Since the shop’s inception, now 14 years ago, I imagined that it was more a center for conversation about wine than simply a place to buy it, and I appreciate all of you indulging me in my musings about wine, food, and the people I have met along the way in this crazy and fun business. To keep the conversation interesting for you and me, I have taken time to travel to a wide variety of wine regions to learn and seek inspiration. As I sit on the plane now on my return flight from SFO, I am finally jotting down some suggestions for your next journey to Napa Valley. I apologize for it taking me this long!

The following is not meant to be a complete list of must do, sip, and taste when in Napa; rather it is only meant as some suggestions to get you started and not in any particular order. If anything, I hope that it just encourages you to explore and find your own favorites. Thankfully, there is much more to see and do, but I am often asked for suggestions, so here they are. I have included websites, when I was able and suggest making reservations well in advance.

When in Napa:

• As a lover of fine foods and the aesthetics of beautiful culinary accoutrements, I stop at OXBOW Market every time I am in the area. Start with some oysters at Hog Island. They have a great wines by the glass list! Then walk around get provisions for the trip or to take home. The list of options seems endless from interesting pantry items to sweet delights, fresh produces to linens and great market bags. I suggest a a coffee from Ritual—intense and delicious!

• Take a sip at OUTLAND Wines Tasting Room. This is a collaborative project of three rockstar wine makers in California: Sam Sheehan of Poe Wines, Matthew Rorick of Forlorn Hope, and Tom Farella of Farella Wines. The design is great; it is a sun filled, modern space with so many great wines to taste that you may go back for a second flight! I suggest reserving in advance.

• TORC is worth seeking out for dinner. If you are looking for a serious dining experience, I suggest that you check it out. Farm to Table food and wine that is simply delicious and satisfying. A bit spendier, but certainly worth it. Hands down the best meal I have had in Napa.

A little further North:

• If taco truck is up your ally, then make it to the northern end of Yountville for @tacosgarcia.official. The green chili is fantastic. I am not exactly sure the hours, but you will find them in the Panchos parking lot.

• BOTTEGA for pasta is always on my list. Beautiful space, great food and wonderful wine list.

• BOUCHON BAKERY—just trust me, don’t skip this one. It is not exactly a suggestion. It is mandatory for your spiritual well being. The pastries are worth every calorie and the line. It is next door to Thomas Keller’s Bouchon Bistro, which is also wonderful, but everyone already knows that! And, no, I have never eaten at The French Laundry. I am sure it is worth it, but I have to sell a lot more wine before I can do that!!

• The Oakville Market is a great place to stop before making a turn on the Oakville Grade and heading up to taste wine at Mayacamas or Hendry. The market was sold a number of years ago, and they expanded under new management. The food selections are vast with great quality “grab and go.” It can get busy, no doubt, but it is filled with savory and sweet treats, wines, coffee, and artisan crafts for your table. It is always a stop for my “R&D” work;)

• Need some coffee yet? I suggest that you try Station in St Helena, Joel Gott’s new café. The coffee is the best I had on this past trip. I love Ritual, but is very robust and sometimes I want a more mild cup, and Station delivers. Also, their pastries are divine and the design is beautiful.

• For a quick snack in St Helena, you have two extremes with Gott’s is always reliable for burger and fries and, of course, a good glass of wine. For those who seek a plant based option that is compelling and tasty, try Crisp. They have delicious GF pastries and bread, fresh salads and sandwiches, and a yummy can of wine, too!

Other Tasting Suggestions

• On The Trail! Hands Down the Best Tasting Room Experience that I have had is at Robert Sinskey Vineyards. The winery is stunning, the wines are even better, and the staff will make you feel comfortable and welcome. They aim to teach you a little about wine, but without pretense. Keeping it simple is their style. There are several tasting options, but they all involve food, as is their philosophy that wine and food are meant to be enjoyed together. Plan to spend a little time here, it is a peaceful respite and the wine and food are exceptional. They are known for their reds, and I love them, but don’t skip the whites. Jeff makes aromatic whites that are remarkable.

• Spring Mountain—Keenan, Pride, Paloma, Smith Madrone

• Valley Floor—Corison & Spottswoode

• A great place to eat a yummy lunch and have a splash is at Cliff Family Tasting Room &

• Howell Mountain—Dunn, just go if they have time to see you, it is Napa Cab at its very best.

Who’s Still Thirsty?

You are undoubtably out there to drink wine, but tasting rooms can sometimes be a bit of a commitment, (and once in a while you might just want some European wine), so I have a handful of places that I just love for eating and enjoying the work of some really talented wine professionals. (I like St Helena for a base camp, so many of these places are admittedly close by.)

The Charter Oak is exceptional. The food is made simply with farm fresh ingredients, much of which they grow themselves. Their wine list is a thoughtfully curated one, the cocktails are made with fresh juices and house made bitters, and the setting is beautiful. Did I mention the hand cut fries?

I rarely go to Napa and not eat a burger at Farmstead, Long Meadow Ranch’s restaurant. It is a sustainable project that sources nearly all (if not all) their ingredients from their own organic farm and ranch. the food is fun, hearty, and satisfying. I would call it comforting even, though I don’t mean to suggest a down grade the quality. They feature their own wines by the glass, which are solid, but I generally go to the bottle list here, as it is a good one with a wide variety of options.

Brasswood, Brix, Don Giovanni, Sam’s Social Club, and Cook all make the short list because of the ambience, quality of food and service.

