The City of Bordeaux
The ultimate wine country getaway is the city of Bordeaux. It is the gateway to one of the most exciting wine country destinations in the world. Wine lovers, you must visit this great French city.
Quaint and rustic on the outside, grand on the inside
The Monterey Bay offers many vacation adventures by the sea. One of those adventures is tasting wine in Carmel-by-the-Sea and in Carmel Valley. We spent a couple of days exploring the Carmel area in search of wine, food, and other delights. From our Four Sisters Coachman Inn, Carmel Valley is 25 minutes away. It is here where we focus our wine tasting experience at Talbott Vineyards.
Before we visit Talbott Vineyard, our top priority is to stop and purchase our picnic lunch goodies. Very near Talbotts is the Jerome’s Carmel Valley Market. This is where the natives’ shop. Jerome’s makes delicious and very big deli sandwiches. What a treat!
During the week, the Carmel Valley has very light traffic. We had the entire Talbott tasting room to ourselves as well as the Talbott picnic area. Our host Josh was able to devote much attention to our party of six. It is $20 to taste five wines, three Chardonnay wines, and two Pinot Noir wines.
Robert Talbott and his wife Audrey founded the winery in 1984. Robert and Audrey created R. Talbott’s men’s store, featuring handmade ties. The success of the business led to their adventures in Chardonnay and Pinot Noir wines. Talbotts Vineyards is one of the most successful wineries in Carmel Valley.
The Talbotts retired in 2015 and sold the winery and the label to Gallo Familly Wines. So far, Gallo appears to be carrying on with the excellent tradition of quality Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.
The Chardonnay and Pinot Noir comes from two exciting vineyards in the Santa Lucia Highlands. These mountain vineyards are about 15 miles from the tasting room. The vineyards are Sleepy Hollow and Diamond T. The mountain climate conditions provide the perfect growing environment for Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.
I have been a fan of the Talbott Chardonnay and Pinot Noir that Safeway, and sometimes Costco, offers. Look for the Kali Hart and/or the Logan name on the labels. The wine is under $20 offering exceptional values. The remaining lineup of Talbott wines is sold exclusively out of the tasting room and to wine club members. The wines are delicious. We chose the Sarah Case Sleepy Hollow Vineyard Chardonnay to share with our deli lunch. The Carmel Valley is peaceful and serene, the perfect spot for a picnic lunch!
Talbott Chardonnay Sarah Case 2014 – Santa Lucia Highlands AVA – $52
Talbott Pinot Noir Sleepy Hollow 2014 – Santa Lucia Highlands AVA – $42
The Talbott tasting room has ample picnic areas surrounding the tasting room. There are two Bocce Courts that are shared by Talbotts and the Cowgirl Winery next door.
Quality Grape Seed Oil for sale at Talbotts Vineyards
To the Napa Valley or Sonoma?
Should I travel to the Napa Valley or should I go to Sonoma? What is the difference between the two wine regions and which one is better?
St. Francis Winery in Sonoma. In the background are the Mayacamus Mountains.
Looking down Lincoln Avenue in Calistoga
Beautiful and quiet backroad in Sonoma County – West Dry Creek Road
Napa Valley wins the restaurant comparison. Napa Valley has many upscale restaurants. It has two top Michelin Star rated restaurants. They are the French Laundry and the Restaurant at Meadowood. The towns of Healdsburg and Sonoma have excellent choices of restaurants. The cost of dining is higher in the Napa Valley.
Chef Thomas Keller tends to his French Laundry garden
Both the Napa Valley and Sonoma have many great choices for lodging. Budget to luxurious accommodations can be found in both regions.
Madrona Manor – excellent accommodations and upscale restaurant near Healdsburg
Both the Napa Valley and Sonoma are sensational wine countries and are both worth a visit. We highly recommend visiting both, but on separate getaways.
One of the most informative sessions at the recent Wine Bloggers Conference in Walla Walla, Washington, was the session on Cheeses of Europe. We tasted the four kinds of cheese in the photo along with white and red wines to match the various flavors of the cheese. The Cheese Twins presented a humorous and informative seminar on cheeses, and each attendee was generously given a cheeseboard.
