The polar vortex almost won!

But after eight cancelled flights, three airlines, and leaving a day early we made it to Napa Valley! We left Chicago at 15 below zero, shortstopped in Minneapolis at 30 below, and rolled into the Valley just in time to grab a late seating at Bouchon (FYI they are open until midnight). Their fabulous French onion soup, beef tartare, and a glass of 1998 Spring Mountain Vineyard Cabernet made for a warm welcome.

I love to visit Napa Valley in the off season not only to escape a chunk of Midwestern winter, but because it offers a lower stress time at the wineries, the restaurants aren’t as crowded, and lodging prices moderate a bit. Sure you miss the beauty of the vines being in leaf or with fruit, but this year the wild mustard was gorgeous and botany isn’t my passion!

While I’ll be writing a post on each of the wineries we visited in the coming days, I thought I’d begin with an overview of, and impressions from, this trip.

Overall it appeared to us the State of the Valley is good. Continuing to change of course, but then again what doesn’t change in these times, especially when it comes to tourist dependent environments.

We made our way from the city of Napa in the south to Calistoga up north. As a general observation I’d say Napa is still solid, Yountville is fine tuning, St. Helena is beefing up, and Calistoga, while perhaps a bit thin right now, is preparing for significant impacts from two new, nearby resort developments. We especially enjoyed the shopping offered in St. Helena, with two of our favorite shops being Napa Valley Vintage Home and AF Jewelers!

The food scene across the Valley is simply among the best! Bouchon Bakery continues to offer their large and wonderful array of fresh bakery items. The coffee and breakfast sandwiches across the street at the Mini Model Café, adjacent to the super cute Napa Valley Railway Inn, are excellent even in the rain! Breakfast at the Alexis Baking Company (known simply as ABC) continues to be terrific, a local favorite, and offers heavenly Lemon Ricotta Pancakes, which are perhaps the best pancakes we’ve had anywhere!

For a quick sandwich grab between tastings we enjoyed both JCB’s Atelier and the venerable Oakville Grocery! Our lunches and dinners were all winners! This was our first, but not last, meal at the Meadowood Grill. If it’s on the menu order their incredible beet salad! Bouchon and Ad Hoc and Addendum, both by famed chef, Thomas Keller, continue their excellence. Bosko’s Trattoria, under their newer management, continues to offer delicious, fresh Italian specialties! This trip we ‘discovered’ Bistro Jeanty, which immediately became a favorite!

Lodging offerings are as diverse and numerous as the wines of the Valley! This trip we spent half our time at the newly refurbished and under new ownership, Hotel Villagio. Our room was nicely sized, the bathroom luxurious, and the grounds beautiful. We found the staff cheerful and helpful. We were nicely surprised at the quality and quantity of the complimentary breakfast and being in the heart of Yountville is super convenient!

Wine is why we visit Napa Valley and once again the cornerstone of our trip. We managed 14 winery visits and added dinners with three winemakers so our itinerary was full and kept us going at a comfortable pace. I had to drop a couple tastings out of our initial schedule since even with the help of a driver I erred by underestimating how much time we would get to spend at each winery. Every stop was enjoyable on its own and we visited Teachworth (side bonus of tasting T. Berkley), Boeschen, William Cole, Del Dotto’s Piazza, CONSTANT Diamond Mountain, Alejandro Bulgheroni, Blackbird, Melka Estates, Blankiet, Pestoni Family (formerly Rutherford Grove), Vineyard 29, Raymond Winery, Sequoia Grove, and Alpha-Omega. Plus we enjoyed dinners with the winemakers from Grable Vineyards, Sill Family Vineyards, and Grounded Wine Company.

As a result of these visits we have a couple new favorites, enjoyed two memorable food/wine meal experiences, ate some fabulous small plates and charcuterie, and of course tasted lots of amazing wines!

It was good to see many of the wineries upping their game on their tastings, moving away from the same-old-same-old standard, and offering their customers more of multifaceted experiences at their wineries. The only negative from this was the few wineries we visited, which haven’t adapted, gave off a vibe of being a bit dated and out of touch. Another trend we saw was the continued struggle of many to attract and retain their hospitality staff. Understandable in this time of low unemployment, but the staff churn at some wineries made for a less than optimal experience for us as customers. Thankfully it was a minority of our visits.

Up next – the good, the great, and the mistakes!

Until then,
Enjoy your wine