Birthday Trip – 2006

Since we had two free tickets on Southwest Airlines that were due to expire soon, we made a last minute decision to head to California to visit Pat’s college roommate, Dede, and then to spend a few days in Napa. The trip was complicated by the fact that the closest airport serviced by Southwest is Jacksonville, FL, about 2.5 hours drive from here. (When we were in Maryland we used Southwest all of the time, since they flew from BWI). However, this complication turned out to be a blessing, since we had met a regional sales manager for the Amelia Island Plantation Resort just a month or two before. She had told us that if we wanted to visit, she would arrange a good discount. The Resort is about 45 minutes from the Jacksonville airport, so we decided that we would first celebrate my birthday there, play golf for a couple of days, and then head on to San Francisco. Carla was good to her word, and our ocean side room was about 60% the normal rate and the golf was 50%. It is a very nice resort with good golf courses, so we had a very good time there. We played a course with holes along the ocean (the picture shows the view from our room. One of the par three holes was just below our window.). We also played a course which went along the marsh side. We liked both courses, especially since they were relatively short – as is my ball hitting. The other thing we did was take a two hour nature tour on a Segway. The picture shows Pat and I mounted our our Segways. What great fun. If I had $5,000 in loose change lying around, I would buy one.

On Thursday we headed from San Francisco to spend the weekend with Dede. We flew in to Oakland (where SW goes) and took a shuttle to Dede’s place just off Ghirardelli Square. Dede has a three story “house” and her daughter (and husband and baby) occupy the first two floors, and Dede has the top floor (small, with one bedroom, living room and kitchen). Dede has recently added a roof garden which you reach via a spiral staircase, and it is great. I have included pictures taken there – one showing Pat and I with the clock tower at Ghirardelli Square and Alcatraz in the background, and the other of Pat and Dede the morning we had breakfast up there.

Dede had quite a weekend planned for us. On Friday we walked with friends of hers to Quoit Tower, strolled through China Town, and drove down on the peninsula to see her house and her son’s house in Woodside, CA and then her daughter’s house near Stanford. That evening the three of us had dinner at a hot, new restaurant called Aqua. Our dinner took us three hours – bad service. Dede finally went to complain, and they could not have been more unctuous. We even got a free desert wine. Actually, we enjoyed ourselves in spite of the length of time, but as we talked more about the meal afterward, we decided that we did not like the restaurant. First, it was a 3 or 4 course meal, which none of us really wanted. Then, none of us finished our entrée. Dede had salmon and did not like the glaze or the vegetable which accompanied it. I had cod which had a sauce that no one liked. Pat had Monk fish and she also was not happy with the accompanying vegi. Also her appetizer was a poached scallop – they really need a bit of browning. Our conclusion was that in their desire to be “different”, the chefs are putting together unusual combinations, many of which are not good together. At least in this case Dede got to fill out a review of the restaurant, so we got to put in a few comments.

The next day Dede had a brunch on her roof top and had some friends over, including a friend Judy who traveled Europe with Pat and Dede back in 1962 – nice people, nice brunch. Afterward we went down to Ghirardelli Square where they were having a wine tasting. Unfortunately, the tasting was pretty expensive and we only knew a couple of the wines, so we passed on that. That evening we (Pat, Dede, Judy, and I) tried another “hot” restaurant – 5^th Floor. This one I had read about in the wine spectator about a year ago, and had told Pat she should go there the last time she visited Dede. This evening was a success, and we all agreed that we would be happy to eat dinner there again.