The Cheeses of Europe App is perfect for those learning about cheese and becoming a bonafide cheese lover. On the Home Page of the App, you can filter out the complete list of cheese by type, flavor, and milk. There are recipes and a locator for cheese shops near you. You can get the Cheeses of Europe App at this link. On the far right, use the pulldown menu to get the app for Apple or Android.
The Cheese Twins Website also has some excellent cheese recipe videos and other excellent cheese information.
Amavi Cellars in Walla Walla Valley AVA
The town of Walla Walla is one of the great wine towns in the Western US. It rivals that of Calistoga, St. Helena, Healdsburg, Sonoma, Paso Robles, and Los Olivos. A stay in Walla Walla puts you within easy reach of a plethora of tasting rooms and boutique wineries. The pace is slow and easy in the land of Walla Walla.
Here is a novel idea. Main Street Drivers is a company that will drive you in your rental car or your own car for $35 an hour.
Revelry Cellars tasting room and wine cellars – lovely setting
Walla Walla Valley AVA is in eastern Washington and extends to the top eastern corner of Oregon. Over 70 wineries and 2800 acres of vineyards are located in the Walla Walla Valley AVA. The wineries are mostly small and family owned. Many are recent and are taking a bold and innovative approach in producing spectacular wines. From the town of Walla Walla, many of the wineries are only a few minutes away by car. If you don’t have a car, walk the tasting rooms in town.
L’Ecole beautiful historic schoolhouse tasting room
Seven Hills Tasting Room – Historic Whitehouse-Crawford Building
Step out of your hotel room in downtown Walla Walla, Washington, into a world of fabulous wine tasting. Within just a few city blocks, one can find 32 wine-tasting rooms. The Main Street area of downtown Walla Walla is a paradise for wine discoveries and delights. We say 32 plus because when any business storefront closes, a wine-tasting room moves in.
We spent a few days in the town of Walla Walla. We walked out of the Marcus Whitman Hotel to roam the streets, amazed at tasting rooms one after another. All the tasting rooms visited had a reasonable tasting room fee of between $5 and $10. They also offer wines by the glass. The setting is comfortable and laid back.
There are a couple of decent places with pub food but for a classy meal try the Whitehouse-Crawford restaurant. We had an excellent dinner there. Whitehouse-Crawford has an extensive wine list which includes many Washington wines.
The Marcus Whitman also has an excellent restaurant: The Marc Restaurant
Walla Walla has a small airport with daily flights from Seattle and Portland. Fifty minutes west is the Tri-Cities Airport, a much larger airport with more choices. Alaska Airlines has the biggest presence.
There are drivers for hire, Uber, and renting a car. Many take the four-hour drive from Seattle and spend a few days in Walla Walla as well as the Tri-Cities area. We hired an Uber driver to get us back to the Tri-Cities Airport.
Did you miss our article on the Yakima Valley?
Winemaker Justin Basil with a barrel sample of Syrah from “The Rocks”
Are you and friends planning a trip to the Napa Valley? Be prepared to spend a small fortune and battle hoards of tourists. Your money might be better spent by taking a trip to the Northwest, to the Yakima Valley wine country in Washington State. Yakima is off the radar for most wine country travelers, but it has so much to offer to the wine enthusiast. We spent five days in Yakima, and we are now deeply enamored by this wine region. Napa Valley is historic, but the Yakima Valley also has some great wine adventures in store for visitors.
Joe and Janelle in the Yakima Valley – Elephant Hill Vineyard
A good look at one type of soil profile in Yakima Valley wine country. Vineyard belongs to Owen Roe
The wines in Yakima Valley wine country are extraordinary and match up with Napa Valley wines. It is not just Chardonnay, Cabernet, and Merlot in Yakima; its diverse soil and weather give it the ability to produce several varieties at quality levels.
Did you know that Yakima Valley is a desert? The Cascade Mountains to the west bring rain and snow to the coastal side, but only a mere 5 to 6 inches to the Yakima Valley. The dry climate means no mold or mildew, and very few insects. That is why sustainable farming is attainable in the Yakima Valley.
