.  Y'all know we love a good small business.

Fresh anchovies are their specialty, and while it's probably not something I would order in the States (which are inevitably NOT fresh and packed in oil...blegh), I was determined to give it a go in the Cinque Terre.  Ours were marinated in lemon juice and were phenomenally fresh. I definitely recommend giving them a try even if you don't ordinarily like them (I don't).  I ordered the sea bass in a lovely light tomato sauce with potatoes and zucchini, and Eric actually ordered the anchovy casserole which was out. of. this. world.

As we finished up our last course, our bartender from the place where we had drinks before dinner came in with a large group of his friends for dinner at the same restaurant.  If there was ever any doubt that this was one of the best places in town to eat, that erased it!

We spent the remainder of the evening strolling around Vernazza under the glow of street lamps, and then took a train back to Manarola. 

Coming up tomorrow...a MUCH more low-key third day in the Cinque Terre.