A Wine of a Tale

During the holidays I got a panicked call from a friend.  Apparently an important gentleman in the community had decided to come to the party last minute, and he only drank a certain type of wine.  The caterers were nearly there, and she asked me to stop by a Liqour store and pick some up.  I asked her to text me the exact type of wine so that I didn't screw it up.  When I got the text I was flabbergasted.  This guy's only request is that he only drank what amounted to just above a 2 Buck Chuck?  I was embarrassed for him, then for me for having to pick it up.

The Neon Beast and I were in a snarky mood, so the entire trip turned out to be one quip after another.  It took forever to find it because was literally in the "Others" section of the store.  NB said "Maybe we can try to find an earlier year than 2014."  I said "I'm sure it's all vinegar by now, the 2013 is on a salad somewhere."  NB retorted "You can use it for just cooking now, as long as you are cooking for your enemies."

We picked up the bottle and NB remarked "Oh, a screw cap; so you know it's quality!"  I'm sure we got the same kind of looks that Frasier got when he talked about wine, because as we walked to the front we shot back and forth lines like "When wine in a box is too big of an investment!"  "The brand is good for cars, but clearly they put this wine in the gas tank!"

Once we were out of the store we texted our friend, "We had to buy it with a Hustler so we'd feel less dirty."

Napa has really turned us into some horrible wine snobs.  But hey, they can't all be a de La Tour.

Of course, after all that fuss and comedy-inspired wine jokes, the guy didn't even show up.  "Maybe they can use the wine for fondue?" NB said.  I retorted "Yeah, fondue with your enemies."

Tastings (Winery Hopping) in Napa Valley Part 2

Missed Part 1?  Click Here!

The second day started out very strong.  Our first stop was Beaulieu Vineyards, where we whisked away to the private tasting patio, where they had a fun statue of George De Latour and we got to taste some of the clones as well.  Everything was beautiful, and the conversation was fantastic.  I learned what a clone was, who George De Latour was and how important he was to Napa Valley.  If you'd like to know about it, they have a great page on their site here.

The facility was beautiful, and I could have stayed there all day "revisiting" everything, but we were on a schedule.  There was much more to see and experience.

Our next stop was the Franciscan Estate Winery, which was beautiful.  The inside was sort of like an extended gift shop, and you went up to the bar to get your next glass.  We stayed outside since it was a beautiful day, and had great conversation while enjoying the wine and a cheese plate.  This place was the most casual of all the places we went to that weekend, but it was still a very enjoyable winery.  They had a fountain out front that was so beautiful, I took a bunch of pictures of it.

By the time we got to Provenance, we had sailed past the "Happy" point of drinking into the "Highly Buzzed" state.  We weren't being loud or annoying, but we were making poor choices and buying a bunch of wine.  I do remember that the floor was made of recycled barrels for the wine and it was very pretty.  They had a casual lounge type area, and a great window to the winery behind the bar so you could see them making the wine. 




By the time we left, we were very happy, and very done.  It was one of the best weekends of my life, and I really enjoyed the "adulting" that took place.  If you ever have a chance to go to Napa, I would highly recommend all of these Vineyards.  I hope this wasn't my last trip to Napa, but if it was I would be okay with it because it was perfect.