Just Back from a week in Yountville

[SiseFromm]

Spending a week in the heart of California's Napa Valley wine country can seriously take a toll. Rich foods and endless wine. What a vacation. This was our second trip to the area in 2006 but our visit in March was a single-day trip with a couple of fast-stops at four or five wineries plus a fast lunch at Bouchon. This time we stayed, we lingered, we sipped, we indulged. Highlights include:

Bistro Jeanty for dinner with 11 people

(tomato soup in puff pastry is amazing)

Having sweetbreads for lunch and dinner at two different restaurants in the same day

(crispy "steaks" with onions confit, chanterelles, and mornay for lunch followed by roasted with mushrooms in puff pastry with roasted chicken demiglace for dinner)

A vineyard tasting with Dan & Dana Gallagher from Trespass Vineyards

(5-acres, Bordeaux grapes, lovely lovely small-production wine)

Tasting with the Seavey family

(Some of the nicest Chardonnay we've had for the blow-out price of $24 per bottle)

Ham & Cheese Croissant every single morning from Bouchon Bakery

(Crispy, flaky, cheesy, salty, buttery goodness . . . sold out every morning by 9am)

Barrel tasting of the 2005 futures from Pina Cellars

(The D'Adamo is going to be brilliant)

1979 Armagnac for dessert

(Sometimes you need a break from custards, sorbets, glaces, etc.)

I could go on and on and on. I should write a huge and full-blown report on our daily events, but I doubt anybody would care too much about the smaller details. I'll mention that we did hit, among many others, Pride Mountain, Terra Valentine, Robert Sinskey, Baldacci, Darioush, WM Harrison, Cardinale, Turnbull, Elyse, and a few others I'll remember later today.

Here are some random pics:

[docsconz]

Of course we care about the little details - this is eGullet!

Sounds like a fun trip.

[SiseFromm]

One note on Bistro Jeanty. I was slightly hesitant to dine there mostly because we had so many people in our party including an infant, but also because every meal is so precious in Napa and I didn't know what to expect from the quaint little bistro on Washington Street in Yountville. Of course, I clapped with glee when I realized the menu featured such treasures as lamb's tongue salad, pig's trotter salad, lamb cheeks pasta with artichoke and fava, fried smelt with aioli, and about five other random bits and pieces I would never be so lucky to see on any menu in Orange County. What a treat Jeanty is, and shame on me for passing it up on each and every one of my previous trips.

The tomato soup (ever so slightly tart with the flavor of pure fresh tomato tempered by luscious cream) is heaven underneath a dome of perfectly golden brown puff pastry. I never realized such humble soup could be raised to such great heights. I could eat a basket of those little fried smelt with spicy aioli, and the cassoulet was something built for four people in the dead of winter. Creamy beans, duck leg confit, tender sausages, all baked under a golden parsley breadcrumb top. Yes please.

Terra Valentine was a really unexpected pleasure as well. It's an obscure winery up Spring Mountain with an interesting story. I booked a tour and tasting there because my family really wanted to do a big tour thing and Terra Valentine was recommended for that very purpose. I thought it would be decent wine but I'm always leery of cheesy tours. I was proved wrong yet again because it was a great building with interesting architecture and stained glass and the wine was superb. The Pinot Noir, available I believe only from the winery, was cloudy, dense, and earthy with flavors of cherry rock candy. They have an estate reserve, but for me the big drinker was the classic Spring Mountain Cabernet, floating somewhere around $55 a bottle.

Pride, where we've been before so we knew what to expect, surprised us with a fortified Viogner that I've never tasted from them. It was a last minute pour on a whim from our host and it was delicious! It was musky on the nose. Like raw pumpkin (according to my very smart wife, Holly) or like slightly turned melon. On the palette it was creamy and viscous with dense tropical fruit. I would serve it with blue cheese and honey in a split second.

Bouchon, as always, was perfect. We had two lunches there actually. I couldn't pass up the brandade fritters or the white sausage with prunes. For me those are staples, even though I was nearly tempted by our server to try the liver special with onion rings. I passed on it only to be bummed I didn't get it after all. The table behind us ordered one and the liver looked like the size of a filet mignon from a steakhouse. It was beefy!

Tasting with Mr. and Mrs. Seavey was an event we'll never forget. Extremely knowledgeable, extraordinarily down to earth and humble, and aging gracefully, they were the best hosts and our tasting of four wines ended up lasting two hours. Time seems to get away from you at their little winery with a big following. I understand fully now and in honor of the wines we purchased last week, we're already putting together a tasting menu to highlight our loot.

Go and search out Trespass Vineyards immediately. They're at the base of Spring Mountain and I think they're doing around 1,200 cases annually of two different wines. We arrived for our 2pm appointment a few minutes early and were confused if we were even in the right place or not. We basically pulled into an empty field surrounded by vineyards. On the South side of the vineyard (where we later found out the cab vines are planted) there was a small table. A few working sheds and an outhouse rounded out the scenery so we just sat alone eating snacks from Sunshine Market until Don pulled up in his trusty red Ford truck. He popped out with a bag of wines and so the tasting began. Luscious and concentrated, the Cab Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon were exactly what I hope for in a good California red wine. The tasting included two different vintages of the cab. The family resemblance is definitely there but I think I liked the 2003 a bit better. It seemed livelier and fuller of potential for down-the-road tastings. It was hard to say though since we were basically pouring as much as we wanted freely. Three bottles were downed at that tasting and we rode off into the sunset with big purple smiles on our face. Go here: http://www.trespassvineyard.com/

All in all it was a rocking trip. If anybody is interested, I have a ton of additional pics. I'll post them on request.

[docsconz]

Outstanding report, Jason! Of all the places and wines you reported on the only one I have any experience with is Pride Mountain. I have been there and tasted their wines. you have certainly piqued my interest in everything else though. Do you really have to ask about the photos though?

[dvs]

i'm so glad to hear you had such a wonderful time!!

[SiseFromm]

Here are some additional pics for fun:

Our family with Dana and Don from Trespass:

The hand-made spiral stairs leading down to the fermentation and aging room at Terra Valentine:

From the deck at Cardinale off HWY 29:

Dessert at Bouchon:

Bistro Jeanty, taken tipsy after a pitcher of Bordeaux:

Edited January 2, 2007 by SiseFromm (log)

[docsconz]

I like it that Bistro Jeanty is touting their tomato soup with puff pastry right on the door!

Thanks for the pics

[SiseFromm]

Yeah, the soup "special" was on the door every day but I think it's a running menu item. I have a feeling it's a house specialty of sorts as it was also served at PJ Steak, Jeanty's other restaurant just down the street in the same town. By the way, we just received our shipment of Terra Valentine wines. That was fast! They must have been working all the way through the new year since I don't expect any of our other wines to make it this week.

Edited January 3, 2007 by SiseFromm (log)

[SiseFromm]

Oh yeah, one more pic I found at the beginning of the trip files. Taken Christmas Eve, it's Santa's snack (Michael Mina's Chocolate Chip Cookie) plus carrots for Rudolph.