Welcome back to Napa!

October 14, 2011

Napa, CA

It's great to be back in one of our favorite wine regions, even if we'll have a short stay this time.  Wednesday's drive down from Ukiah was short and uneventful, even though we took a slightly different route than last year when Pat and Al were with us.  We shaved a few miles off the journey by taking CA-116 and CA-121 east from Petaluma rather than looping further south to CA-37 in Novato.  Since there wasn't much traffic, it didn't matter as much that we were the slowest ones on the narrow and winding roads.  And we were soon parked in the tight little RV Park at the Napa Elks Lodge.

We'd stopped at this Lodge for drinks last year with Pat and Al; Wayne and Eva were staying there while we were at Napa Expo (the local Fairgrounds).  We checked in, hooked up and deployed, then stopped back at the Lounge for a brew and to add to Geri's Lodge Pin collection.

Yesterday, we relaxed in the morning  and did some shopping in the afternoon.  We went to the Napa Style retail store (we've ordered from them online in the past) and then Whole Foods Market (haven't seen one of them in a while!).  For dinner, I tried a new recipe for Rack of Lamb that I found in the Wine Spectator magazine; it was excellent with Geri's Famous Grandma's Red Potatoes and her newly-Famous Heirloom Bell Pepper stuffed with squash, tomato and tapenade.  I made some sautéed mushrooms with Truffle Salt from Napa Style and a drizzle of sage/mushroom EVOO that we found in Michigan that went well with the Moroccan spice influence on the lamb. With one of the Two Sisters Pinot Noirs we'd brought with us from AZ (surprised it lasted that long?), it was an excellent meal.

Today, we did some wine tasting.  It's what you do in Napa Valley!  I made reservations at Sterling, known more for the visually impressive winery than the wines.  Knowing that, we weren't disappointed.  The Winery is modeled after something from Greece, and the nice, sunny day showed it off nicely.  We rode the tram 300' from the parking area to the winery itself and took our time doing the self-guided tour, with its multiple tasting "stations".  We wrapped up with a "reserve" tasting.  The wines were good but not something we needed to buy.

Ready for the Tram ride...

...up we go!

Sterling is a very striking facility.

Soon...

I love these tree-lined drives...

Back down the hill, we headed back from Calistoga toward Napa on the Silverado Trail, and decided to stop at Rombauer for a tasting there.  Even though they're known as a Chardonnay producer, for some reason we decided to try their Zinfandel tasting.  Nice, but no sale so we moved on.  

Interesting blooms...

...

... and sculpture at Rombauer.

Back at the Elks Lodge, we relaxed a bit before heading over to the dining room for their version of cook-your-own-steak night.  It wasn't as crowded at the one in Eureka, and they had similar rib-eyes to cook.  We had another nice feed and relaxed after dinner chatting with several of the locals.  Then, it was back to the coach for a nightcap and some TV.  Good day...