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The day I arrived in San Francisco was dedicated to lemmings, so I won't expand on that.
On the next day, Sunday, Mike, Jenny and I packed up the car, and headed across the Golden Gate Bridge to the Napa and Sonoma valleys. The weather was incredible, and the drive was gorgeous. The first stop was the Rabbit Ridge Winery and Vineyards, in Healdsberg (which is VERY MUCH in Sonoma, the deprived younger sister of Napa, and who holds intense feelings of resentment and superiority to this very day ;)). It's a small, lovely winery, where the wines are apparently very good, and the prices are unbeatable. Mike and Jenny picked up a case of wine for $50 dollars.
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Next up was the town of Napa, where we stopped in at the Dean & Deluca store. I think that even the most seasoned foodie (which I am certainly not) would be amazed at this store. After repeated dipping stops, I bought myself a bottle of amazing St. Helena's flavoured olive oil. I was also coveting the fig balsamic vinegar, but at $14 dollars a bottle, each, I had to pick my battles.
| Cheese! | |
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| Olives! | |
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| Coffee! | Sausages! |
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| Candy! | |
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After the sensory overload, we headed to the sammich bar, and I got a really super yummy sammich. I can't recall what it was exactly, but I think there was turkey, and arugula. We sat outside and got our nourishment while taking in the view.
We made a quick stop for a big vat of olive oil, and then headed to the PlumpJack Winery. The wine was decidedly more expensive, and since I understand nothing of wine, I assume it was to pay for their swank tasting room. While Jenny and Mike tasted, I meandered to the back porch with my camera. There was a seating area, under a wooden pergola, and rows upon rows of vines.
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And with that, we could barely stay awake to make the drive home. We got in right at 6:00pm, in time to catch The Sopranos, The Simpsons, and the season finale of Alias.
Good times.
Posted by raptorgirl at June 2, 2004 08:41 AMRappy, your pictures are beautiful! I love the wineglass effect!
This entry makes me miss San Francisco and the valleys; it makes me hungry for some good food and wine!
I was there!
Posted by: jenny at June 2, 2004 04:22 PMOhhhh Rappy, Rappy, Rappy! I must point out a small error that, unfortunately is perpetuated by many and forever irks those of us who live in the wine country here in Sonoma County. Yes, we have "wine country" status as well. Healdsburg (a lovely place, I hope you enjoyed it) is not in Napa County but here in beautiful Sonoma County. Napa gets all the press. So much so that it seems that even if people are in Sonoma County they think they are in Napa. So sad. We get no respect (except from the critics!).
A tip:
Napa wine tasting = $$$
Sonoma wine tasting (w/some exceptions) = FREE (weee!)
I'm surprised that you can still take really good shots after a day at the vineyard! Must have been at the begining, aye? Nice images.
Posted by: tonyduffy at June 9, 2004 01:01 AMHahaha! Daniel, I was wondering whether we were crossing over to the other side, for it was a very long drive. I'll correct my error immediately. I don't even have tonyduffy's excuse of being drunk for making such an error - I'm not a wine drinker at all!
Thanks for your funny comments.
Posted by: rappy at June 9, 2004 07:22 AMNot at all! All is forgiven.
Oooooh...those shots of Dean & DeLuca: Paradiso! They used to have gelato for sale as well. I miss that. Nothing like a little gelato to cool off on those hot Napa (ahhh!) afternoons. Next time you are in the area (and please excuse my rudeness if you are vegetarian.) I highly recommend the burger (and the experience) of Taylor's Refresher. One in SF (in the ferry building) as well as in St. Helena. Don't forget the green tea milkshake (sooo Cali)
From where do you hale? Was it culture shock to be in such a place?
Posted by: Daniel G at June 9, 2004 11:50 PMI'm from Toronto, so this was very different from home, however, I'm originally from Israel, and actually found the terrain very similar, if less flat.
I'm not a vegeterian, and I wish I'd had your recommendation earlier about the burger, because I spent some time at the Ferry Building. I ended up having an expensive and not fantastic bento box of salads.
Posted by: rappy at June 10, 2004 07:42 AM