A Day in Calistoga

After our balloon ride, we were shuttled back to the Oxbow Public Market -- and it was now a reasonable enough hour in the morning for it to be partially opened up. We grabbed breakfast, and also a few items to cook a dinner (to take advantage of having a house to stay in for the trip). Then we were on to wineries. (They begin to open at 10:00 am in Napa Valley. If you visit there, be prepared to indulge in some socially questionable day drinking.)

Our first stop was Chateau Montelena, which we'd heard about for its beautiful grounds. A green-covered castle up on a hill hosts the tastings. Down some steps and behind the castle, you can walk around a green pond lined with all kinds of flowers and featuring two gazebos -- popular (and no doubt expensive) locations to host small gatherings.

In the tasting room, we got the back story of how this winery helped usher in the prominence of Napa Valley wine by winning the Judgment of Paris in the 1970s, a blind comparison that was supposed to have been dominated by French wine. (A fictionalized version of the story was put on film, in the movie Bottle Shock.) They're still making that wine the same way, they boast. And, to our no doubt less sophisticated tastes, anyway... it wasn't the best we had during the trip. Still, it was a picturesque place to visit.

Next, we moved over to Sterling Vineyards. I've heard it called the "Disneyland of Wineries," with some measure of disdain. But you don't go to Anaheim and not go to Disneyland, right? In any case, this was a return visit for me and my husband, from when we visited Napa for a day 8 years ago. Our friends were interested to visit the balcony where we got one of the first pictures of the two of us as a couple. We rode the aerial tram up to the building (this is the "Disneyland" part of the experience), did the walking/tasting tour of their production facilities, and wound up back on that balcony with the gorgeous view of the valley. My palate has expanded a bit since that previous trip (it certainly did on this one), but this was still a lovely stop full of fond memories.

We broke for lunch at this point, and then after that, for a rest from wine. We stopped at the Napa Valley Brewing Company for a pint, sitting outside on their patio and sipping a light summer beer. (The group concluded that I chose best with the kolsch, though none was especially standout beyond being a welcome change of pace from wine.)

We were up north on the Calistoga end of the valley, and had one more winery on our "must" list, the over-the-top Castello di Amorosa. Built by a family who'd already made a fortune in the wine business, this place was their ode to Italy -- a huge castle designed in the Tuscan style and built as much as possible with real materials. We were there too late in the day to get a full tour through all its levels, but we still got to wander the courtyard, first underground level, and much of its ramparts.

It was exactly as intended, a strange slice of Italy transported somehow to the U.S. -- perhaps somewhat evocative of Las Vegas in the sheer audacity of it, yet also a good deal more authentic at the same time. We watched them setting up for a huge banquet dinner to happen that night in the courtyard, snapped dozens of pictures from the towers and battlements, and enjoyed a great tasting in the lower levels.

Dinner that night was at the CIA at Copia -- not the Central Intelligence Agency, but the Culinary Institute of America. We sat outside as a trio of guitar, bass, and violin entertained the patrons with great music. A delicious Sweet Chili Chicken, followed by some shared desserts, was a great capper to the day. (The giant sculpture of a fork, made of regular-sized forks, was memorable too.)

It was a long and full day, but a fun one.