VinDivine - Living it Up John & Janine Style

Bouchon Bistro - Yountville

Bouchon. Fun to say, right? You are instantly French. Bouchon! Try it. Well, talk about a chef and restauranteur that nails it. Thomas Keller (French Laundry, Per Se, yada yada) opened this cute number in Yountville in the late 90's. Very French bistro, super well done. Says it is named after a style of café popular in Lyon, France but I like it because it also means Champagne Stopper in French. Doesn't everything sound better in French? Makes me wish I woulda taken French instead of metal shop (foundry) in high school.

OK, enough rambling, here we go:

• The sandwich (excusez-moi, Tartine) o' the day is always good. Very good-sized, fresh sando with a salad or AWESOME FRITES (oh.man. Nice little sticks. Drool.) on the side. Great bread, great everything.

• Bibb lettuce salad. Bibb..also kinda fun to say! 'nuff said.

• Quiche Lorraine. Yepper - nice crust, eggs from outta this world, jambon, and crazy-good swiss cheese. Not too heavy either. What??

• Killer wine list. What else would you expect. Great by the glass or bottle.

Go!

Bouchon Bistro
6534 Washington Street
Yountville, Napa, CA

Rudd Winery

Nothing too fancy here really, but a nice spot with excellent wines. Kinda modest, but very comfortable, tasteful and inviting. Rudd  offer tours and tastings ‘by prior appointment only’. Note: they mean it. This is a hour and a half or so tour + tasting. You can’t just go in, skip the tour and belly up to the bar. Un uhn. Each appointment gets you a tour of the vineyards, a walk through the gardens and wine production facilities, followed by a tasting of their current releases, usually 5-6 wines.

If you charm them they might give you a taste or two of their library wines too. You’ll also get to check out the thousands of feet of subterranean caves under the stone winery. Caves are cool! Tour & Tasting will set you back $25 a head. You can’t charm yourself out of that.

You probably haven’t heard of Rudd Wines. They are very high quality, and very drinkable. They are in the same ’hood as many cult favorites including Dalla Valle, Opus One, Harlan Estate, & Screaming Eagle.

We love the Jericho Canyon Red (a Cab/Merlot blend, $100 a bottle), the Estate Cabernet (Cab/Cab Franc, $90 a bottle), and the Oakville Estate Proprietary Red ($125 a bottle mmm mmm). All 3 of these wines get consistently high Parker scores as well (so you don’t have to just take our word for it!). They also produce a good Sauvignon Blanc and Chard. It’s not easy to find these wines at stores and restaurants so come here.

Rudd Winery
500 Oakville Crossroad
Oakville (Napa), CA 94562
707-944-8577

Quintessa Winery

You know the realtor’s term ‘curb appeal’? This place has GOT IT. $25 for a tasting (for just two vintages - ouch!) plus some artisinal cheese. If you don’t like Cabernet blends, don’t pay for it. It’s still worth a wander around. Like I was saying, it is a tad spendy, but go for it. It’s a cool experience. And if $25 for a tasting doesn’t make you wince a bit, head across the road to the pricey little restaurant Auberge de Soleil afterward to test the limits of your Amex.

The winery is only about 10-15 years old, very modern, elegant and visually stunning. The owners bought it in 1989 and surprisingly grapes had never been grown on the property, all 280 acres of it. It was one of the last large undeveloped properties in Napa. It is on the Silverado Trail, which is the hidden gem of Napa, just east of busy Highway 29.

The winery opened in 2002, designed by some high- falootin’ architects from SF. It has a graceful crescent-shaped design that shouts and whispers all at once. There are fab views of the vineyards and lakes from the winery, and the whole place is a class act.

Quintessa wines - actually ‘wine’ as there is one wine per year, and some years are skipped if the quality is not deemed high enough - are a meritage (blend) and change vintage to vintage based on growing conditions. One thing, it is always a top-notch wine with excellent fruit, boldness, great balance and finesse. At $125 a bottle, this wine’s for sippin’ not for tippin’.

Quintessa Winery
1601 Silverado Trail
Rutherford (Napa), CA 94573
707-967-1601

 

Niebaum-Coppola Winery

Come here for both history & great wines. And who knows maybe you’ll bump into Francis or Sophia. Hell, maybe Nick Cage will even be wandering around since he's a nephew and all. But you don’t need a star sighting to make it worth a visit to N-C . This winery had a long history, back to the 1880’s when Gustave Niebaum started it after making a killing in the fur trade. The winery was called Ingelnook (didn’t our parents all drink that, and Blue Nun?). In ’75 Francis happened upon it, fell in love with the place and with Gustave’s story, made another Godfather movie (our favorite) and bought the place.

N-C is located in Rutherford, which is considered the best Cab growing location in Napa, and probably in all of California.

Anyhoo, this place is pretty impressive. Quite a Chateau ‘ol Gustave built, and it has been carefully kept-up and improved by Francis & Co. The tasting room is somewhat formal, and very nice, still showing the original rock work and in somewhat of a traditional European style.

The Rubicon ($100)  and Cask Cabs ($60) are really tasty. Very well made wines from stellar fruit. But don't miss the Director's Reserve Cab at $40. Very nice.  They also have a really interesting white blend called Blancaneaux, made from Rousanne, Marsanne, Viognier and Chardonnay. Very unique.