The soil varies from vineyard to vineyard with silt, loam, loess, and cobblestone. The diverse soils side-by-side are due to volcanoes and the ancient Missoula Flood waters. Our visit to Owen Roe’s vineyards displayed each of these soil types in separate plots of the vineyards.
Rivers run east to west providing south-facing hillsides. Red grapes love the sun and get plenty of it facing south. Also, because of the latitude, there are more daylight hours for the red grapes. The evenings cool down, and there you have the ideal climate for red grapes. The Yakima Valley is at the same latitude as Burgundy and Bordeaux.
In our most recent trip to Yakima Valley, we visited several wineries and sampled a large number of Yakima Valley wines and other Washington wines. The quality is there and, for the most part, not at the huge price tag of Napa Valley wines.
There are 60 wineries in the Yakima Valley and nearly 19,000 acres of vineyards. The wineries are small and family owned. The tasting room fees are low, usually between $5 and $10, and waived with a purchase of wine. It is not uncommon to find the winemaker and/or owner pouring in the tasting room.
The Yakima Valley extends 85 miles in length and is wide enough to fit the length of the entire Napa Valley within its width. Besides vineyards and wineries, the Yakima Valley is an agricultural bonanza. Napa Valley has only vineyards, and rightly so. Yakima is diverse, with vineyards and many other crops growing side-by-side. These crops include cherry trees, apple trees, hops, and pears.
Vineyards on the hillside; apple orchards are below along with other crops
Two red wines that I found extraordinary are the Merlot and Syrah varieties. I found these two wines to be much more exciting than any I have tasted in Napa, Sonoma, Paso Robles, or elsewhere in California. The layers of flavors and structure of the wines offer an exciting taste profile. The Merlots are soft, balanced, and particularly food friendly. The Syrah comes in a few styles, but I love the meaty Syrahs. By meaty, I mean smoky and bacony. One of my fellow tasters described the aroma of one Syrah wine perfectly, “It smells like tires burning rubber on a peel out.” It sounds awful, but no, it is quite enjoyable. You must taste to appreciate. White wines are also abundant, especially Chardonnay, but reds receive most of the attention. See the list of wines of Yakima Valley.
Merlot is excellent in Yakima Valley wine country
Most of the vineyards are on hillsides. Down below on the valley floor are apple orchards and hop orchards. Ninety percent of the world’s organically-grown apples are from the Yakima Valley. The apple growers are continually tinkering with apples to make them more crisp, firm, juicy, and tasty. Just try a Honey Crisp or Ambrosia apple from Yakima!
There are also small, somewhat ugly looking apples that may not look appealing in the grocery store. It turns out; these apples are just perfect for hard cider folks. Yakima Valley is big on hard apple cider.
These little apples make great cider
Hop orchards abound and grow up to 18 feet in height. Brewers flock to the farms just before harvest to sample the different hop varieties. They crush and smell the hops in their hands and choose their hops for purchase. In Seattle and Portland, countless small brewpubs benefit from Yakima Valley hops. Yakima Valley produces 75% of the nation’s hops. More on Hops.
Just one of many varieties of Hops in Yakima Valley wine country
The easiest way to travel from California is by air. Tri-Cities Airport in Yakama is the best option for flying into the wine region. Some airports offer direct flights to Tri-Cities, but the usual way is to connect in Seattle or Portland. Many wine country tourists drive from Seattle or Portland. Another adventurous trip for Californians is to head up to Walla Walla via Highway 395 and then west to Tri-Cities. Homeward bound, head west to Portland and take Highway 5 to California.
There are many excellent places to stay in Richland. The Columbia River in Richland is very inviting. For touring, rent a car, hire a wine tasting service, or hire Uber.
The Yakima Valley wine scene is still in its infancy. Much more can be accomplished by growers and winemakers. The best is yet to come with Yakima Valley wines. Get to Yakima Valley and experience a different lifestyle of slow and relaxed. The word “snobbery” is unknown in the Yakima Valley wine country.
