Napa Valley - November 25-27, 2011

Okay, I lied...I didn't get the 2011 entries done before the end of the year.  December ended up busier than I thought...  Since we are at the start of a new year and new beginnings (plus the fact that I pretty much named every one of Babe's family in my blog), I'll stop referring to "Babe" and use his actual name Kaleb!  (though that doesn't mean you'll see more pictures of him) :)  

The past few Thanksgivings were spent traveling; this year, I decided to stay in town.  As I had the opportunity to meet most of Kaleb's family back in Pennsylvania earlier in the month, I figured it would even up the score if he came to Thanksgiving at my parents' house, followed by a long weekend wine tasting in Napa Valley.

Thanksgiving was an annual gathering of close family at my parents' house, with dinner consisting of traditional American courses such as roast turkey, baked ham, green beans, and cranberry sauce, but with a Chinese flair, such as replacing stuffing with sticky rice, baking purple yams instead of garnet and fresh fruit sponge cake for dessert.  My brother Edmund and his wife Angela traveled from Southern California to make the occasion.  My cousin Sheri brought her boyfriend Chris, so the "kid's table" ended up being reassigned as the "couple's table" for the 6 of us and everyone else sat at the main dining table. Good food and great times, what more can you ask for?

The next day, my family went out for dim sum at Hong Kong Saigon (managed to get the last plate of snow mountain buns!), then Kaleb and I headed off to Napa, stopping at my cousin Lily's house along the way to say hi.  Lily's husband David baked some delicious bread pudding, while their teenage daughter Greta was unsuccessfully selling the idea of playing board games; if we had more time, we would have participated, but we had a dinner reservation to make and another hour left to drive.

Our lodging for the weekend was the Candlelight Inn bed and breakfast in the town of Napa, located at the end of a cul-de-sac in a residential area.  It was highly rated on TripAdvisor, but I confess that I selected it because they served a 3-course breakfast and provided unlimited snacks!  (you should know by now, it's all about the food)  The front door was locked (like a normal house would be), so we had to press a call button to be let in.  Dan, one of the innkeepers, checked us in and we were given the keys to the Garden View room on the first floor.  It's what you'd imagine a bed and breakfast room to be like, and I had never stayed in a "real" one before, so I had to go all out.  There were extra luxuries such as a jacuzzi tub and a fireplace, plus a private bathroom, though having the jacuzzi tub in the bedroom was a bit strange.  There was a door leading to a small private patio, a few steps away from the swimming pool.  This would be convenient during the summer, but as this was November, swimming was not high on my list of activities.

front of the inn

romantic setting

jacuzzi tub in the bedroom (that window has no curtain but still private)

gas fireplace which got really hot!

fresh flower arrangement in the room

We quickly changed into dinner attire and headed over to Terra in St. Helena, about 30 minutes north of the inn.  It was hard to find parking, so we ended up at the Safeway lot nearby and walked a couple of blocks to the restaurant.  The building was split into Terra restaurant and Terra bar; you checked in at the bar side, and then lead to the other door where the restaurant was, which was a bit odd.  The restaurant was very small, with about 10 tables for 2 that could be pushed together for larger parties.  It was definitely not a place to bring a huge group of people as everyone spoke in hushed tones and the lighting was very dim. (maybe if you reserved the entire restaurant)  I found Terra through Yelp and made the reservation through their website.  The menu consisted of a list of savories and sweets; diners had a choice of a four, five or six course meal, and you could choose anything on the menu and in any order.  You could have six desserts if you wanted to!  Kaleb and I decided to go for the four course meal and chose different items so that we could taste eight.  It was a delicious meal and I wouldn't hesitate to return to Terra!

menu

amuse-bouche of roasted artichoke heart, delicious

foie gras tortelloni; I could've eaten a whole bowl of this

pig croquette with lobster; lobster was great

ezo abalone; it was okay, I'd try something next time

grilled lobster tail on pumpkin ravioli; this was mmm mmm good!

acqua pazza (fish of the day); this was super yummy

grilled NY strip with foie gras sauce; very good

sweetbreads; if you like thymus glands, this would hit the spot

mille crepe, this was unbelievable, amazing how it was constructed

After dinner, we headed back to the inn.  Even though I was full from dinner, I had to "get my money's worth" and got a couple of glasses of complimentary red wine and a slice of chocolate cake from the fridge. :)  The bed was very comfortable, with super-soft sheets.  There were also a couple of Ferrero Rocher chocolates placed bed-side for us to enjoy.

The next day, I was eager to try the famed 3-course breakfast, even though I was still rather full from last night's dinner and snacks.  Another reason I chose this property was that their breakfast room consisted of many tables for 2, so we wouldn't have to share with other guests and have to make small talk.  I know, so anti-social, but Kaleb and I were there to enjoy each other's company; we not yet had a need to break any monotony.  Breakfast did not disappoint, and our bellies were bursting, almost to the point where we couldn't fathom going wine tasting and putting more contents into our stomach.

fresh fruit cup with homemade whipped cream, yum

banana pancakes with caramel sauce, tasty

Mexican style quiche with country potatoes, couldn't finish it as I was full

ubiquitous "armed with knife and fork" shot

We had a whole itinerary of wine tasting planned, thanks largely in part to Lexus.  If you drive a Lexus, there are "owner benefits", one of which is complimentary wine tasting at selected wineries in Napa Valley.  If you log into the Lexus website, you can see which wineries participate in the program.  Savings could be up to $100 depending on the offer!  I had selected wineries that would take up to four guests for free, as Sheri and Chris were to join us.  (Turned out he also owned a Lexus, so we could have gone to ones that limited tastings to two...next time!)   Making the reservations were easily done online.  We also planned a few other winery visits that were not part of the list.  Kaleb and Chris had never gone wine tasting in Napa, so it would be a new experience for them.