Sunday was the “Bay to Breakers” 12 K race (7.2 miles). This is a big event in San Francisco and has been going on for over 30 years. (You can see it a www.ingbaytobreakers.com) Basically, you start at the Bay and end at the Ocean, the last part going through Golden Gate Park. Mostly this is a fun event, although there were at least a dozen Kenyans who were there to make a living, and about 8 serious female runners. The rest of the 50,000 runners were amateurs, some of whom were fairly serious and others in costume (or nothing at all) who were there for the fun. Dede had told us about it in advance, so we said sign us up. If nothing else we would get a t-shirt, albeit an expensive one considering the $38 entrance fee. The only mistake Dede made was in registering us, she clicked on the box that said we would complete the race in under 2 hours. When I got the notification that we were registered, I sent her an email to ask if she was out of her mind. I said that I can go 3.5 miles/hour on my treadmill, but only for about 20 minutes. Anyway, it did not matter. We immediately decided to cheat. We went to a location about a mile from the start and watched the runners come by for a while – we wanted to see them run up the first hill. Then we climbed into the car and drove to the De Young museum in Golden Gate Park, where we parked our car and then joined the race. At that point we were at mile maker 5, and decided to walk to the end (another 2.2 miles). I was amazed that everyone in that group was still running, but we did not let that bother us. We just walked along and at the three photo opportunities we had our pictures taken. (I have included one of the pictures of Pat, Dede, I, and an unknown person next to Pat. Sorry for the quality, but I have to pay if I want a good picture.) After some time we crossed the finish line (in 1 hour, 56 minutes, so I guess Dede knew what she was talking about), and there were people there cheering us (I did fell guilty then.). From the finish line we decided to walk back to the stadium where the runners were meeting, but that turned out to be hard work. We walked about a mile, and Pat, who unfortunately had just come down with a cold, was done in – as was I, to tell the truth. I know that we walked at least mile, and probably more, but managed to catch a tram and get close to the museum. We then went into this new museum (unusual design), and went to the top (9^th) floor. We could see the race still going on, and by this time the people were mostly just having fun – costumes, carts, etc. So, in the end, I figured that we must have walked about four miles (almost 7.2), and had a great time – and got a t-shirt.

That evening we rested by ordering pizza in and enjoying it with Dede’s daughter, son-in-law and four children, ages 6 months to 9 years. Quite an event. Made me wonder how my mother managed with four kids, but decided that we were more spread out in years. I can’t imagine having to deal with four young kids, even though they were all well-behaved.

Monday morning we picked up a rental car and headed for Napa with the unfortunate Pat in the full throws of a terrible cold. I am not sure that we should not have come home, but she gamely joined me in my tastings of Napa wines – not as a participant, since everything tasted terrible with the medication she was taking, but at least as an occasional “sniffer” when she could.

In Napa we stayed at Rancho Caymus in Rutherford, between Yountville and St. Helena. It was quite a nice inn, Spanish style with a nice courtyard, and the rooms were good sized. We particularly liked the location, as it was close to the center of our activities. The inn also had an upscale restaurant, La Toque, and we ate there one evening. It was also a fixed price menu and a five course meal – two choices for each course. We felt that the chef here suffered from the same malaise as the Aqua chef – seemingly different for different’s sake. Also we were not happy with most of the selections. The choice between fois gras with eel or poached white fish (that looked like a fish belly) did not excite either of us.

I had arranged various tours/tastings prior to our visit, primarily based on Mike and Kay’s recommendations, as well as wines we particularly like. Since we did not arrive until noon on Monday, I had arranged only one tour at Duckhorn in the afternoon. We had a nice tour by a knowledgeable guide, and then went to the tasting room to taste five different wines (only a little of each). They provided a nice assortment of palate cleansers (two hard cheeses, crackers, etc.), and we had a nice discussion of the wines. (We heard some gossip later that Doug Duckhorn was now with Gary Andrus’ (former Pine Ridge owner) wife). Prior to the tour we had driven to Chateau Montelena, but only had time to see the building – beautiful building.

The next day we had arranged three tastings - a tour/tasting of Shafer, a tasting at Corison (one of our favorite Cabs), and a tasting at Flora Springs (the family owns the Rancho Caymus). The tour at Shafer was really special. The girl leading the tour was one of the two people handling sales for Shafer and had a degree from UC-Davis. We also met the wine maker, Elias Fernandez, who was supervising the latest bottling of their Hillside Select (see picture), and while we were tasting Doug Shafer (now in charge) stopped by – both graduates of Davis. Seems like a real family operation, and they make great wines. I think that this was one of the best tours that we have done. We are all awaiting the day the Mike will open his magnum of Hillside Select.

