The weekend before Thanksgiving I found myself in Napa to celebrate my girlfriends 50th birthday. While it wasn’t the best time to travel I couldn’t pass it up!
What do 6 girlfriends do in a short period of time for a celebration? Plan our time and seek out new experiences. We are luck as Denise did all the planning and did a fantastic job. The pressure was on, since we were planning it for the meeting planner.
As you can see, we were not short on wine
Accommodations were first. Something that had to accommodate 6 ladies and centrally located. Vrbo.com came through with a nice house in St. Helena on Main Street. (http://snip.ly/qujw) To bad we didn’t have time to take advantage of the hot tub. The pool was just a bit to chilly.
Our first stop of the day was at White Hall Lane Winery for cooking school. Chef made us Chicken Saltimbocca, Lemon Risotto and Cabernet Chocolate Cake with Ganache.
A few take-aways from cooking school.
- Slice chicken lengthwise then pound thin.
- Cut basil on a slant and it won’t turn black as fast.
- Carnaroli rice expands 12X (what was used in the recipe)
- Arborio rice expnds 4X
- Vialone Nano rice is what is used in rice salads
- When baking, make sure your eggs are at room temperature before adding them to the mix
- Venge 2013 Juliana Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc. Aged 6 months in neutral French oak, this wine had nice citrus and tangerine notes with a hint of spice on the finish SRP $37
- Venge 2012 Silencieux Cabernet Sauvignon – This is a drink now Cabernet. Red and black fruit, a little herbaceous with reduced tannins. SRP $50
- Venge 2012 Bone Ash Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon – This wine is produced from the vines right in front of the tasting room, unfined and unfiltered. Nice vanilla and clove notes with a palate full of black fruit with a hint of minerality. This is a wine you will want to cellar for at least 5 years. SRP $85
The view from V12 |
- V for Vasser Family
- 12 was Jimmy’s racing number
- V12 is the ultimate race car engine that gives power and a distinctive sound
- 12 represents the 4 blocks of 4 clones planted on 4 different rootstocks on the estate
- V12 2012 Carneros Chardonnay. Nice acidity with subtle hints of oak and tropical fruits. SRP $45
- V12 2010 Reserve Cabernet. Of course I like the most expensive wine of the trip. This is a wine to lay down for a few years. Nice tannins and beautiful black fruit. SRP $175
This pretty much took up most of our day. I then got to meet up with Charlotte aka The Wine Key at Orin Swift in St. Helena while my friends went shopping. It was great to meet up with a fellow wine blogger, educator and social media consultant.
As you can see, I had a day of wine tasting behind me with those purple teeth.
On Sunday we had a birthday party for the birthday girl at the Napa Valley Bistro.