Calistoga and Wine Country with Andrea - August 31 - September 2
Images 1-7
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Day 1: arrival in Calistoga
Day 2: wine tasting [Pride]
[Prager] [Groth]
[Miner] [Auberge
du Soliel]
Day 3: morning in Calistoga, return
[around the cottage] [hats]
Opus One: [20-23] [24-28]
Day 1: arrival in Calistoga (no pictures)
We drove up to Calistoga on Friday evening after work and stayed at a
place called La
Chaumiere. There was a main house for two parties and then there was
the cottage. Since the cottage only accommodated one party, we had it
all to ourselves which was nice. Cottage was rustic with a sort of western
log cabin motif going on. Gary was the fellow working at the B&B and
was a nice chatty guy.
We walked around Calistoga to check out the scene and the restaurants and ended up eating at a restaurant called Brannan's. It had a nice cozy atmosphere and we had a decent feast. We started off with some Hogback oysters with Veuve Cliquot wine. For appetizer, Andrea had the heirloom tomato salad and I had the bouillabase. For dinner, I had the prawn risotto and she had the ???. We split a half bottle of 1998(?) Merryvale Reserve Merlot (nice, but nothing special). For dessert, we had the chocolate torte with the cinnamon and brown sugar ice cream accompanied by a glass of Madeira and a glass of Prager port (we would later visit the Prager winery).
Day 2: wine tasting
We had breakfast in the main house and met the other couple who were staying
there. They were a cute couple - he was a judge celebrating his 50th b-day
and she was a kindergarten school teacher and the both of them were celebrating
their 29th wedding anniversary.
Gary had a fruit plate for us and had also prepared a vegetable fritta-like dish served in a ramekin. Tasty, but filling, esp. since neither of us normally eat a large breakfast. It was good to have something in our stomachs before going off wine tasting.
Pride
Our first destination was Pride, which is in St. Helena on Spring Mountain
Road between the Napa and Sonoma valleys. I really enjoy their Merlots
and Cabernets and have recently enjoyed their Viogner too. We tasted the
2000 Chardonnay, 1999 Merlot, 1999 Cabernet, 1999 Cabernet Franc, and
Mistal de Viogner (fortified). Chardonnay was a fine, typical California
Chardonnay, but there are better deals to be had (e.g. 1999 Gloria Ferrer
at Costco for $12 - a steal). I loved the Merlot and really liked the
Cab (very drinkable now). Cab Franc was one of the better ones I've had.
Andrea posing next to a bunch of grapes on the vine.
The caves at Pride in the background.
a look at the rose garden at Groth
Day 1: arrival in Calistoga
Day 2: wine tasting [Pride]
[Prager] [Groth]
[Miner] [Auberge
du Soliel]
Day 3: morning in Calistoga, return
[around the cottage] [hats]
Opus One: [20-23] [24-28]
