welcome to the caraforga of salitonia

[rone]

A few days before Kim's surgery, we took a trip to Calistoga for a night at the Golden Haven Spa and Resort, with mud bath and massage. I recommend this highly, and doing it every 4 months would probably be a great tonic.

As for wineries, we first stopped at V. Sattui, because it was located at about the spot when we got hungry and wanted to have our picnic lunch. They have a Gamay Rouge which doesn't merely have strawberry hints, but tastes like it was made with strawberries. It's fascinating and i would have probably enjoyed it if it weren't for the fact that i don't like the taste of strawberry. I also tried my first madeira and found i liked it more than the ports that i've tried.

We then dropped by our favorite vineyard, Summers Winery's Villa Andriana, and chatted with the winemaker (Kim even offered a little professional advice). Their Charbono is one of our favorite wines.

Then we went to Ferrari-Carano, because i wanted to pick up a bottle of their Eldorado Noir black muscat dessert wine. In addition to that i added their Eldorado Gold, a Sauternes-style botrytized wine. As i talked to the server about the Cinsault/Muscat blend that Kim, her mom, and i grew and pressed, and now have aging in her mom's basement, he mentioned that if i was interested in less common grapes, i should check out his neighbor, Preston of Dry Creek.

Well, we did, and we have a new favorite vineyard. Everything they poured for us, we liked. Sauvignon Blanc, Viognier, Cinsault, Mourvèdre, Carignane, Barbera, Syrah, their Rhône-style blend, and two Muscats, Canelli (good) and Brûlé (awesome).

Both Preston and Summers have bocce courts. Coincidence?