[net.wines] wine.trip

mae@weitek.UUCP (07/31/86)

One thing to be aware of is that there are several wine regions 'near'
San Fransisco. Some of them are:

	locale		some wineries there
	-----------------------------------
	Napa Valley	beringer, sterling,stags leap, mondavi
	Sonoma Valley	simi, dry creek
	San Jose	almaden, paul masson, mirasou
	Santa Cruz Mts.	felton empire,mev
	Monterey	?

Napa Valley alone takes a single day and is where I recommend you go. When
we go we stay at the Mount View Hotel in Calistoga at the north end of the
valley. They have an excellent restaurant there. Other good and expensive
places to eat are:

	Calistoga Inn	- try the duck in rasberry sauce if it's on the
			menu, but they usually have very good soups and
			sea food

	St. Georges	- I think in Rutherford, kind of looks like a 
			high class bordello inside. good duck and veal

	Rose e La Favor - I haven't eaten here but it was featured in the
			T.V. show Chef's of S.F.

	Silverado 	- also in calistoga, it has the best wine list in
			the valley.

The Cinnabar across the street from the Mount View is good place for
breakfast. There's an excellent wine shop across the street from the
Silverado. It's run by the people who run the Silverado. You can some
times see the waiters run across the street to get a bottle at the wine
shop. 

I think the best thing to do by car is to drive up the highway toward 
St. Helena. There are lots of wineries along the side of the road. Some
are:
		beringer	- nice tasting room and tour
		grgich hills	- good fume blanc
		mondavi		- some old wine making stuff
		V.Sattui	- they have a food/wine shop and picnic ground
		martini		- fair wine, nice tasting room
		
This is only few of them on the west side going toward Calistoga. If you make
to Calistoga and it's still daylight, go thru town and take the Silverado
Trail south. There are more wineries on this side. You can cut over to the
main hiway at several places, like Oakville, St. Helena or Rutherford.

alla valla flicka skol!
mike

jpj@mss.UUCP (J. P. Jenal) (08/04/86)

Greetings!  Let me toss out a couple of other ideas for your consideration
if you are heading up to the Napa area.  For breakfast, try the Diner in
Yountsville.  It is a 50's sort of place - small and homey.  If it is
crowded (and it almost always is), they will serve you coffee and rolls on
the porch.  Bring a paper to read - the coffee alone is worth the stop.

After you have hit several wineries (Sterling has a very nice self-guided
tour along with a great view and, by-the-way, some quite nice wine!), try
going on up to Calistoga for lunch and a view.  For lunch, pick up some
bread and cheese and fruit, etc... and walk over to the airfield where the
sailplanes operate.  If you are adventurous, take a trip in one - I did and
its worth it!  Great views of the valley and sailplanes are a real kick!

Try hitting the Couvasion winery while you are up there on the North end of
the valley.  By now you will be hungry again, right?  Well, do whatever it
takes to work up an appetite because I have a couple of real winners for
you.  Back in Yountsville, near where you had breakfast, is a restaurant
with a Greek flavour that is very nice.  That's Anesti's.  Check it out.

If you decide that you might venture over to the Sonoma side of the world,
try John Ash & Co. in Santa Rosa - the best meal I've had in either valley
and almost worth the trip in itself.  (If the Lemon Chicken is on the menu,
GET IT!  And tell me what you thought.)

Bon apetite!

Cheers...

	Jim Jenal		(aka ...!scgvaxd!mss!jpj)
	Mayfield Senior School	( "  ...!ihnp4!mss!jpj)