Napa, California: The drive up/down the Napa Valley on the Silverado Trail and Highway 29 is beautiful anytime of year, but just outstanding in autumn with the leaves turning. Most of the grapes have been harvested, but grapes are still hanging on a few species. Beautiful.
We headed north up the Silverado Trail, and did not stop to any vineyards. 10:30a is a bit too early to sip wine - even for us. We took a left to reach the pretty town of Calistoga and drove through their county fairgrounds RV park. It is still bare-bones, water and electric only, but within walking distance of downtown. After Calistoga, we began driving back to Napa on Highway 29, stopping at several fun spots along the way.
Back in the day, Dave’s grandmother lived in Santa Rosa. Every time we visited, she asked us to take her for a drive to give her car some exercise. (Grandma lived in an adult-only housing area and her only driving was to the grocer or doctor - all near her home.) Dave would drive, Grandma would sit in the passenger seat. Lisa and I were in the back. Her favorite destination was Mustard’s Grill for lunch and to stop at the Oakville Grocery for cornichons. In the 90’s, Oakville Grocery was an actual grocer - but they sold “fancy” stuff that was rare to find at your basic Piggly Wiggly or Safeway. (Cornichons for example - they are everywhere now.) Now the place still offers a very small selection of fruits/vegetables, but a vast array of fancy jams, spreads, olives, charcuterie, wines (of course), fancy foods of all sorts, deli sandwiches, and (luckily for my grandchildren) a nice selection of gummy eyeballs for Halloween. Since I am the Five O’Clock appetizer queen, I found several items for our cocktail hour.
We wanted to stop in Yountville to visit Chandon. So many times we have gone to Chandon, shared a bottle of their sparkling wine and a very fun smoked salmon platter. Not today. Now you either have to pay for a tasting or be a member of their wine club to purchase a bottle of their wine for consumption on-site. Rat farts. Why? I’m just going to say their parking lot was basically empty, there were maybe 8 people on the patio doing a tasting and not even one person in the tasting room, so their wine club must be very exclusive. Guess they didn’t need our business? I realize they are now owned by Louis Vuitton (LVMH) and maybe that is why they are trying to be so exclusive, but it is still (though very delicious) California sparkling wine - not champagne - and we can buy Chandon at our local grocery store for $14. It. Ain’t. Fancy.
So we went into Yountville to for lunch. At this time of year, many wine country restaurants are only open for lunch on the weekends, but Bottega is open for lunch everyday and it was always one of our favorite spots in Yountville. Since our last visit, the owner, Michael Chiarello (of NapaStyle fame), has passed away, but his business partners have stepped-up and you would never know anything had changed. We were promptly seated at a very nice table and split a small salad as our appetizer.
The lasagna was made with paper thin slices of potato and zucchini, layered with cheese and panko bread crumbs, served on a spicy red sauce - shaved fennel and arugula on top. Though the restaurant is very well appointed, with tablecloths and uniformed waiters, the price for our entrees were less than $30, and my glass of wine was $14.
Then it was back to the RV, arriving before 4p. Knowing we would be eating a late lunch somewhere today, I prepared a few appetizers this morning before heading out. I had a bag of Trader Joe’s baby potatoes, but a few of them were the size of egg yolks and a few of the babies were the size of a large olive! Finding four potatoes about the same size, they were boiled this morning and a slice of (turkey) bacon was sizzled and crumbled. Mini-potato skins. The flesh was carefully scooped out with a teeny spoon and mashed with a fork. Sour cream, salt, pepper, a bit of shredded cheddar, and a bit of the crumbled bacon were added and the entire mess was stuffed back to the hollowed-out potatoes. Okay, a bit more cheese and a bit more bacon for garnish. All I had to do was heat them in our Barbie oven. Little skewers of cherry tomatoes and mozzarella balls drizzled with pesto were also served.
Best part? DT stopped at a grocer and bought a bottle of Chandon to accompany our appetizers/dinner.
Until my next update, I remain, your more fun tomorrow correspondent.
Campground Information: Napa Valley Expo RV Park.