napa…duh.

“Love doesn’t age, it deepens…it mellows like a fine wine, and is savored by those who appreciate its vintage.”

For our 1st wedding anniversary, Matt and I decided to do something special. We decided to take a trip to Napa, California and do some wine tasting with the big dogs (so to speak). Neither of us had ever been there, which is odd considering how much we enjoy wine, so we decided it would make the perfect anniversary get-away.

We flew into San Francisco Thursday, right smack in the middle of California rush hour. Nice job Golzes. Our hour-long drive to Napa turned into a couple and we arrived at the Westin Verasa in downtown Napa at sunset. We settled into our awesome suite and went downstairs to the hotel bar to relax with a bottle of Merlot. And it was good.

Friday morning we woke up and headed north to begin our first day of wine tasting. We received a recommendation from the bartender to check out Sterling Vineyards because it’s located on a mountain and you have to take a “ski-lift-type-thing” to get to the top – I don’t believe that is actually the official term for the mode of transportation, but it was cool nonetheless.

On a whim, we decided to swing into the new Del Dotto Vineyards tasting room, located in St. Helena.  Other than the ridiculously sized clay-pots lining the driveway entry, the outside of this winery is not terribly impressive. However, once you venture down the cement staircase, there is a very pretty fountain. But that is nothing, compared to what awaits your eyes once you actually step foot inside the tasting room. It’s completely lined with Italian marble, ancient tiles, and Venetian chandeliers. Plus, all the marble was taken from the same quarry as the marble Michelangelo used to carve his famous statue of David. It is both over the top and wildly breathtaking.

We also visited Twomey Cellars, Franciscan, Robert Mondavi Winery, and Grgich Hills Estate on Friday.

At Grgich Hills Estate, I had the opportunity to stomp grapes! I can’t even describe how wonderful stomping grapes feels on your feet – it’s seriously as good as a pedicure! I could have stayed there all day. We were also able to meet Mr. Miljenko ”Mike” Grgich - an inductee to the Vintner Hall of Fame and a legend in the Napa Valley…he even signed a bottle of his Zinfandel for our 1st anniversary!

Saturday we started our day at the wine caves of old Del Dotto Vineyards. In 1885, Chinese laborers hand dug a 350 foot wine cave with picks and shovels. This winery was one of the first wineries in Napa Valley. In 1997, the Del Dotto’s restored the original winery and began aging their red wines in the caves. During the 40 minute tour, we were able to experience wines thieved right out of the barrels and taste the difference barrels can have on wine by tasting exactly the same wines aged in different barrels from around the world! It was simply incredible and probably one of the neatest things either of us have done.

The rest of our day was spent at the following wineries: Darioush, Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars, Freemark Abbey, Beringer, and Heitz Cellars. We finished out the day with a trip to Opus One.

Opus One has to be one of the most beautiful wineries in Napa, or maybe Northern California as a whole. I guess it makes sense as their wines are revered as some of the finest as well.  We stopped by the winery later in the afternoon, not knowing if we could have a tasting without an appointment, but as luck would have it, we were able to get a couple. We tried their 05 and 06 cabs at $30.00 a 4 oz pour. That’s roughly $200.00/bottle – your math is correct. Fortunately I liked the 06 and Matt liked the 05, so we were each able to enjoy our favorite without sharing. 

Without question, the term ”heaven on earth” came to mind as we were sitting atop a wonderful afternoon sun and breeze drenched patio, sipping on this outstanding wine and enjoying the beautiful view of the Napa Valley. We literally could have stayed there all day, and have joked since that if we go back, we might as well just spend the entire weekend in that place (of course we’ll need to save up!).

On the heels of a wonderful day out tasting, we decided to wrap-up our anniversary celebration with dinner at Bottega, a local favorite owned by celebrity chef and Napa native, Michael Chiarello.

This was really a treat for Matt as Micheal is the host of Easy Entertaining on Food Network. He’s chef/owner of his place in Napa and also owns a vineyard in the same region. He’s a James Beard award winner and competed (and won) on one of our favorite shows, Top Chef Masters on Bravo. Michael Chiarello is pretty much one of Matt’s greatest idols.

Matt was keeping his fingers crossed that we would get to meet him, and sure enough, as we walked in and hit the bar for a glass of wine, who hands us the wine list? None other than Michael Chiarello! Not only that, but he was kind enough to join us at our table for a little while during our dinner! To make things even more cool, it turns out we sat next to Chad Hennings and his wife who were celebrating their 20th anniversary. Chad was a defensive lineman for the Dallas Cowboys for many years – in fact he won 3 super bowls with them! Not only did we get to talk to Chad for a while, we also shared an order of truffle-parmiggiano french fries and some grappa. And I think Matt felt pretty cool when Chad told him “you are my hero” after hearing that Matt worked on the Xbox team.

Talk about a night of great food, great wine and great company…not to mention a GREAT 1st anniversary!          <jenna + matt>