If a cocktail is more your cup of tea? Solage is a special, fancy, and kind of dreamy. It is where the elite meet to eat & grab a cocktail! That said, Anna’s Cantina in St Helena has a nice list of Tequila and a decent pool table; it is a funky and friendly dive bar. It depends on my mood, not going to lie, I like them both with equal vigor.

I am sure to add to this, so reread it. And, please share your experiences, too!

Cheers, Maria

morning coffee on Spring Mountain

Not a bad view, and the fresh figs make me swoon, but still I ❤️ NY! This East Coast Girl loves being out in Napa, but my heart is in the east;)

A couple of Resources…

For reliable restaurant reviews, follow @christin-julian on Twitter.

If you need a ride while tasting, call Catalina at 707.696.6395, she is reliable, reasonable and nice to chat with!

It is amazing the plans that have been born among friends over a glass, or perhaps a bottle of wine.  We a have all done it,  (You have done it, right?)  planned a fabulous vacation, fantasized about a meal, a dress, or a relationship.  I recall picking the flowers for a friend's wedding before she even met her now husband, and all over a glass of Domaine Tempier Rosé.  We love to dream, and wine provokes us to do so in the most wonderful of ways.  My dream was to make wine, and I talked about it for a long time with my friend Nicole Abiouness, who is a remarkable wine maker and a dear friend with whom I often fantasize about all sorts of things while sharing some wine.  Today, she helped me actualize that dream.

I woke a few minutes before 6 am in a terrible cheap motel near Ukiah, California (sounds good already, doesn't it?), made truly terrible Mr Coffee coffee and drank it, smiling from ear to ear, before ascending the 1800 ft to the top of Eagle Point Ranch, where we tasted and picked about 1 ton of Grenache.  I am beside myself with excitement, even as I write this I am grinning.

It was cold, the crew moved like a swarm through the vineyard, and sun seemed to be pouring over me, as I reached into the bin and tried to grab whatever sticks, leaves and bugs found their way into my bin of perfect grapes.  Suddenly, I felt protective, territorial, and so proud.  These are my grapes, my Grenache, and they are decidedly the most beautiful and perfectly formed Grenache that has ever been witnessed.  "It is really great, really beautiful," I said with conviction to the crew.  They smiled and nodded, and for certain thought I had completely lost my marbles, and I may have.  I thought for a moment, just now, that I should describe the grapes, so you too would smile and nod, but I will restrain myself, if only because I already repeated this offense twice today as I pointed at the fruit and showed other people at the winery.  They, too, smiled and nodded.  They have seen my kind before; the first timer.

I am not embarrassed by it though, on the contrary, I am glowing with the same joy I have after a long arduous run, or the completion of a difficult essay, or the satisfaction of making a really delicious meal. I am exhausted, but not at all tired because I touched the beaner. It was a great day, and I am both gratified and thrilled by that which is yet to come: the fermentation.  I am totally geeking out on all of this, and I don't care who knows it!  (I better publish this before the wine maker's high wears off!)

For those of you who share this dream with me, who love wine and are curious, and for family and friends who love me enough to endure this ridiculous recording of the unfolding of my wine journey, I am grateful for your readership.  I will try to be informative and compelling, without being uncomfortably excited as I detail and record this month for you, but no promises.

Day one: the pick, the sort, and cold soak.

After collecting our fruit from Eagle Point Ranch in Mendocino, we went to the winery to prepare for the arrival of the grapes.  The winery is a "custom crush" facility where about 20 wine makers, who sell their wines commercially make and store their wine.  It is not unlike any winery that you have visited, just that it is communal.  Young wine makers can make wine more affordably this way.  What I loved about it was the community feel and camaraderie.  For example, as I was waiting to sort my grapes (my beautiful, perfect, unique and clearly developmentally advanced Grenache), I had the good fortune of bumping into John Grant, who makes Couloir Wines.  John's wines are so perfectly balanced and carefully crafted.  His pinot's are nuanced, bright and so delicate yet powerful, bespeaking an old world sensibility with a unabashedly new world character. He is a talented wine maker with many years of experience.  John offered me advice and suggestions without hesitation.  He explained what choices he makes about destemming, which was my primary concern, and in the end, he gave me a simple suggestion.  "If you want to do some whole cluster, chew on a stem and see if you like the way it tastes." 

Sound advice, I thought, so I did just that.  It tasted fantastic, which is when I felt certain that I had indeed lost my marbles.  It is a stick, after all!  That said, it tasted fresh, reminded me of spring, and had a slight bitter note, like a cup of warm comforting tea.  Okay, I thought, I like that, so after much consternation, I dismissed my fears and added a small percentage of whole clusters to my small batch of wine.  I will have to wait a year before I know what that will do, but in the end, I felt like I was cooking, tasting the ingredients and deciding what and how much to include in my meal. How bad can this be?

The rest destemmed but left whole berry, the fruit spread evenly, the bin carefully cleaned, a small amount of sulfur added to ensure stability, and some dry ice to cool the grapes, and then the bin was moved to the cold storage room where it will remain in cold soak for 2-5 days.  It was thrilling. I will return to it tomorrow to check on the progress and keep the cap wet and mix it up a little.  A new set of decisions will ensue, more on that then.  In the meantime, I am enjoying a glass of Nicole's 2009 Stanly Ranch Pinot Noir, putting my feet up, and I am still smiling.