First stop was Judd's Hill, which I had never heard of, but the website looked intriguing.  It was planned for 9am; however, Sheri and Chris had a late start to the day so they texted to meet us at the next winery, V. Sattui.  I definitely recommend a visit to Judd's Hill; we had a nice intimate tasting with our guide "J".  He explained the history of Judd's Hill and its wines in great detail, and was very entertaining, a much more relaxed experience than the rest of the day being treated like cattle due to so many people (I'm getting ahead of myself...).  It was cool to find out that you could do a "microcrush" and make your own blend of wine as a teambuilder or special occasion.  All the wines tasted great and we ended up buying a bottle of Rose and a bottle of Zinfandel.  I really liked the Founder's Reserve Cabernet, but I balked at the $65 price tag; I regretted that decision after tasting the other wines by the end of the day. 

non-descript winery room; it was hard to find this place

small tasting room

bottles of example wines that were custom-made

We headed to V. Sattui to meet up with Sheri and Chris for some wine tasting (not a Lexus winery).  Going from Judd's Hill to V. Sattui was like night and day.  The winery room was packed with people and you had to wait for an open spot at the bar to get served.  I joked to Kaleb that he was spoiled by going to Judd's Hill first, as all the other wineries we were to visit were more crowded.  We managed to find a spot without much wait, then each couple chose one wine tasting package to share between the two.  We got the $10 package which included some premium wines.  The wines were okay but we did not purchase any.  We snacked a bit in the deli area; there was a fantastic liver mousse pate, which I didn't get since I didn't have a cooler to store it.  Sheri bought a bottle of wine to share for lunch.  On most Saturdays, V. Sattui offers a barbecue where you can purchase grilled items in addition to their usual deli selections.  Kaleb and I shared a lunch of barbecue ribs, potato salad, and fruit salad.  I bought an "adult ho-ho" for later consumption, as we were so full.  Sheri was very prepared, bringing plastic cups for wine plus utensils and plates. :)

had to get this

Next stop was St. Supery, which was on the Lexus list.  Sheri and I had been to this winery before (refer to previous blog entries on Napa) but the Lexus benefit offered us an opportunity to do wine tasting in the "Divine Wine Room" upstairs, which normally was restricted to wine club members. (ooh, ahh)  When we arrived in the lobby, I noticed a sign greeting us:

call out

We were led upstairs to the member tasting room; it was definitely less crowded.  We enjoyed several tastings and were also offered some packaged Italian breadsticks to nibble on.

the inner sanctum

having a great time

Our next destination was supposed to be Domaine Chandon for sparkling wine, but our wine server suggested that we skip the "masses" and go to Mumm.  So we took him up on his suggestion and went there.  We tasted three sparkling wines, but I didn't like any of them enough to buy.  I thought I took pictures of the glasses, but maybe not.  The grounds were beautiful; it was a perfect day though we probably should have stuck with Domaine Chandon.

looking out from Mumm's tasting room

Since Chris also had a Lexus, he made reservations at Silverado Vineyards, which we headed to next.  The grounds were beautiful here as well, and the wines were okay, though I ended up buying a bottle of their olive oil as there were samples available with bits of sourdough bread on hand.

the view from Silverado

Our day of wine tasting was done!  Dinner reservations were at Brix, another Yelp find.  I had always passed by this restaurant on previous visits to the region, and figured I should finally try the place. We had an hour and a half to kill before dinner, and Chris wanted to find a good red wine for his grandmother, so we returned to Judd's Hill to purchase a bottle.  Unfortunately they closed as we arrived, so we ended up heading to Brix early and having a drink at the bar until our table was ready...the bartender whipped up a dangerously tasty pomegranate cocktail for me.  I could've drank too many of those.

Our table became ready; we were all so hungry from our day's activities that we ordered a ton of food!  We were so full, we didn't even order dessert.

everyone got their own ramekin of softened butter sprinkled with sea salt, love that touch

I think this was a terrine of rabbit, which was super good

wild mushroom flatbread with housemade ricotta

rib eye with bone marrow butter, truffle mac and goat cheese

cabernet braised wild boar shoulder

I can't resist ordering pomme frites if it's on the menu

We said good night to Sheri and Chris and headed back to the inn.  Even though my stomach was bursting, I had to indulge in that night's snacking options - a plate of charcuterie and cheese and some Ghiradelli chocolate squares.  There was more chocolate cake, but it was just okay, so I was able to skip those calories!

The next day, we had another delicious 3-course breakfast.  So much eating!  I somehow didn't get pictures of all the food, but this is what we had:  assorted citrus drizzled in a light honey syrup, a warm just-baked sticky bun, and a breakfast crepe with a side of Canadian bacon.  Despite our anti-socialness, we had a delightful conversation in the breakfast room with Scott, another one of the innkeepers, about Napa cuisine as well as how he got into the hospitality industry from high-tech!

crepe and meat

We were sad that the weekend ended so quickly.  Going back to work on Monday was the pits, but we have to pay the bills somehow.  Next adventure:  celebrating New Year's by island hopping in Hawaii...stay tuned!