Bogle Vineyards Phantom V. 2007

Toad Hollow 2010 Unoaked Chardonnay

My two days in Americas Viticultural Mecca

 Once we Finally made it to Napa we started out adventure out at 1 Michelin Stared Bistro called Auberge de Soleil.  We had a wonderful lunch with a breathtaking back drop.  The back drop being Napa Valley but more precisely it's the Rutherford region of Napa.  I don't have a picture of our second stop at Frogs Leap which was a wonderful winery with amazing fruit.  The wine that stood out the most to me was the 2005 Cab.  It had wonderful red fruit and a intriguing bell pepper notes on the nose and palate.

 Our third stop on Wednesday was at Alpha Omega winery in the Rutherford region.  It was the first time I had ever stopped at this winery and I fell in love with their whites.  Granted my palate was getting slightly fatigued at this point from drinking wine at Auberge and Frogs Leap but they had beautiful Sauvignon Blancs.

 Our final culinary stop of the day was at the world renowned The French Laundry.  It was a once in a life time experience to dine there.  When we walked in the door we were greated with a "happy birthday Zach." The next surprise was on the menu.  How many people can say that they have a personalized menu from The French Laundry?  But my next post will be about this gastronomical experience.

The above photos are from a bed and breakfast in Occidental.  The Inn at Occidental was a lovely bead and breakfast that was a true pleasure to experience.  The town was a few minutes from the coast and nestled in a valley surrounded by Red Woods.  If you ever get the experience to visit this place you will not be disappointed.

 I noticed this small yield chateau in Sonoma Valley and had to take a picture of it.  From the small amount of vines it should be a wonderful wine to try.  The Chateau has its own restaurant that serves simple food.

 One of the major differences I noticed in Sonoma is the fact that they have old gnarly vines.  I'm not sure if these are Zin or Syrah but they were amazing to see dotting the land scape.

 All of the above pictures are of a winery that I am truly in love with.  Lambert Bridge Winery has a french approach to their wines and it SHOWS.  These wines are truly beautiful and made with love.  Unfortunately they no longer distribute any of their wines.  It is only available for purchase at the winery or online.  If you have some spare cash laying around you should buy a bottle or two.  When I say spare cash I mean at least a hundred dollars for a few bottles with shipping.  Its STUNNING wine and worth every bit of it.

 All of the above photos are of Jordan Estates Winery.  The Chateau is modeled after Chateau Margaux.  It was good wine that had a beautiful setting.  It was a intimate setting with a intriguing surprise leading into the library testing.  They had a secret door that was in the library that led into a secret room for the tasting.  It was an amazing experience with some world class wine.  They only produce two wines and they do it very well in the "California" style.  The 2005 Cab stood out to me because my palate really has a strong affinity to the green vegetable or bell pepper notes now a days.

 The photos above are all from a small production winery named Robert Young Estate Winery.  We got this off of recommendation from Jordan winery.  This winery only keeps roughly 5% of their grapes to produce their wines.  The rest is bought up by Chateau St Jean and Clod du Bois.  They obviously keep what they think is the top 5% of the wine.  Jeff was our host and tour guide.  They wine was very good and unfortunately I had a hard time picking up on the subtle nuances of the wine because my palate was fatigued from trying over 15 different wines at that time.  During the tasting I asked Jeff if they ever do tours.  What happened next was the most intimate and entertaining experienced I have ever experienced in Viticulture.  He proceeded to take us through the tasting room into the back room where they were aging some wines and had all of equipment they use in wine making.  We proceeded to talk about their production and the "Angles Share."  Once we discussed evaporation he lead us into their $2,000,000 wine aging cave they have across the courtyard and took us on an intimate tour of it.  The smell of this cave was intoxicating to a wine fanatic.  The smell of the oak and the evaporating wine was just amazing for the lack of better words.  After that he took us on a tour of the vineyard.  We walked through the vines to atop the cellar that was cut into the hill side.  The view from atop the cellar was breath taking.  I almost had my wife convinced that we need to sell our house and move to the home that is for sell on the property.  I must reiterate how amazing the experience was and how informational our guide was.

 Not much of story for these photos because they were just more gnarly old vines that we wanted a photo of.

This photo is of a gift to my brother in law Dr. Chris Barnett.  He treated all of us to dinner at The French Laundry.  We wanted to return the favor somehow.  While we were at Jordan they had many old vintages for sale.  1977 is the year he was born and they had some bottles left for purchase.  We decided that buying him a wine that was just as old as him was another once in a lifetime experience that would be amazing.  We haven't had a chance to taste it yet.  Maybe we will try it tonight and if I can talk Chris into it he will taste it on camera with me.  I hope you have enjoyed my Two days in Mecca.

Bila-Haut 2011 Michel Chapoutier

www.fitandhappyproject.com

I forgot to mention that this wine finishes with a wonderful spicy note on the end.  Again please check out his website and he also has a Facebook page that you can check out also.