a sensational Napa afternoon

sensational artesa view

It was a foggy Sunday morning in San Francisco when we got together with our friends Alex and Marlena to have a double date brunch at Café De La Press on Bush and Grant Streets. I love it there because it reminds me of France . They have those wicker chairs out front, a bunch of French publications on a wall available for purchase and real French waiters. A bread basket and a nice bottle of water appeared on the table first. We all wanted everything on the brunch menu but managed to limit it and figure out what to order. Marlena and I dressed up for the occasion just to be glamorous! We all got coffee drinks because the café is really nice there, and they have a full espresso bar. They’ve a real bar too for that matter, but we were in the mood for café. I got a dry cappuccino, Prof T. got a macchiato and Alex and Marlena got regular American drip coffee. They ordered a bowl of plain yogurt with fruit and granola to share and an egg-white spinach omelet as well. It looked very healthy. I got the Eggs Benedict. It was heavenly! Prof T got a chicken sandwich with ciabatta bread. Of course, I asked for Tabasco to add to my eggs to make it taste perfectly spicy.

Marlena and Jasmine enjoying the view from Artesa

Since it was so foggy in the City Alex had the wild, spontaneous idea of driving up to Napa . Prof T. had some work to catch up on at the apartment so I tagged along with them for the drive up north after brunch. We took the foggy but majestic Golden Gate Bridge then made our way to Napa through Marin and Sonoma Counties . The drive was lovely as we saw freshly sheered sheep grazing along with some cows. Marlena, who’s Mom is lucky enough to live in Sonoma, said they looked like Oreo Cows cause they are black on their heads white in the middle and black on their rumps. They do resemble big, stinky but cute Oreos. But I exaggerate. Really they look like very healthy California Cows in a nice field of green grass alongside the road.

So, enough gawking out of the window at miles and miles of rolling hills of green vineyards. Our first stop was Artesa, a winery with a beautiful view, big fountains and dramatic outdoor sculpture on a hilltop. We got the ten dollar basic tasting and while Alex is abstaining from alcohol, he was content to wander the grounds and observe the nice views while we tasted about six wines. I highly admire his abstinence but couldn’t do it myself. We liked their Chardonnay. It was light and fresh with a bouquet of apple and a soft sweet finish. We didn’t much like their Pinot Noir. It tasted kind of dry. The Elements was a combo of nice grapes and some Tempranillo that we really enjoyed . The others aren’t worth mentioning. We liked the Elements one, so we decided to get out our purses and buy a bottle. We got a ten-percent discount for giving them our email address, so it pretty much took care of the high CA state tax! We then joined Alex to enjoy the grounds and the view, where we could actually see the fog capped SF skyline in the horizon.

Alex, acting as our tour guide and our DD, took us to another joint down the road from Artesa called Folio a Robert Mondavi Family Company. This is a wine retailer that offers little trinkets to buy and many different labels to taste. We did the ten dollar taste of six wines of our choice out of a large variety. I liked the Sauvignon Blanc even better than the Chard we had up the hill at Artesa. Marlena got a Chard but she thought it was just okay. I then got a 2005 Pinot Noir, Mayro-Murdick, that was out of this world good and slightly sweet, But it was like 36 bucks so I held back. Their tasting notes say “Lots of zesty Carneros acidity in this young Pinot that impresses for its silkiness and ripe fruit flavors.” It was like a spiked punch! I am not as good as Jasper and Billy in writing about wine color, taste, body etc…I am learning, though, I’m just not patient enough to take notes.

could this place be more glamorous?!?

I was too busy taking in the beauty of the vineyard outside the perfect stained glass windows to really focus on the details that seriously. After I was finished drooling over the Pinot and debating whether to charge it or not, we took our last taste of a nice Zinfandel out on the porch while taking some photos of the pretty view. We imagined what it would be like to live there and wake up looking out at the vineyard and rolling hills every day. Alas, back to reality! I do feel so lucky this place is only about an hours drive from San Francisco at least.

Alex enjoyed himself at Folio too sans “the sauce.” However, we let him smell some of our wines even though he wasn’t partaking so he could get a whiff of the experience. He took a nice photo of us on the porch.

We went to get some food at a well known Napa restaurant called Mustards Grill. Alex and Marlena had gone before. Alex’s pal who’s a winemaker near the Francisco Vineyard turned him onto Mustards. We were seated right away. By then it was around five o’clock so it was an early dinner/late lunch for us. One interesting thing about the restaurant is that you can order fresh water in mineral or still with an unlimited supply for like two bucks each. At first we ordered tap ‘cause we didn’t want to pay extra for water, but the tap water tasted kind of earthy. Maybe we were a little paranoid but we didn’t want to take a chance on any un-welcome bacteria so we got the mineral water after all. The water was very welcome after the wine tasting. Marlena and I ordered a glass of red to start the meal. I got Franciscan Cabernet Sauvignon and Marlena got a nice Zinfandel. We toasted to a wonderful bright sunny afternoon in Napa out of the gloomy fog. I won’t elaborate too much on the meal out of respect to the pescetarians and veggies out there because we all ordered red meat! Sorry guys, I just can’t control my carnage!

view of sky from Artesa

Before heading home, we drove up the road to Dean and Deluca, a gourmet supermarket and wine shop that has everything: a deli, wines, cheeses, sweets and so much more. I got a coconut, chocolate and cookie’s and cream flavor Gelato while reminiscing about the Oreo cows. It was so good; and big! I shared half of it and did the French thing…a la French Women Don’t Get Fat though at this point, who am I kidding? What a day of food and drink!

We saluted the sunshine and drove back towards SF through acres and acres of green vineyards, over the Waldo Grade back to The Golden Gate. The excessive fog made this look a bit big and scary. Though it also made it seem like the perfect setting for a sequel to the sequel for a vampire Twilight-type book. My husband was grateful when I arrived home bearing fresh Acme sourdough bread and treats from Dean and Deluca!