Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, Sarah and I jumped on Lawrence's Tour Bus at the Marriott in Napa, sure of only 1 thing. There WILL be wine. Immediately we were relived to see that there were only 2 other people on the bus, this very cute, very hip Canadian couple,eh? Lawrence drives us through Napa, giving us the what's what, and stops first at Hagafen, a winery that is run by an Israeli. BONUS. I knew this day was going to be awesome! Immediately we we welcomed with Napa charm, as you can see by the above photo of the entrance to the tasting room.
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| Is it Kentucky or Napa? I don't know! |
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| What's interesting about Hagafen, is that they grow their vines at around chest to hip height, most commonly, you'll find the vines between hip and knee. |
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| Tastings what was left over after the final harvest! |
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| HEBREW! |
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| As soon as I saw Lola the Napa cat, I KNEW I was gonna like this place. |
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| It's 5 o'clock somewhere?... yea, or 10 am, whatever. |
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| Hey, Gloria, get on over in those bushes, and let me take your picture all cute like! |
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| Get these damn mice off my vineyard! |
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Overall, I found the wine to be good, but as the day progressed it paled in comparison to other vineyards. It was completely worth starting there, with the charm to set the mood for what was to be a wonderful day of sightseeing and friend making. I did learn one thing over and over again at practically every vineyard, which people will probably immediately just say "This bia has no idea what she's talking about" but the guy at Montelena told me I am the decider of my own palate, thankyouverymuch! I learned, that i FHATE Riesling. There, I said it. I also learned, that I have an unnatural love for wine in general. besides Riesling...
Tonight, look for our first Bitch, Be Thankful post!
Love,
Whit
Sigh. Love love love Napa...that was our Spring 2009 trip! Can't wait to see what other wineries you visited. We went to Markham, Mumm, Rubicon, Frog's Leap, Round Pond, and Charbay (a distillery at the top of a mountain!). Now I want to go back...maybe next spring!!
ReplyDeleteThank you! I hate Riesling to but my entire family loves it. Luckily my mom makes a point of buying me a personal bottle of Pinot Noir at every family holiday event so I don't have to drink the Riesling.
ReplyDeleteTotally in love with your blog and writing style Whitney! Come to find out, I voted for you for the project food blog - that my friend is why you looked so familiar. :) It was great meeting/getting to know you at the Foodbuzz Fest. Love your photos and glad you got a chance to explore Napa, I'm so lucky to live so close.
ReplyDeleteHolla! Wine country is awesome! I visited Paso Robles this summer with my wine loving family. (It's just south of Napa). I hate Riesling too. I stick to the reds!
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