So this day didn’t start off as planned. We flew into Oakland which always has worked out for us, but not this time. We landed at 9:30 and by 12:30 we had gone less than 20 miles. I’ll skip past the rest of our frustrating morning but know that is why we only ended up going to 2 wineries. We were meeting my parents in Napa and they had to carry one while we sat in traffic. They visited Robert Keenan on Spring Mountain. They really enjoyed the wine and tasting experience. They felt comfortable and liked the small snacks that went along with the wine. They ended up purchasing the 2007 Cab Franc. For lunch I sent them to Cindy’s Backstreet Kitchen. This is my favorite spot for lunch in St. Helena. Here are some pics from my last visit there in January.  The last one I believe they call Campfire Pie and it is the most delicious homemade dessert for miles I am sure.

Spring Mountain is a special place in Napa.  Most of the wineries there are by appointment not because they are snooty but because they want to maintain the small intimate atmosphere.  My favorite that I have visited so far on Spring Mountain is Pride.  They do a great tour of their property and caves with your tasting.  We bought a couple of bottles afterwards, one which we still are saving for a special occasion.  Here are some pictures of our tour.

Sad we didn’t get to visit Pride this trip but we will definitely be back there this year.  But this trip after my parents when to Kennan and Cindy’s we made our way out to Chateau Montelena.  A lot of people have either heard of or seen the movie Bottle Shock.  Well this is the winery the film was based.  It has a long tradition of great wine and also has a unique story.  They experience there is not what you would expect from the perspective of a winery that has a movie made about it.  The tasting room is quite conservative in size compared to other big names in the valley.  They do a great job at making people feel welcome and maintaining their small estate winery feel.  We are wine club members there however so we bypassed the tasting room and did a CellarMaster tasting.  Josh hosted us and we drank some great wines along with a spread of snacks.  They served some very unique and delicious cheeses from all over with the wine.  It was a fun relaxing tasting and we ended it with a short tour of the guest house where the family sometimes stays when visiting.

This trip we bought 3 bottles, a Riesling, Estate Napa Cab, and the Zin.  I can’t remember the years on any of them right now and I can’t look at the bottles either.  My parents are driving all of our wine purchases down to us later in July after their vacation.  Can’t wait!

After Chateau Montelena, we went just down the road to Bennett Lane Winery.  I had seen it had good ratings on yelp and it was open a little later than most.  Unfortunately I can’t say it was a great experience.  The workers seemed very ready to leave even though they were open for another hour.  They were closing up and leaving one girl behind.  Our server left in the middle of our tasting and didn’t offer any insight into or description about the wines.  He was not very talkative in general but I think that just had to due with trying to get us out.  Anyhow they are a newer winery and when I asked about the history he laughed and said there really wasn’t one.  We still bought a bottle of their blended red and enjoyed that night.

At that point we headed back to meet two friends for dinner at Diavola.  It is in Geyserville, north of Healdsburg.  It is a MUST if you are in the wine county.  If you go get the Cha-Cha-Cha pizza.  Goat cheese and pork belly- enough said!  Also we had some great wine.  We loved them both so much the next day we wanted to visit.  We ended up getting to go to Zichichi- more on that another day!

Tip from this trip: Check the traffic and plan your route when you land at the airport! Also you simply must visit Cindy’s Backstreet Kitchen- and make reservations to avoid the wait!