Played Hookey Yesterday

I played hooky yesterday and went exploring in Napa. Unfortunately, I am a creature of habit, and of the four wineries we visited only one was new. For starters, we picked up some sandwiches and chips at the Bouchon Bakery in Yountville. From there we had a private tasting at Orrin Swift in St. Helena. This virtual winery (they are now up to all of five employees) is best known for 'The Prisoner". However, they also produce another red wine known as Papillon, which is now my favorite every day wine.

From there we headed up the road a few miles to see our friend Ralph at Charles Krug. Ralph wasn't in, but as the top picture shows, we nevertheless had a great time. From here, we were less than five minutes away from Duckhorn, the only new winery we made it to. At Duckhorn we sat on their veranda and sampled four of their wines, as well as two from their sister wineries Paraduxx and Goldeneye. This was a great way to chill out and get to know two of our companions who were from the east coast.

The relaxing time at Duckhorn also prepared us for the next stop, which was the over the top cave experience at Del Dotto. Led on our tour by "Bob" (shown here with his wine "thief"), we sampled at least 12 wines from directly from the barrel. This was by third trip to this winery, and I still find it amazing how much different the same wine tastes from a barrels made of different wood, different "toasts" and even the shape of the barrel staves. If you haven't been on such a tour, I would highly recommend making Del Dotto a stop on your next wine adventure.

Our day of wine touring came to a conclusion as we watched the sunset on the veranda at Auberge du Soleil.