Napa Valley Travelogue 2003:
The 1976 Paris Tasting
Sat, Feb 29 2003
Most of my notes and pictures for Saturday are up on the wine site, because Saturday was dedicated to visiting the wineries of Napa Valley that participated in the 1976 Paris Tasting.
We began with the Montelena Winery, located at the very top of the Napa Valley. We got there just in time for their 9:30am tour, and were there for over 2 hours. They have a GORGEOUS location and the wines are of course delicious. Montelena took first place in the Paris Tasting with their fantastic Chardonnay.
Next came Freemark Abbey Winery, located in the middle of Napa Valley. Freemark Abbey was the only one of the wineries to have both a red and white wine represented at the tasting.
We stopped for lunch at the A&W Rootbeer restaurant, complete with frosted glass mugs for their draft rootbeer. I had a chili dog, in my wild, adventureous Californian spirit. Soon it was time to get back to the wineries.
Next came Clos du Val Winery, which came in 8th back in 1976 but came in 1st when the wines were re-tasted in 1986. The power of good aging!
We had started with the top white wine from the tasting, so it was only right to end the day with the top red wine. That would be Stag's Leap Winery. Note that you have to be careful - there is both a Stag's Leap and a Stags' Leap Winery - only the apostrophe moves , but the wines are very different!
Saturday Evening - Hakusan Sake & Dinner
Napa Valley 2003 Travelogue
Lisa's Travelogue Pages