Road Trip! The joys of wine country
Two nights are just not enough. The Napa Valley is too big and wonderful not to dedicate a week, at least.
Had dinner in downtown Napa last night at Ubuntu, a trendy vegetarian joint. Fabulous food. They served a 2004 Napa cab by the glass for $5.50. A 2004 Napa cab!
This morning we found a good coffee shop in downtown Napa. On the front page of the San Francisco Chronicle was a feature story on Michael Chiarello, the famous chef from Napa who has opened a new restaurant in Yountville. It's called "Bottega". So we called and made reservations and headed down the road. Every road you take turns out to be a beautiful country road. Temperature was 80 degrees by late morning, which has to be some kind of record for the wine country.
Bottega turned out to be an excellent choice. Followed that with a tasting at Heitz followed by a recommended stop from a reader: Auberge du Soleil. It's an upscale resort that offers a spectacular view of the valley. A nice place to finish off the afternoon.
Tomorrow it's off to the coast again. We'll try to get as far north as possible.
(Click images to enlarge.)
The view of Napa Valley from Auberge du Soleil.
"Baby Blue" looking at the Heitz vineyard.
Napa River and downtown Napa in the background.
