Nov 10, 2016
Back in time to Napa Valley
A week ago today, Thursday November 3rd, was day two of our Napa Valley winery tour.
The grand entrance.
This is the Darioush Winery, on the Silverado Trail. Simply stunning. That is me in the pink. This has been described as one of the most ostentatious edifices in Napa, it is a reconstruction of Persepolis. The winery is owned by a wealthy Iranian.
A lot of Persian influence here. The labels are etched into the glass. The winery has many priceless objects from Iran scattered about the interior.
There was so much to see within the winery and the gift shop was superb with small flat pieces of quartz edged with gold for sale as coasters. Then there were the gold goblets and so on.
The label on the back of the previous bottle. This was one of our favorite places in our stay in Napa.
Once again I asked if could pay to simply sample the Sauvignon Blanc and was gifted with a taste. Oh my, impossible to describe the best ever wine I have ever tasted. I suggested to Colin that we might want to buy one bottle. The fellow then offered us a taste of the Chardonnay. He said that the SB was young, 2015, and would need about 3 months to settle but the Chardonnay ( 2014 ) was ready. Again so many notes to distinguish and enjoy. These wines sell out within a short time of being bottled and are only sold at the winery.
So we tasted and discussed a variety of wines with the young fellow who it turned out was from Guadalajara, Mexico. We finally decided to buy one bottle and then Colin said lets buy a second bottle. So we bought one of each. I got 5 cents back from a $100.00 bill. Our plan was to savor the Chardonnay as we celebrated the US election. That bottle is still unopened waiting for another celebratory event. It wasn’t until we went to pay for the wine that we realized that Colin had forgotten his wallet at the RV 😯
So here we were with less than $35.00 and neither of us had our Drivers License with us. Nothing to do but carry on.
Up the road was the Stag’s Leap Wine Cellar not to be confused with the Stags’ Leap Winery. The placement of the apostrophe is a small variation as is their labels.
This was the second winery to win at the 1976 Paris Tasting for their Cabernet Sauvignon.
They only had one Chardonnay and three Cabernet Sauvignons on the Tasting Flight for $40.00. I asked to purchase a tasting of the Sauvignon Blanc and was given the taste at no charge even though it was not on the list. It was very good but no where near the previous winery.
Amazing how two Napa wineries won that year. It certainly made a difference to the history of this valley.
Next stop was the lovely Silverado Winery up a small hill.
Lovely views from their patio. Once again I was gifted with a taste of SB. I was beginning to feel bad as I didn’t even have enough money to buy anything. But oh so much fun.
Not a fancy place at all and mostly underground. They only make the one wine, a red, called Quintessa. A single 750ml bottle of the 2013 is $175.00. The wine can only be purchased at the winery and they will ship but the specifics for shipping are several paragraphs long all pertaining to certain dates and the risk for heat shock and damage. One is advised to wait until the weather is shipping appropriate.
We made a quick stop at the Quintessa only because it was so similar to my name.
What a fun morning that was and we have just three more to review in Part 2. To be continued………
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Oh, those bottles from the Darioush Winery look like fine Persian tapestries! I would have loved to visit that winery!
When I was in my 20’s, I went to work for Clinique Cosmetics as an Account Exec. Our first Nat’l Sales meeting included a dinner and wine pairing at the Silverado Winery. I had never been to Napa before, and I was like Cinderella at the Ball!
So terribly blue that we didn’t have a cause to celebrate on election nite…more like drown our sorrows! But yes, save that beautiful vintage for a happier time!
What a fun time you had in Napa…such a wonderful spot for us lovers of the vine! 😉