Ok. So today, has been the best day of the trip. I know that the last few days have been great stories, but today was truly the most memorable for me.Not only did I finally see my favourite Napa Valley Winemaker (David Tate, Barnett Vineyards) but we spent the majority of the afternoon hours, in the california sunshine (so we all got some sun). Lunch was also served outside overlooking california wine country from the top of Spring Mountain. The sun was warm, the view spectacular, the wine divine and the company irreplaceable.
We spent the morning at Honig winery, and not only pruned the vineyards, but were also officially trained by the the winemaker - Kristin Belair- to prune perfectlyin a California style. They had an amazing "fume" style Sauvignon Blanc that was really quite great and some great post cards to help promote the wine. All the post cards are designed by the staff and they all star in the postcard photos shoots too! If you look at the ones to your left, they seem fitting for our club :) !!Then we ended up having a vertical tasting of all things Chardonnay at Beringer. I love Chardonnays so the tasting was great! In fact, on board with the Chardonnay trend, we had chardonnay at dinner and at lunch as well!
We then headed over to Barnett Vineyards for a great tasting and lunch with David Tate-the Winemaker, Fiona Barnett-the owner, and a few other wineries who were among the mix of wines presented. It was great to see Mr.Tate again, as I haven't seen him in years, but to be fair, he has been very busy making wonderful wines at Barnett. Below is 1/2 a a video of both Pax and I talking with David, however it gets cut off at the end (thanks Taylor for being our videographer!), as I ran out of camera time on my SIM card.I am very sad to be leaving Napa. Did I mention very sad? I have fallen in love with not only the wine, but the weather, the view, the people and the vines. Today we are enroute back to San Francisco and spending the entire morning (and afternoon) at ZAP and then comes the 1 weeks vacay in Palm Springs.
The memories are truly unforgettable, and Napa truly ROCKS!!! Thank you to Paula and the entire group of wine lovers who came with Pax and I (Tim, Rick, Deanna, Craig, Taylor, Jamie, Christopher Walters and LALO! - our driver). The weather has been fanastic all week, and it has truly been one of the best weeks of my life.
I am definitely looking forward to the next wine country adventure...