After lunch at Gordon’s in Yountville (interesting, offbeat kind of place), we went on, although I am becoming confused about the actual sequence – must have been the wine. In any case we visited Corison (owner/winemake Cathy Corison) and had a very nice tasting. We have been buying Corison Cabs since the 1993 vintage and have always liked them. I put a picture of their “barn” here, to indicate the size. I was very surprised to find that they only produce 4,000 cases of Cab per year, but I guess it at least it got to DC.

Following that we stopped by the Flora Springs tasting room. We like Flora Springs – the Chardonnay, and even better the Trilogy, a Meritage with a dominance of Cabernet Sauvignon. That was a nice tasting and I enjoyed talking with the person serving us. Also, I bought a wine thermometer which uses infrared to measure the temperature of the wine in the bottle, before opening. I am really happy to have that, since so often restaurants serve at “room temperature”, but don’t realize that this referred to French room temperatures a hundred years ago. Anyway 65 is appropriate, not 85. I can’t wait to take it to a restaurant with me. That evening we went to Bistro Jeanty, a French style bistro with all of the classic French dishes. We shared a Cassoulet, and had a nice evening.

On Wednesday we (I guess, I, since Pat was not tasting) went wild, and scheduled four tastings. We started the day with Joseph Phelps, one of our favorite vineyards. The have a lovely vineyard and building in a rather secluded area. The bridge in the picture is just that – an old redwood bridge that the disassembled and reassembled on the sight – quite a lovely aspect. At this tasting we had the Chardonnay, Le Mistral, Merlot, Cab, and even the latest Insignia – but could not buy a bottle of the 2002 Insignia, the WS wine of the year. (Later we met a woman who worked at Phelps for a couple of years, but could not stand Joseph who seems to be a tyrant.

From there we visited Groth, again one of our favorites for Cabernet. They have a lovely sight, with a mission style building (we thought it was Cape Dutch) and nice gardens – although at the moment they are undergoing new construction. We had a nice chat with the guy who was serving, met the families little, ugly dogs, and saw the daughter’s art work – had some similarities with the dogs. We did take this opportunity to send Dede three bottles of Groth’s white wine (Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay). I am sure that she will enjoy them.

From there we had lunch at Mustards on Rt. 29. Had a nice lunch and then moved on to the next tasting at Cakebread Cellars where in addition to tasting five wines, they gave us recipes to go with each wine. (They evidently employ a chef, or two, and have events at the winery.) Finally, we went to the Robert Craig tasting room in Napa city – ugly little building there, but they told us that they can only have two visitors a year at the winery on Howell Mountain. I had to include a picture so that you could see what I meant by ugly. In spite of that, the tasting was delightful. There were only four of us, and Rachel who did the tasting, was a Mennonite originally from Lancaster, PA. That surprised us. She was very knowledgeable and we enjoyed talking with her. She showed us pictures on the recent flood in Napa and the high water mark in the building (about 2 feet above the floor). In fact she, and a number of the Craig wine club persons, had just finished re-labeling bottles of wine which were damaged in the flood. She says that there was no damage to the wine, and that they used vodka to clean the bottles. We tasted the RC Chardonnay (never had before), the Affinity (Meritage Blend) which we have always liked, and two Cabs (one from Mt. Veeder and one from Howell Mtn.). She had samples of the two soils for these last two, and they were incredibly different. Although I would say they were different, it would have been great to taste them side-by-side to see what this “terroir” means. Finally, as we were getting ready to leave, she asked us if we would like to try the newest Affinity from the barrel. Of course, we agreed, and she went out into the storage area and returned with a bent glass tube full of wine that she had used to extract it from the barrel. We all thought it was great, and the wine drinkable now, as far as I was concerned.

That evening was our dinner at La Toque, which I have already mentioned. The next morning we headed to the Oakland airport to return home.

Before I forget, this was a really good time to go to Napa. I would rather go when the grapes are on the vine, but you could not beat the timing. Very few people during mid-week, so that we never had more than eight people at a tasting.