Insider’s Tip – no matter how cute those little cans of Sophia bubbly are, RESIST THE URGE. ‘And don't give them as gifts either. Nuf said. We love you Sofia.

Niebaum-Coppola WInery
1991 St. Helena Highway (Hwy 29)
Rutherford (Napa), CA 94573
707-968-1100

Chateau Montelena Winery

Monty  has been around. The old girl has seen it all. This is a pretty historic winery, dating back to the late 1890’s. Then that pesky Prohibition thing happened, which really screwed things up. Took several years – no, more like an ice age, to the ‘70s I think - for things to come back around, get new owners and all that. The first ‘new’ wines were made in 1972. Then a pretty historic thing happened that really helped shape the California wine business. In 1976 a bunch of snooty ‘A-list’ French wine and foodie people held a big grand tasting in Paris. They tasted 4 white burgundies (we are also big fans of many white burgs) against 6 Cali Chards. Guess who won, even with French judges?

The results proved that Chateau Montelena could produce some of the world's finest wines, and that California's wine industry had come of age.

Anyhoo, the winery is gorgeous, you can pet (if you are brave, throw rocks at otherwise) the swans, feed some fish, take in a movie (joking), and, oh yeah - taste some solid wines. Very peaceful place, old stone castle and all that jazz, and a sprawling view of the vineyards.

We like their Estate Cabernet, about $125 a bottle if you're willing to swallow that one, but we dig their $20-$40 ones too! We’re not big Chardonnay fans, but they get good reviews. I believe they have a Reisling that is only available at the winery – worth a taste!

Chateau Montelena Winery
1429 Tubbs Lane
Calistoga (Napa), CA 94515
707-942-5105

Domaine Chandon

Hey if it's good enough for Snoop Dog, it should be good enough for us. Who needs Crystal?! Well, if they had a tasting room here I'd be a regular.

Anyway, Chandon  is a really beautiful place right off of busy Hwy 29 and is definitely worth a stop. And a pop! Great grounds, one of the best tours around (we usually don't waste our time with these, but this one is great), and a very relaxed experience to throw back some nice bubbles and actually learn a thing or two about Methode Champenoise.

Domain Chandon
One California Drive
Yountville (Napa), CA 94599

Calistoga Ranch Inn

If you've ever been to the Post Ranch Inn in Big Sur, Calistoga Ranch  is the wine country equivalent. Which means...it is awesome.

Great story behind this place - the land was zoned for a trailer park, which limited the amount of coverage that could be constructed on the lot (think lots of trailer homes). So the way the developers got around it was by constructing several small buildings and cottages, instead of the typical 'big footprint' buildings that most hotels & resorts have.

The result is a very interesting and beautiful high-end resort with 40-50 rooms and cottages. We love this place. It is an Auberge property, which means a couple things - it is high quality in all aspects and it ain't cheap. They also have 'fractional ownership' dwellings available if you really fall for the place! I believe a 1/10th share is going for about $375,000. A TENTH. Yeah. So just get a room at the Inn. The restaurant is great too, and we hear the spa treatments are tops.

Calistoga Ranch Inn
580 Lommel Road
Calistoga (Napa), CA 94515
707-254-2800

Darioush Winery

Betcha never heard of this place. Darioush is a new winery located on the Silverado Trail in Napa. As our friend Tucker would say, it is both Fancy and Shmancy. It's ornate and OTT so it's worth a visit, especially if you like Bordeaux style wines and decor.

They have a nice line-up and the wines are really well made. Cab, Merlot, a Red Blend, and 2 Chardonnays. You can simply do a tasting, or for $35 or so, do a private tasting and cheese pairing. Worth it if you're only hitting a couple wineries and really like to dive in deep.

Darioush Winery
4240 Silverado Trail
Napa, California 94558
707-257-2345

Vine Cliff Winery

Located on the Silverado Trail (the best part of Napa) this place is sweet. Cool grounds and perched up on a hillside so the views are great. Excellent tasting room and really nice people. The winery dates back to the 1890's, and was restructured in the 1990's so there is a great blend of history and modern elements.

These guys go pesticide-free too, which is cool. We highly recommend the '01 Oakville Cabernet. They have lots of events, so check out the website.

Tastings & tours are 'by appointment only' due to local regulations. Don't let that scare you off. They are open, but to be safe, give them a ring first at 707-944-1364. Note: $20 per tasting, so if you suffer cheap attacks don't come here (or you can be cheesy and share a tasting). Great website!  Check out the photo gallery, you'll want to go.

Vine Cliff Winery
7400 Silverado Trail
Napa, CA 94558
707-944-1364

Artesa Winery

As with a lot of our other recos, a lot of it is for the experience, as much as the wine. I mean, you're up here so we lead you to cool places. And Artesa rocks.

Don't miss this place! Great artwork and sculptures, and once you ascend a long staircase with a waterfall in the middle, you enter the winery, which is dug into the hillside. Ultra modern and calming all at once with views that kill. Like, we could live here.

And bonus!  The wines kick ass too. Just had the 2001 Cabernet the other night, and it was lip-smacking good. They also produce Merlot, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc. Belly up to the bar and have 'em take you through the entire list. This is one of the best places in Napa, but it's on the Sonoma border.

Check out the nearby di Rosa Preserve on the way out, they have outdoor exhibits of contemporary artwork by local artists.

Artesa Vineyards & Winery
1345 Henry Road
Napa, CA  94559
707-224-1668