Barrel-tasting at Del Dotto Winery
Hundertwasser Architecture at the Quixote Winery
Making cake at the Buttercream BakeryJust returned from a 2.5 day vacation in wine country, courtesy of several gift certificates. On Sunday we met up with friends for lunch at Bistro Don Giovanni just off Hwy 29. With a sizeable gift certificate to be used, we ordered a variety of menu items including a delicious fried olive appetizer, calamari fritti, pizza Margherita and several main courses. An all-male Japanese tour group was seated close by and we watched as several trays of hamburgers and pizzas were delivered to their table. Then we drove to the Del Dotto winery for a tour of the wine cave and barrel tasting of many varieties of cabernets and ports. The caves are dug into the hillside and remain cool even on the hottest days. Our guide taught us how to properly "open" the flavors of red wine - ie, sip first, then slowly rotate the glass 360 degrees. He was completely against the vigorous swirling that seems to be the trend these days. According to him, you swirl away the best flavors that way. We also visited the Elizabeth Spencer winery in Rutherford for more wine tasting: chardonnays, pinots and cabs. Our dinner was at Bouchon in Yountville, a Thomas Keller restaurant. The appetizers were quite delicious but there was an unacceptable delay between the starters and the main course. And the main course, coquille st Jacque, was exceedingly mediocre. Disappointing experience.
We stayed at Meadowoods for 2 nights. Our cabin was very comfortable, with a nice big tub, large bed and a fireplace in the living room area. We were surrounded by oak trees all around and woke to birdsong in the morning. Had breakfast at their grill on Monday. The food was good, though not exceptional. After a forgettable walk around St. Helena (see previous blog), we visited the Quixote winery, famous as much for their wines as the architecture by Hundertwasser. It is the only Hundertwasser building in N. America and took 7 years to build. The wines were quite lovely here as well. We especially loved the 2004 Petite Syrah. That evening we had an exceptional dining experience at the Meadowoods restaurant. We were treated to a medley of tiny, delicious dishes that included toro, parsnip souffle, squab, mackerel, cheeses and fresh ice cream. This was the best meal we had during our short trip.
On our drive home, we stopped at the Buttercream Bakery for a delicious breakfast. They bake everything there so the biscuits were fluffy, straight out of the oven and full of buttermilk flavor. Our last stop was at the DiRosa Preserve in Carneros, which houses the private art collection of Rene DiRosa. The collection is massive and the pieces are very much to DiRosa's personal taste. There were a lot of works by Robert Arneson, Roy DeForest, Viola Frey and Enrique Chagoya but there were also countless works by many other Bay Area artists. It was also mating season for the peacocks on the ground. There was quite a bit of loud screeching and tailfeather displays going on.
