A day in Napa

For whatever reason, when I lived in California I never went to any Napa wineries.  Since moving away, however, I’ve made several trips specifically to go wine tasting and spend a few days at a time in Napa and Sonoma.  So I definitely associate Napa with “being on vacation.”

And yes, technically I am currently on vacation, but this time my Napa trip was just a quick day trip from the Peninsula.  I have to ask myself – why didn’t I ever do something like this when I lived here?  After an hour and a half on the freeway, you feel like you’re in a whole other world of terraced hills, windmills, bright yellow mustard flowers, and of course field upon field of vines.  (Since it was the weekend, we also found ourselves surrounded by plenty of other cars, the occasional stretch limo, and buses dropping off tipsy tourists.)

Our day started at Darioush winery on the Silverado trail, where my uncle had the foresight to reserve a private tasting.  This meant that instead of fighting for space around the bar, we had a private seating area to taste our six wines.

Darioush is known for Bordeaux style reds, but we started with a Chardonnay and Viognier, both of which were excellent.  I’m not usually a Chardonnay fan, but this one – the 2008 Signature Chardonnay  – was an elegant blend of fruit and toasty caramel flavors, not too oaky (the downfall of many a Chardonnay, in my experience).  The 2009 Viognier had a wonderful floral nose and a sweet-tart acidity that we loved.

Viogner at Darioush

 

The tasting list – though we had a few extra pours!

After the whites, we had several reds – Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Shiraz.  Of those, the Cabernet Sauvignon was by far the best – but none of the reds were as exciting as the whites.  I think they were on the young side – they’d definitely improve with a bit of age.

At any rate, Darioush certainly delivered – and I would happily go back to taste again (and furthermore, I’ll be looking for their wines next time I’m out to dinner!).  Since we had a bit of time before our lunch reservation, we headed farther up the Silverado Trail to Stag’s Leap for a quick tasting.  (My favorites – the Arcadia Chardonnay and the Artemis Cab.)

Then it was off to lunch at Bouchon – the centerpiece of our day!  I had never been to this more casual Thomas Keller restaurant, so was definitely looking forward to it.  I was also thinking of popping into Bouchon Bakery to grab some shortbread cookies and maybe a few macarons, but one look at the long line outside changed my mind.  (The Columbus Circle outpost in Manhattan is far less crowded!)

The bakery draws quite the crowd!

Heading into the bistro

Cozy inside

I was quite happy to go into the bistro instead, which was jam packed even at 3pm (it would finally empty out a bit around 5pm, just in time for the dinner rush to begin).  With a glass of sparkling blanc de blancs in hand, I ate some freshly baked epi baguette with butter while perusing the menu.

Thomas Keller is a man who knows his butter

Good oysters are a weakness of mine, and I definitely took note of the oyster bar as I came in.  And out of anyplace in the world, I would bet that the oysters at a Thomas Keller restaurant are top quality.  But on the other hand – was it really the best plan to have shellfish to start?  I mean, the kitchen isn’t really involved once the oysters are shucked.  So I decided on the brandade beignets (in addition to a few oysters, since I couldn’t resist).

Beignets de Brandade de Morue

Brandade is a salted cod puree, which in this case was smooth and subtle tasting, and tucked into airy beignets.  The beignets rested atop roasted tomato and were jauntily topped with fried sage leaves that were as light and crispy as potato chips – nothing like the fried sage I’ve encountered previously, where the leaves are thick and require a fork and knife to break them.

Then it was on to truite poêlée, a whole trout served in its own copper All-Clad pan, with beurre noisette, softly roasted fennel, sliced grapes, almonds, and big chunks of sunchoke.  The sunchoke was by far the standout to me – tender but not at all mushy, with a flavor like a nutty artichoke heart – but I loved the entire dish.  And the Viogner wine my uncle chose (Yves Cuilleron Condrieu 2007) had a buttery character that complemented the fish.

Finally – my favorite part.  Dessert!  I decided on île flottante, a choice made easier since I was assured I could share the chocolate mousse also being ordered.  Unlike the free-form île flottantes I’ve seen previously, this one looked as if it had just been turned out of a small ramekin – but it was still light as air.  With the creme anglaise beneath and caramel sauce poured over top, it was heaven.

Ile flottante

Finally, we were stuffed and ready to make the drive home from Napa – arriving back just after 7pm.  It still amazes me that this gastronomic adventure was so easy to accomplish!  We’ll have to do it again soon.