Days 5 and 6 - St. Helena/Rutherford and San Fran

Wednesday:

We spent day 5 around St. Helena and Rutherford, which is an area known for the reds (mostly Cabernets). We went to a few wineries that were good, but not really anything to mention so I'll leave their names out. Before we left, we were given the suggestion to go to Quintessa and had an appointment for a tour/tasting. Once again we were the only ones actually on the tour, which was really nice. Mindy was our tour guide and she did an amazing job. I think this was probably our favorite place because not only did they show us the vines and the barrels, but also the production floor where the winemaker himself was walking around checking on things. The views were amazing, the building quite modern and the experience wonderful. We actually got to see the winemaker's own "tasting room" where he was getting ready to samply the juice from each lot of vines* and begin mixing to get just the right blend.

*Quintessa has 27 lots, with 5 different grapes growing on those lots. Each lot may have a slight variation in soil composition or location (hillside or valley), which both contribute to skin thickness and ultimately flavor.

We spent the evening at home, grilled steaks and ate cupcakes :)


Thursday:

We made the hour drive to San Francisco our last full day in California to do be tourists (complete with map and camera in hand). We parked down by Fisherman's Wharf, walked through Ghiradelli Square and had a couple of other sights on our list to see. I, being the incredibly smart person that I am, suggested we do a walking tour. Obviously, I had no clue how much walking that would involve, I just knew that we'd done it in New York almost a year ago, so it couldn't be that bad. And besides, if we ever got tired, we could just jump on a cable car or hail a taxi and finish up that way. So we began our trek to Golden Gate bridge along the bay. It was a really nice walk with the breeze blowing and sun shining. Well, an hour later when we got close enough to satisfy ourselves, we decided it was time to find some public transportation to get us to stop B. There was no public transportation anywhere nearby. We even asked a few locals and they basically (in their own very nice way) told us we were screwed.

So we walked back. But this time, we decided to go straight to see Lombard Street in all its curviness. And by straight, I mean straight up. Up the 40-degree sloped very long three blocks to the top. We got there, took a picture, walked down and took another picture then decided we deserved pizza. The rest of the afternoon we just walked the piers until time to board Alcatraz Cruises. We spent about two and a half hours on the island doing a 45-minute audio tour through the cell house, learning about some of the attempted escapes, more famous inmates and the daily routines (which were incredibly limited) of the prisoners. Once back from the island, we had dinner with Aunt Grace at a great place in Little Italy and headed back to Napa.

We've already been asked what our favorite part of the trip was and it's kind of hard to decide. I think we both really enjoyed the weather (40s at night, sunny and low 60s at day), the laid-back lifestyle of the Valley and of course, some good wine. We learned a little bit about tasting and pairing wine with food and have a little better appreciation for the art of winemaking. I think we'd both love to back to California and see more of the national parks and coast lines and LA (for shopping...okay, that's probably just me).