St. Helena Cabernet Sauvignon
In the artsy photo, we see beautiful clusters of Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. More than likely these grape clusters will be picked by the end of September. By all accounts, the growing season for all grapes in the Napa Valley has been in the normal category. These Cabernet grapes are in a secluded area of the St. Helena AVA. It is a small vineyard and family-owned. The resulting Cabernet Sauvignon will sell from upwards of $100 a bottle.
I shot this photo on August 30, 2018. I used a Lightroom Plugin to create the artsy look to the picture.
Mike Chelini pours a barrel sample of Cabernet Sauvignon
Stony Hill Vineyard, one of Napa Valley’s oldest family-owned winery, has sold to another Napa Valley winery. Stony Hill Vineyard is a unique winery in the Napa Valley. Stony Hill is tucked away, hidden from the roadway. Tasting is by appointment only, and only a few visitors are scheduled each day. Wine case production is approximately 5000 cases per year, with Chardonnay the flagship wine. The Chardonnay is noted for its beautiful balance, and not for heavy oak or buttery and creamy flavors like one finds at most Napa Valley wineries. The wines are mostly sold to long-time loyal customers, local restaurants and online.
We have visited Stony Hill Vineyard on many occasions. One of our wine friends, Mike Beltran, knows Mike Chelini well. Mike Chelini has been the winemaker at Stony Hill Vineyard for the past 45 years. He is the longest-tenured winemaker in the Napa Valley. We love taking a barrel sample of all the wines and walking through some of the hillside vineyards. Mike Chelini is also a member of an exclusive lunch club. They call themselves the G.O.N.A.D.S. What does that mean? I wrote an article back in 2008 on Mike Chelini, Stony Hill, and the exclusive lunch club. Read it here.
Fred and Eleanor McCrea founded Stony Hill 70 years ago. The good news in this sale is that the buyers, Ted and Laddie Hall (who currently own Long Meadow Ranch), and the McCrea family are old friends. It seems that too often with the sale of a Napa Valley winery, a wine conglomerate or an investment group buys the winery. I’m always disappointed to find a long-time winery selling to the big dealers of the wine industry. Give us the good old days of the Napa Valley!
Joe and Janelle at Stony Hill Vineyard
Sauvignon Blanc harvest begins in the Napa Valley
August 30, 2018, begins the Sauvignon Blanc harvest in the Napa Valley. From this date through the next two weeks most of the Sauvignon Blanc will be picked and crushed for the 2018 vintage. These Sauvignon Blanc grapes are from a small and hidden winery in St. Helena. The vineyard owner is a famous art gallery proprietor in San Francisco. These Sauvignon grapes are headed to the Cade winery in Howell Mountain. This August was below average in temperature and the cool temperatures delayed the harvest for about one week.
The St. Helena Sauvignon Blanc harvest in these photos was in the early morning hours. Overcast skies enabled the harvest crew to pick easily and without much duress. All in all, this appears to be a fantastic harvest. Time will tell.
Sauvignon Blanc harvest – early morning rush
A twenty-year run for Brannan’s Grill ended in July of 2018
It is the sign of the times in the Napa Valley. Another one of Napa Valley’s oldest restaurants, Brannan’s Grill closed in Calistoga. It is a different clientele in the Napa Valley these days, even in the sleepy and laid-back town of Calistoga. We have noticed a steady change in the Napa Valley since 2012 when the economy began to boom. San Francisco Area is a mecca for the wealthy and the sophisticated. This sector brings a new breed of traveler to wine country. Brannan’s is more of the old Napa Valley
Calistoga is our favorite town, and we loved coming to Brannan’s to sit at the 1880’s Brunswick mahogany bar. I don’t know the name of the Brannan’s bartender, but he was a friendly and efficient server. We popped into the Brannan’s bar just a few times a year. Each time the bartender remembered Janelle’s favorite cocktail, the Branhattan, the best Manhattan in the Napa Valley.
We hope that the restaurant reopens under new owners and that they have the common sense to keep the beautiful mahogany bar. We will miss Brannan’s Grill.
1880’s Brunswick mahogany bar