rone | steadfastly ignoring the pink elephant

I have no interest in talking about any chronological events that have occurred recently due to vicissitudes set in motion by arbitrary decisions taken by religious and political hierarchs, which are still being observed in ironic and unironic fashions by a world populace gone berserk with consumerism, superstition, and rote. The fact that i'm grudgingly and obliquely acknowledging them right now is bad enough.

However, i had a wonderful getaway with my sweetie in Napa and Lake counties. On Tuesday, we drove up to Middletown and stayed at Greta's Backyard Garden Oasis again (check out the reviews... we're in there!). On Wednesday, after an invigorating mud bath, hot soak and massage at Golden Haven Hot Springs, our spa of choice in Calistoga, we set out and decided to skip our usual wineries and try new ones. First off, Clos Pegase, where they wanted $5 to taste their white wines, and $10 for their reds (but the iffy modern art was free). Later! Next up, Sterling, where they wanted $15 to ride a little cable car up the hill to their tasting room. There was a freakin' line on a Wednesday afternoon. What is this, fuckin' Disneyland? I really don't get wineries that charge $15, $20, or even $25 for wine tasting. You can buy a whole bottle for that much! Next! Twomey (VORSICHT: idiotic browser detection), where they wanted only $5 for a taste (and included a nice big glass), but also wanted $60 for their 2001 merlot ("If anybody orders merlot, i'm leaving! I'm not drinking any fucking merlot!"), which was also the only wine they had (well, they also had their 2000 merlot).

Next up was Ehlers Grove... but i told Kim to turn on Ehlers Lane by mistake. A happy mistake, though, because Kim caught a sign that said "Tasting Room", so we followed it and, upon parking the car, we were met by Ripley the Australian shepherd, owned by Rudy the winemaker, who was inside with Peter the sales manager, both of whom greeted us warmly. After some conversation, they went back to work and T'Anne poured us wine (no charge!) while we talked. She even let us taste from the barrel where their 2004 cabernet franc was fermenting. They also had a couple of tables with various smell tester cups (contaning stuff like anise, cardamom, maple syrup, and coffee) so visitors could identify each in the wine. Best of all, they're a non-profit backed by Fondation Leducq, and all proceeds go to heart research. We left with a bottle each of their 2002 cab franc and, yes, their 2002 merlot.

T'Anne suggested we head down the road to A Dozen Vintners, a place where eleven small vintners (one of which has two labels, thus the 'dozen') get together and offer all their wines in one tasting room. Great idea, and Kim and i got, well, a bit tipsy there. So after taking a walk and still not finding ourselves sober enough to drive, we went to Café 29, a nice restaurant that shares the building with ADV (the building used to be this packed-to-the-gills antiques store). We left ADV with a bottle each of Livingston Moffett 2001 cabernet sauvignon and Howell Mountain Vineyards 2001 zinfandel.

On Thursday, we said goodbye to Greta and started driving back. We stopped at Frog's Leap, where tasting was by appointment only, but as they had their zinfandel open (which i believe is amywithani's favorite), they poured us a taste. Very different, very good. They had chickens running free through the grounds, and a cat that very intently looked for mice. Then, after having lunch at Brix, we headed to Bouchaine, whose pinot noir, especially their 2000 Gee Vineyard pinot noir, which is dry-farmed and is well worth the 40 bucks. Best PN i've ever had. Then we drove home the end.