Napa Valley Part 2

We stayed at Senza this time.  It was just so-so, I would definitely not recommend this hotel, but it was centrally located in Napa so that was nice.  Since we didn't spend a lot of time there it worked out just fine.

One positive was that it was right alongside a vineyard so one morning Adam and I woke up early and got to go walk among the vines and were able to watch the workers harvesting grapes.  They do it early in the morning and as fast as possible; they literally clip the bunches as quick as possible and run the crates back to the trucks.  It was pretty phenomenal to observe.

Senza, was within walking distance of Ashes and Diamonds winery, which Adam and I didn't go to but some in our group did enjoy very much.

Our first stop on our second morning was at Paraduxx.  It was a lovely winery where we got to actually meet the local grower of the grapes that were being crushed that day.  The older farmer clearly loved his grapes and wanted to stick around to watch them get processed; his John Deere hat was endearing to us all.  Paraduxx was a beautiful and dreamy winery that I would highly recommend visiting.

They allowed us to try the grapes and the initial juice before fermentation and it tasted like a yummy smoothie!

At Paraduxx we did something I had never done before, a blending seminar which I really enjoyed.  It's interesting how, when you combine different amounts of the same two wines, just slight changes makes a huge impact on the overall taste and feel of the wine.

Our driver, Tony took us to a fun lunch place called Addendum which Thomas Keller owns.  Keller is an American chef, restaurateur, and cookbook writer.  He and his landmark Napa Valley restaurant, The French Laundry in Yountville, California, have won multiple awards which will set you back a lot of so we visited his quick service boxed lunches to go of deliciously fried chicken, BBQ ribs, the yummiest sun-dried tomato pasta salad and coleslaw that is worth a stop in if you have the opportunity.  Its quaint, picnic styling with lights strung in the trees atmosphere was a real hit.

Up til this point we had visited larger more commercial operations, the next few wineries were more boutique style, which was a totally different feel but was super fun to experience.  We loaded up and headed to White Rock at the top of Atlas Peak.  It was a bit of a drive but worth every mile. 

Our tasting was inside a cave, which was fun.

For our third and final stop of the day, I felt like we were in rare air.  We had a connection to Elan, a very boutique style winery, that only allows wine club members to stop in.  Linda and her husband Patrick were so incredibly hospitable and lovely to visit with.  They had us into their home, let us enjoy the beauty of their veranda, gave us a tour of their wine cellar where we had a wine barrel tasting.

Our second day rounded out with dinner at Don Giovani, which is a local favorite.  If you go here, make sure and order (off menu) the fried olives for an appetizer, which came highly recommended, and they more then met our expectations.