Sunday March 27, 2005

Wine Country Weekend

We just got back form a wonderful away weekend up in the Napa Valley and environs. It was Duke's birthday present and the first time we have been away for a weekend in quite a while. We really enjoyed ourselves. We stayed in St Helena in a beautiful bed and breakfast, The Adagio Inn. The window seat on the front page of their web site was in our bedroom and we had wine in the living room both Friday and Saturday evenings. On Friday night we talked to two couple from Atlanta who were out for the weekend. They couldn't get over how lush California is. The hills and fields are very green right now. The fact that the hills will be brown in a few months makes the lushness all the more wonderful right now. The breakfasts at The Adagio, cooked by Polly Keegan, the innkeeper and owner, were amazing. Each breakfast included several dishes and was served on the sunny side porch. I think my favorite dishes were the asparagus omelet and the morning glory muffin.

Friday night we had dinner at Cindy's Backstreet Kitchen. We started with the asparagus soup and the Avocado & Papaya Salad with baby mache, arugula, hazelnuts and papaya seed dressing. For the main course Duke had the Wood Oven Duck with crispy potato croquettes and citrus sauce and I had the Grilled Pork Tenderloin with brussels sprouts, Yukon Golds & whole grain mustard sauce. We ended with a wonderfully rich butterscotch nut pie. It was an exceptional meal. I was especially struck by how the chopped up brussels sprouts with my pork tenderloin just added to the flavor. Brussels sprouts whole can often be over powering. One of the great things about staying in a little town like St Helena is that you don't have to worry about sharing a bottle of wine and then driving. The few block walk after dinner back to The Adagio was just right.

Saturday we did a bit of wine tasting. None of it was particularly memorable and I was struck by how crowded and commercial the wine tasting rooms in the Napa valley are. I was surprised that they pretty much all charge for tasting now. It didn't used to be that way. In the afternoon we headed north. As soon as we got into the Alexander valley the wineries were much smaller and more friendly and the tasting was free. We stopped at a casino near Geyserville and played some blackjack. It was fun but would have been more fun if we had won. I guess you shouldn't expect to always win.

Saturday night we ate in the wine cellar bar of The Martini House Restaurant. We had a late lunch at the casino so we just had drinks and food from the bar menu at the Martini House. I ordered calamari and Duke ordered a mushroom dish that we can't remember the name of. We sat at the bar in the small cozy basement. The people were all very friendly. It was a wonderful end to the day and to top it off as we walked back to the Adagio the full moon was coming up above the clouds.

Today we explored the backroads, walked around donwtown Napa and got home about three just as it started raining.