But upon reaching the top of this mountain, the views helped level out my upset stomach. We headed indoors quickly, as I was also severely under dressed. We began the tour sipping Pride Mountain's current release Viognier. It was pretty good, but it wasn't as memorable for me due to my current state. Our tour guide learned us on soil types, explained how the grapes on the top of the mountain are smaller due to the fact the rain water runs down the mountain into the valley and how this means the juice flavor is much more concentrated as a result. After that, we headed over to the caves where they stored their wine barrels.
This is where we did some barrel tasting and learned more about the wine-making process. We learned that the Obama's order Pride Wines for all of their state dinners. We also learned that if the wine tastes bitter, our palates are not as refined yet. Friend Christine was already annoyed with our tour guide at this point and this comment sent her on a rampage through the rest of the cave tour. Luckily, she and our pompous tour guide made nice at the end of the tour and we left the place without taking any bad juju with us.
After more picture taking, we set off for some much needed grub. I didn't buy any wine at Pride since it was pricier and my palate didn't particularly take well to it. Our next food stop was a match made in heaven for my palate.
We pulled over at Gott's Roadside for some comfort food. I ordered the "Wisconsin Sourdough" burger that had griddled mushrooms, bacon, cheddar, mayo and bbq sauce on toasted sourdough bread. Wow. Christine and Susan ordered juicy chicken sandwiches and Sheri ordered a classic burger. Then Christine and I washed our meals down with a pumpkin milkshake. WOWWOW!
Happy again, we piled back into the car and headed to Chateau Montelena. Famous for it's blind taste test years win years ago against storied French wines, Chateau Montelena was a sight to see. Despite the continued cold temps and dreary rain, we still managed to keep good spirits.
The wine tasting was fine, but nothing struck my fancy. Somewhere between the parking lot and the tasting room we had lost our spark for exploring the compound and snapping a million pictures. Instead, we headed back to the car and pondered our next move. Our last winery of the day was to be Cakebread, but our tasting appointment wasn't for another couple hours.
So we drove to the famous Napa sign and took more pictures.
We then headed to Cakebread for our tasting, which to our surprise was comped! Victory. While I didn't take any pictures at this visit, it was the one winery whose wines I loved the most. After a day full of rain, frigid temps, motion sickness and overall blah, the Cakebread visit was the sunshine we had all so desired. The tour and tasting dude was great. The winery was also unique since they had bookmark-size cards for each of their wines describing the wine and on the back pairing it with a recipe. Fun, great idea. I particularly loved the vintage Chardonnay, Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon and of course, the Pinot Noir.
After sweating out my decision, I came away with a bottle of the Zinfandel. After this purchase, I only had one more spot left in my 6-pack wine carrier to be checked as baggage on the flight home. Sunday was surely going to be a gamble. Of the three wineries to visit, when do I buy my last bottle? At the first stop? Or wait to see if the last two are better? Stressful.
But before the day ended, we browsed through Dean and Deluca and a Napa soap shop before heading back to our house to change for dinner at Mustard's Grill. Bad decisions about, we indulged in hummus, cheese, crackers and more before heading out the door again. I was angry with myself at this point, because I was full heading to dinner. I still managed to shovel food down the gullet, but know I would've appreciated it more had I come with an empty stomach.
My meal? Baby back ribs, apple and golden raisin slaw, cornbread sticks and butter.
Sheri and Susan ordered their roast chicken breast with garlic mashed potatoes, roasted artichokes and this special sauce.
Christine ordered yet another chicken sandwich, but her side was my pick for the winning item of the meal. Roasted and grilled sweet potatoes (yellow, not orange) with an avocado tomatillo sauce topped with creme fraiche. The combination there was unbelievable. I hope to attempt to duplicate it sometime soon.
Sadly, no one had room for dessert, so we paid the bill and trolled home for some rest before another big day.
